Charles in Japanese Katakana

Tips for writing Charles 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 ャ at about half size, in the lower left of the square (in horizontal writing). チャ is one sound, cha.
• 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 Charles becomes ズ (zu). 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.

Charles on Japanese forms

Example full name: Charles Smith → チャールズ・スミス (Western order, names separated by ・).

Most Japanese forms put the family name first: スミス チャールズ. In a フリガナ (furigana) field write it in katakana; if the field says ふりがな use hiragana (すみす ちゃーるず); some bank and card forms ask for half-width katakana (ｽﾐｽ ﾁｬｰﾙｽﾞ).

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 Charles in Japanese?

Charles is usually written チャールズ (chāruzu) in katakana, the script Japanese uses for foreign names. In hiragana it is ちゃーるず.

Is there a kanji for Charles?

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.