Translating English names to Japanese: to elongate the vowel, or not?

Question

Would the English name "Cody" (pronounced normally, k OH - d ee) be translated into katakana as コーディ or コーディー?

I understand the dash is used to elongate vowels so I'm not sure if the "ee" sound would require it or not.

Answer 1

Both transliterations are fine and natural. You can choose whichever you like unless you are a professional writer and have to follow some opinionated guideline. But I feel I see the elongated version more often in daily life.

When you transliterate Western foreign names, short names usually have a trailing ー (e.g., ジョー, ハリー, コナー). If the name is three morae long or more without the trailing ー, then the trailing ー is often optional (e.g., ケネディ/ケネディー).

See:

• ブラウザ or ブラウザー? Words borrowed from English which end with -er