Victor
ヴィクター
Vikutā
Also written ビクター.
How It Is Said
- ヴィvi
- クku
- タta
- ーa
Vikutā: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | ヴィクター | Vikutā | the usual form |
| ビクター | Bikutā | also in use | |
| French | ヴィクトル | Vikutoru | the usual form |
| ビクトル | Bikutoru | also in use | |
| Spanish (Víctor) | ビクトル | Bikutoru | the usual form |
| ヴィクトル | Vikutoru | also in use |
What Happens to the Sounds
- The English ending -or is written ター (tā): Japanese follows the British way of saying it, with no r.
- Japanese has no v. It is written ヴ (vu) and its row, ヴァ ヴィ ヴェ ヴォ, or more simply with the b row, バ ビ ブ ベ ボ: you will see both, ヴィクター and ビクター.
- A small kana joins the one before it into one beat: ヴィ (vi).
- In French, Victor is written ヴィクトル (Vikutoru), closer to how it is said there.
- In Spanish, v is said like b, so it is written with the b row: ビ (bi); so in Spanish, Víctor is ビクトル (Bikutoru).
Victor Hugo is ヴィクトル・ユーゴー in Japanese, after the French.
To Type It
On a computer with Japanese input switched on, type vikuta- (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 ヴィクター 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
