Steve in Japanese Katakana

Tips for writing Steve 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 ィ at about half size, in the lower left of the square (in horizontal writing). ティ is one sound, ti.
• 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.

Steve on Japanese forms

Example full name: Steve Smith → スティーブ・スミス (Western order, names separated by ・).

Most Japanese forms put the family name first: スミス スティーブ. 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 すてぃーぶ); some bank and card forms ask for half-width katakana (ｽﾐｽ ｽﾃｨｰﾌﾞ).

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 Steve in Japanese?

Steve is usually written スティーブ (sutību) in katakana, the script Japanese uses for foreign names. You may also see スティーヴ. In hiragana it is すてぃーぶ.

Is there a kanji for Steve?

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.