Baldwin in Japanese Katakana

Tips for writing Baldwin in katakana

• ー is the long-vowel mark: it stretches the sound before it. In vertical writing it turns into a vertical line.
• Write the small ィ at about half size, in the lower left of the square (in horizontal writing). ウィ is one sound, wi.
• ソ (so) and ン (n) look alike. In ソ the long stroke falls from the top right; in ン it rises from the bottom left.
• Japanese has a single sound for English L and R, so both are written with the ラ-row (ra, ri, ru, re, ro).
• Katakana is written left to right like English, or top to bottom in vertical text. Keep every character the same size except the small ones.

Baldwin on Japanese forms

Example full name: John Baldwin → ジョン・ボールドウィン (Western order, names separated by ・).

Most Japanese forms put the family name first: ボールドウィン ジョン. In a フリガナ (furigana) field write it in katakana; if the field says ふりがな use hiragana (ぼーるどうぃん じょん); some bank and card forms ask for half-width katakana (ﾎﾞｰﾙﾄﾞｳｨﾝ ｼﾞｮﾝ).

Japan has no official katakana spelling for foreign names. Once you use a spelling for a bank account, phone contract or employer, keep using the same one so your records match.

FAQ

How do you write Baldwin in Japanese?

Baldwin is usually written ボールドウィン (bōrudowin) in katakana, the script Japanese uses for foreign names. In hiragana it is ぼーるどうぃん.

Is there a kanji for Baldwin?

No. Foreign names have no official kanji; they are written in katakana. Kanji versions offered online (ateji) are chosen only for sound and look, and their "meanings" are made up, so this site does not provide them.