Hugo
ユーゴー
Yūgō
Also written ユゴー and ユーゴ.
How It Is Said
- ユyu
- ーu
- ゴgo
- ーo
Yūgō: four beats, each about the same length. Japanese has no strong stress, so the name is said evenly, beat by beat.
By Language
| Language | Katakana | Rōmaji | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| French | ユーゴー | Yūgō | the usual form |
| ユゴー | Yugō | also in use | |
| ユーゴ | Yūgo | also in use | |
| Spanish | ウゴ | Ugo | the usual form |
| ウーゴ | Ūgo | also in use |
What Happens to the Sounds
- The h is silent in French: ユーゴー.
- The bar ー makes the vowel before it long, one beat more: ユー (yū).
- In Spanish, the h is silent: ウゴ; so in Spanish, Hugo is ウゴ (Ugo).
Victor Hugo is ユーゴー in Japanese, after the French; in Spanish the h is silent, so Hugo is ウゴ.
To Type It
On a computer with Japanese input switched on, type yu-go- (the - key gives the bar ー), then press F7 on Windows or Control+K on a Mac to turn it into katakana. On a phone, type the same letters with the Japanese keyboard and choose ユーゴー among the suggestions.
The Same Name in Other Languages
Why Katakana
In Japan, names from abroad are written in katakana, the script for words from other languages. Kanji versions of Western names are mostly invented, and a Japanese reader often sees odd meanings in them; the katakana is what a Japanese person would really write. More on katakana and names
