Name in Japanese L Liam

Liam in Japanese

リアム
Katakana
リアム
Hiragana
りあむ
Romaji (Hepburn)
Riamu

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

How Liam sounds in Japanese

Read it one katakana at a time:

Ri
A
Mu

Full reading: Riamu

Do more with Liam in Japanese

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

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 Liam becomes リアム 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.