Name in Japanese Y Yi

Yi in Japanese

イー
Katakana
イー
Hiragana
いー
Romaji (Hepburn)
Ī

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

Read it one katakana at a time:

イー Ī

Full reading: Ī

Do more with Yi in Japanese

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

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 Yi becomes イー 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.