Sylvia in Japanese Katakana

Tips for writing Sylvia in katakana

• シ (shi) and ツ (tsu) look alike. In シ the two short strokes are placed on the left and the long stroke sweeps upward; in ツ the short strokes stand at the top and the long stroke sweeps downward.
• 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.

Sylvia on Japanese forms

Example full name: Sylvia Smith → シルビア・スミス (Western order, names separated by ・).

Most Japanese forms put the family name first: スミス シルビア. 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 しるびあ); some bank and card forms ask for half-width katakana (ｽﾐｽ ｼﾙﾋﾞｱ).

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 Sylvia in Japanese?

Sylvia is usually written シルビア (shirubia) in katakana, the script Japanese uses for foreign names. You may also see シルヴィア. In hiragana it is しるびあ.

Is there a kanji for Sylvia?

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.