Clay in Japanese Katakana
Clay (common English surname) is written クレイ — read kurei.
クレイ
| Katakana | クレイ |
|---|---|
| Reading (romaji) | kurei |
| Hiragana | くれい |
| Half-width katakana | ｸﾚｲ |
Character by character
| Katakana | Hiragana | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| ク | く | ku |
| レ | れ | re |
| イ | い | i |
Tips for writing Clay in katakana
- 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.
Clay on Japanese forms
Example full name: John Clay → ジョン・クレイ (Western order, names separated by ・).
Most Japanese forms put the family name first: クレイ 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 (くれい じょん); some bank and card forms ask for half-width katakana (ｸﾚｲ 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 Clay in Japanese?
Clay is usually written クレイ (kurei) in katakana, the script Japanese uses for foreign names. In hiragana it is くれい.
Is there a kanji for Clay?
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.