Franklin in Japanese Katakana

Tips for writing Franklin in katakana

• 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.

Franklin on Japanese forms

Example full name: John Franklin → ジョン・フランクリン (Western order, names separated by ・).

Most Japanese forms put the family name first: フランクリン 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 (ふらんくりん じょん); some bank and card forms ask for half-width katakana (ﾌﾗﾝｸﾘﾝ 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 Franklin in Japanese?

Franklin is usually written フランクリン (furankurin) in katakana, the script Japanese uses for foreign names. In hiragana it is ふらんくりん.

Is there a kanji for Franklin?

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.