Kathleen in Japanese Katakana

Tips for writing Kathleen 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). キャ is one sound, kya.
• 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.

Kathleen on Japanese forms

Example full name: Kathleen Smith → キャスリーン・スミス (Western order, names separated by ・).

Most Japanese forms put the family name first: スミス キャスリーン. 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 きゃすりーん); some bank and card forms ask for half-width katakana (ｽﾐｽ ｷｬｽﾘｰﾝ).

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 Kathleen in Japanese?

Kathleen is usually written キャスリーン (kyasurīn) in katakana, the script Japanese uses for foreign names. In hiragana it is きゃすりーん.

Is there a kanji for Kathleen?

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.