Name in Japanese A Autumn

Autumn in Japanese

オータム
Katakana
オータム
Hiragana
おーたむ
Romaji (Hepburn)
Ōtamu

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

How Autumn sounds in Japanese

Read it one katakana at a time:

オー Ō
Ta
Mu

Full reading: Ōtamu

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

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 Autumn becomes オータム 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.