eli5: how does romaji work with english names?

Question

if my name is Victor then the Japanese name would be ヴィクトル but then why does the romaji spelling become Vikutoru instead of Victor?

In: 0

Answer 1

Romaji is just another “alphabet” for spelling Japanese, not a way to write English. Vikutoru replicates the Japanese pronunciation, not the English pronunciation. ク is ku, not K. ル is ru, not R.

It’s just like spelling München instead of Munich. The letters may be the same, but they’re being used to represent a different language’s sounds.