Name in Japanese A Alabama

Alabama in Japanese

アラバマ
Katakana
アラバマ
Hiragana
あらばま
Romaji (Hepburn)
Arabama

This is the common, natural katakana for Alabama. Katakana approximates English sounds, so a slightly different spelling can also be valid — treat this as a reliable default, not the single "correct" answer.

How Alabama sounds in Japanese

Read it one katakana at a time:

A
Ra
Ba
Ma

Full reading: Arabama

Do more with Alabama in Japanese

Why Alabama is written in katakana

In Japanese, foreign names are written in katakana — the angular script reserved for words borrowed from other languages. So on a form, a name tag, a delivery slip or a news article in Japan, Alabama appears as アラバマ. This is the correct and respectful way a non-Japanese name is represented; it is not a kanji "translation". A Japanese reader sees アラバマ and immediately reads it by its sound, Arabama.

Katakana is a syllabary, so English sounds are fitted to the nearest Japanese syllables and every consonant (except ん) is followed by a vowel. That is why Alabama becomes アラバマ rather than a letter-for-letter copy. More than one katakana spelling can be reasonable for the same name, which is why we flag whether a spelling is a long-established one or a natural default.