Name in Japanese K Kirin

Kirin in Japanese

キリン
Katakana
キリン
Hiragana
きりん
Romaji (Hepburn)
Kirin

This is the common, natural katakana for Kirin. 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 Kirin sounds in Japanese

Read it one katakana at a time:

Ki
Ri
N

Full reading: Kirin

Do more with Kirin in Japanese

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

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 Kirin becomes キリン 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.