Name in Japanese N Nathaniel

Nathaniel in Japanese

ナサニエル
Katakana
ナサニエル
Hiragana
なさにえる
Romaji (Hepburn)
Nasanieru

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

How Nathaniel sounds in Japanese

Read it one katakana at a time:

Na
Sa
Ni
E
Ru

Full reading: Nasanieru

Do more with Nathaniel in Japanese

Why Nathaniel 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, Nathaniel appears as ナサニエル. This is the correct and respectful way a non-Japanese name is represented; it is not a kanji "translation". A Japanese reader sees ナサニエル and immediately reads it by its sound, Nasanieru.

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 Nathaniel becomes ナサニエル 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.