Irene in Japanese Katakana

Tips for writing Irene in katakana

• ー is the long-vowel mark: it stretches the sound before it. In vertical writing it turns into a vertical line.
• 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.

Irene on Japanese forms

Example full name: Irene Smith → アイリーン・スミス (Western order, names separated by ・).

Most Japanese forms put the family name first: スミス アイリーン. 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 あいりーん); some bank and card forms ask for half-width katakana (ｽﾐｽ ｱｲﾘｰﾝ).

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 Irene in Japanese?

Irene is usually written アイリーン (airīn) in katakana, the script Japanese uses for foreign names. In hiragana it is あいりーん.

Is there a kanji for Irene?

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.