Francis in Japanese Katakana

Tips for writing Francis in katakana

• シ (shi) and ツ (tsu) look alike. In シ the two short strokes are placed on the left and the long stroke sweeps upward; in ツ the short strokes stand at the top and the long stroke sweeps downward.
• 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).
• Japanese syllables end in a vowel (except ン), so the final consonant of Francis becomes ス (su). 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.

Francis on Japanese forms

Example full name: Francis Smith → フランシス・スミス (Western order, names separated by ・).

Most Japanese forms put the family name first: スミス フランシス. 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 ふらんしす); some bank and card forms ask for half-width katakana (ｽﾐｽ ﾌﾗﾝｼｽ).

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 Francis in Japanese?

Francis is usually written フランシス (furanshisu) in katakana, the script Japanese uses for foreign names. In hiragana it is ふらんしす.

Is there a kanji for Francis?

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.