Name in Japanese K Kofi

Kofi in Japanese

コフィ
Katakana
コフィ
Hiragana
こふぃ
Romaji (Hepburn)
Kofi

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

Read it one katakana at a time:

Ko
フィ Fi

Full reading: Kofi

Do more with Kofi in Japanese

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

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 Kofi becomes コフィ 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.