Luis
ルイス
Ruisu
How It Is Said
- ルru
- イi
- スsu
Ruisu: three 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish | ルイス | Ruisu | |
| Portuguese (Luís) | ルイス | Ruisu |
What Happens to the Sounds
- Japanese has no l. It uses its one sound between l and r, a light tap of the tongue, written ラ リ ル レ ロ: ル (ru).
- Japanese syllables end in a vowel or in ン, so the final s takes a light vowel: ス (su).
Luís Fróis, the Portuguese missionary who wrote a history of Japan in the 16th century, is ルイス・フロイス there.
To Type It
On a computer with Japanese input switched on, type ruisu, 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 ルイス 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
