Best Overall
理
りー
The most balanced reading — natural sound, clear meaning.
- 理 reason
Lee in Japanese Kanji
Pronounced リー · りー · ri
Elegant
莉
りー
Softer characters, chosen for how they look and feel on the page.
- 莉 jasmine
Bold
利
りー
Stronger strokes and more striking meanings.
- 利 benefit
How these characters were chosen
Japanese has no letters for foreign names, so a name is first written in katakana — リー — which records how it sounds. Kanji are then chosen whose readings match those sounds. Because many characters share the same reading, there is never a single correct spelling; there are only choices, and each one changes what the name says.
理 is built from 理 (reason). Every character here comes from a hand-checked dictionary, and combinations that happen to spell an ordinary Japanese word are rejected before you ever see them.