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Great Dictionnay of First Names Transcribed in Japanese

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First names

The Japanophone offers a phonetical transcription of thousands of first names from different languages. These transcriptions try to stay the closest possible from the pronunciation of the first names in the language they are pronounced. Thus, several first names that exists in several languages won't be transcribed the same way in each language. For example, "Jennifer", which exists both in English and French, will be transcribed differently if it's pronounced by a English speaker or a French speaker.

Presentation

For each first name, Japanophone gives you:

  • Its pronunciation in its original language in [International Phonetic Alphabet].
    (See » IPA on Wikipedia).
  • All its transcriptions in Japanese characters, katakana or hiragana.
  • A fidelity level for each transcription. As each pronunciation may have several transcriptions, a fidelity level tells you which one is the best.
  • A transcription in letters, i.e. in Latin alphabet using the Hepburn method (usually used by Japanese people to write Japanese words in letters).
  • A pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet of each Japanese transcription.
  • An equivalent in simple English for people who doesn't know the International Phonetic Alphabet to help them pronounce the Japanese transcription.
Transcription vs translation

In this web site, we'll talk only about transcription, not about translation because first names are (should be) never translated. A translation uses the meaning of the word. But here, we use only the pronunciation of a first name to write it in Japanese so that a Japanese reader would pronounce something as close as possible from the original name. We don't offer translations here, neither etymology because it is sometimes subject to controversy. Therefore, this web site offers only strictly phonetic transcriptions.

Fidelity of transcription

All the transcriptions have been written and checked by a professional translator. It is unfortunate that many web sites don't take the time and energy to do so and offer automatically translated first names, where most of them contain errors. If you find a different transcription in another web site, you can check if it is present in Japanophone and see the fidelity level. You might as well ask a question in » Question/Answer.

Transcribed first names are from many different origins, mainly from English-French-German-Arabic speaking countries.

Why is there sometimes several transcriptions for one first name?

As the phonetics of the Japanese language and the other languages of this web site are very different, it happens very often that a phoneme in one first name doesn't exist in Japanese. Then, to transcribe it, we need to choose the closest phoneme in Japanese but it is sometime ambiguous and the best choice might differ according to the translator. In this case, we give all the possible transcriptions, with its fidelity level. The fidelity level is the distance between the phonetics of the original first name and the phonetics of the transcription.

Should we say first the family name or the first name?

For Japanese people, in Japan, the rule is simple. They always put the family name, then the first name. For foreigners, things are more complex. It depends on the country of the foreigner.
Usually, Japanese people that deals with foreigners are used to the American system. First name first, then family name. Therefore, they tend to call foreigners by their first name, followed by SAN to say Mister or Miss.
If you do not want to be called by Mister + your first name, then you should explain which is your first name and which is your family name. However, this explanation is hard to conduct and you may end-up by being called by your last name, without SAN.
In one word, there is no simple way to deal with this.

Statistics
Number of first names transcribed on Japanophone so far

The Japanophone currently contains 22475 first names in its lists.

  • French first names: 8478
  • English first names: 2835
  • German first names: 1518
  • Arabic first names: 3509
  • Other transcriptions: 6135
The 20 last added first names
First NameLanguageAdded date
HendryssaFrançais31/12/2023
MorjanaFrançais31/12/2023
GladiceFrançais31/12/2023
VaniAutre31/12/2023
MériadegFrançais30/12/2023
LybieFrançais30/12/2023
FélindraFrançais30/12/2023
AmielleFrançais29/12/2023
ZuyynaAutre29/12/2023
JohrelAutre29/12/2023
DjimonAutre29/12/2023
LenalieAutre29/12/2023
OkyoAutre29/12/2023
AmayelFrançais29/12/2023
SibiryAutre29/12/2023
EndalFrançais29/12/2023
KhélissaFrançais28/12/2023
DjoaoAutre28/12/2023
ZoélyFrançais28/12/2023
TallaAutre28/12/2023
The 20 last viewed first names
First NameLanguageView date
MahmutAutre19/03/2024
EdithAnglais19/03/2024
CléaFrançais19/03/2024
ZakariArabe19/03/2024
MariskaFrançais19/03/2024
AkelysannFrançais19/03/2024
KenzoFrançais19/03/2024
CécileFrançais19/03/2024
PetersonFrançais19/03/2024
JoselynAnglais19/03/2024
BasileFrançais19/03/2024
AëlleFrançais19/03/2024
ColleenAnglais19/03/2024
ShaleyAnglais19/03/2024
FaizAutre19/03/2024
FaizanAutre19/03/2024
BibianneAutre19/03/2024
VanessaAllemand19/03/2024
MitaliAutre19/03/2024
BlandineFrançais19/03/2024
Number of first name views and requests for new first names:
Number of viewed first names
2023 :

2022 :

2021 :

2020 :

2019 : 1914144

2018 : 979237

2017 : 393208

2016 : 82297

2015 : 163094

2014 : 629290

2013 : 520865

2012 : 333732

2011 : 330024

2010 : 307401

2009 : 285543

2008 : 443244

2007 : 293976

2006 : 195984

2005 : 130656

2004 : 87104

2003 : 43552

2002 : 21776

2001 : 10888

Requests for new names
2023 : 0

2022 : 0

2021 : 0

2020 : 0

2019 : 1734

2018 : 1717

2017 : 1097

2016 : 469

2015 : 291

2014 : 462

2013 : 209

2012 : 324

2011 : 296

2010 : 434

2009 : 397

2008 : 530

2007 : 790

2006 : 654

2005 : 606

2004 : 520

2003 : 264

2002 : 137

2001 : 8

Ranking of the most viewed first names over the last 5 years:
Most viewed first names in 2019
First NameLanguageNumber of views
AlexandreFrançais1941
AlexFrançais1782
LeaFrançais1652
JulienFrançais1612
AxelFrançais1578
AlexisFrançais1487
ArthurFrançais1461
HugoFrançais1456
NicolasFrançais1449
LucieFrançais1388
Language of most viewed first names in 2019
LanguageNumber of views
Français891331
Anglais306181
Autre305580
Arabe235769
Allemand175283
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Kazoku Ecrire le japonais
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Ecrire le japonais
Kazoku Ecrire le japonais