Jesús
ヘスス
Hesusu
How It Is Said
- ヘhe
- スsu
- スsu
Hesusu: three beats, each about the same length. Japanese has no strong stress, so the name is said evenly, beat by beat.
What Happens to the Sounds
- In Spanish, j (and g before e or i) is a breath from the throat, close to h: ヘ (he).
- Japanese syllables end in a vowel or in ン, so the final s takes a light vowel: ス (su).
Jesus is イエス (Iesu) in Japanese; the Spanish name Jesús is ヘスス.
To Type It
On a computer with Japanese input switched on, type hesusu, 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 ヘスス among the suggestions.
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
