Rebecca
レベッカ
Rebekka
How It Is Said
- レre
- ベbe
- ッk
- カka
Rebekka: four 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
- The Japanese r is a light tap of the tongue, like the quick t in an American "water": レ (re).
- The small ッ is a short pause that doubles the next sound: ッカ (kka).
Rebecca in the Bible is リベカ (Ribeka) in Japanese.
To Type It
On a computer with Japanese input switched on, type rebekka, 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 レベッカ 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
