Black in Japanese Katakana
Black (common English surname) is written ブラック — read burakku.
ブラック
| Katakana | ブラック |
|---|---|
| Reading (romaji) | burakku |
| Hiragana | ぶらっく |
| Half-width katakana | ブラック |
Character by character
| Katakana | Hiragana | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| ブ | ぶ | bu |
| ラ | ら | ra |
| ッ | っ | short pause (doubles the next consonant) |
| ク | く | ku |
Tips for writing Black in katakana
- The small ッ is a short pause that doubles the next consonant. Write it half size; a full-size ツ would be read "tsu".
- Japanese has a single sound for English L and R, so both are written with the ラ-row (ra, ri, ru, re, ro).
- Japanese syllables end in a vowel (except ン), so the final consonant of Black becomes ク (ku). Say it lightly.
- 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.
Black on Japanese forms
Example full name: John Black → ジョン・ブラック (Western order, names separated by ・).
Most Japanese forms put the family name first: ブラック 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 (ぶらっく じょん); some bank and card forms ask for half-width katakana (ブラック ジョン).
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 Black in Japanese?
Black is usually written ブラック (burakku) in katakana, the script Japanese uses for foreign names. In hiragana it is ぶらっく.
Is there a kanji for Black?
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.
Similar names
How spellings are chosen: the first spelling is the one most commonly used for this name in Japanese books, media and everyday writing, checked against the Japanese government's rules for writing foreign words (Cabinet Notice No. 2 of 1991, 外来語の表記). The list was compiled by this site; it is not an official register. Pronunciation matters more than spelling — if your name is pronounced differently, the katakana can differ too.