Petersen in Japanese Katakana

Tips for writing Petersen 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.
• 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.

Petersen on Japanese forms

Example full name: John Petersen → ジョン・ピーターセン (Western order, names separated by ・).

Most Japanese forms put the family name first: ピーターセン 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 (ぴーたーせん じょん); some bank and card forms ask for half-width katakana (ﾋﾟｰﾀｰｾﾝ 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 Petersen in Japanese?

Petersen is usually written ピーターセン (pītāsen) in katakana, the script Japanese uses for foreign names. In hiragana it is ぴーたーせん.

Is there a kanji for Petersen?

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.