O'Brien in Japanese Katakana
O'Brien (common English surname) is written オブライエン — read oburaien.
オブライエン
| Katakana | オブライエン |
|---|---|
| Reading (romaji) | oburaien |
| Hiragana | おぶらいえん |
| Half-width katakana | ｵﾌﾞﾗｲｴﾝ |
Character by character
| Katakana | Hiragana | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| オ | お | o |
| ブ | ぶ | bu |
| ラ | ら | ra |
| イ | い | i |
| エ | え | e |
| ン | ん | n |
Tips for writing O'Brien 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.
O'Brien on Japanese forms
Example full name: John O'Brien → ジョン・オブライエン (Western order, names separated by ・).
Most Japanese forms put the family name first: オブライエン 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 (おぶらいえん じょん); some bank and card forms ask for half-width katakana (ｵﾌﾞﾗｲｴﾝ 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 O'Brien in Japanese?
O'Brien is usually written オブライエン (oburaien) in katakana, the script Japanese uses for foreign names. In hiragana it is おぶらいえん.
Is there a kanji for O'Brien?
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.