Name in Japanese A Ann

Ann in Japanese

アン
Katakana
アン
Hiragana
あん
Romaji (Hepburn)
An

This is the established spelling used for Ann in Japanese dictionaries, books and media.

How Ann sounds in Japanese

Read it one katakana at a time:

A
N

Full reading: An

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Why Ann 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, Ann appears as アン. This is the correct and respectful way a non-Japanese name is represented; it is not a kanji "translation". A Japanese reader sees アン and immediately reads it by its sound, An.

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 Ann becomes アン 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.