Oliver in Japanese Katakana

Tips for writing Oliver in katakana

• ー is the long-vowel mark: it stretches the sound before it. In vertical writing it turns into a vertical line.
• Japanese has a single sound for English L and R, so both are written with the ラ-row (ra, ri, ru, re, ro).
• The V sound can be written with ヴ or with the バ-row (ba, bi, bu, be, bo). Both are accepted by the 1991 rules; the バ-row is more common in everyday writing.
• 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.

Oliver on Japanese forms

Example full name: Oliver Smith → オリバー・スミス (Western order, names separated by ・).

Most Japanese forms put the family name first: スミス オリバー. 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 おりばー); some bank and card forms ask for half-width katakana (ｽﾐｽ ｵﾘﾊﾞｰ).

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 Oliver in Japanese?

Oliver is usually written オリバー (oribā) in katakana, the script Japanese uses for foreign names. You may also see オリヴァー. In hiragana it is おりばー.

Is there a kanji for Oliver?

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.