Mari in Japanese

Mari is written マリー in katakana. Katakana is the script Japanese people use for foreign names, so this is how Mari would appear on a Japanese ID card, a café cup or a name tag.

Our top pick is 真里 (Mari). 真 means “truth” and 里 means “hometown”. Other good options are 真理 (Mari) and 満里 (Mari).

Yes. 真里 is also found in Japan as a girl’s name, read Mari, so it looks natural to Japanese readers. For Mari, it works as both a real-looking Japanese name and a kanji spelling of your own name.

真里 has 17 strokes in total (真: 10, 里: 7). It takes some practice to write neatly, so look up the stroke order before trying it with a brush.

Each character in 真里 has a positive meaning, so it is a reasonable choice. Keep in mind that Japanese people will read it as the meaning of the characters, not instantly as “Mari”. If you want your name to be recognized, katakana (マリー) is clearer. Either way, ask a native speaker to check the final design.