diff --git a/applets/kicker/CMakeLists.txt b/applets/kicker/CMakeLists.txt
index 0df9a9044..a31ab8230 100644
--- a/applets/kicker/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/applets/kicker/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+find_package(ICU COMPONENTS i18n uc)
+
 add_definitions(
   -DQT_USE_QSTRINGBUILDER
   -DQT_NO_CAST_TO_ASCII
@@ -87,6 +89,11 @@ if (${HAVE_APPSTREAMQT})
 target_link_libraries(kickerplugin AppStreamQt)
 endif()
 
+if (ICU_FOUND)
+    target_link_libraries(kickerplugin ICU::i18n ICU::uc)
+    target_compile_definitions(kickerplugin PRIVATE "-DHAVE_ICU")
+endif()
+
 add_subdirectory(plugin/autotests)
 
 install(TARGETS kickerplugin DESTINATION ${KDE_INSTALL_QMLDIR}/org/kde/plasma/private/kicker)
diff --git a/applets/kicker/plugin/appentry.cpp b/applets/kicker/plugin/appentry.cpp
index 8ecdf63d7..3190c5f6d 100644
--- a/applets/kicker/plugin/appentry.cpp
+++ b/applets/kicker/plugin/appentry.cpp
@@ -40,6 +40,56 @@
 
 #include <Plasma/Plasma>
 
+#ifdef HAVE_ICU
+#include <unicode/translit.h>
+#endif
+
+namespace
+{
+
+QString groupName(const QString &name)
+{
+    if (name.isEmpty()) {
+        return QString();
+    }
+    // Here we will apply a locale based strategy for the first character.
+    // If first character is hangul, run decomposition and return the choseong (consonants).
+    if (name[0].script() == QChar::Script_Hangul) {
+        auto decomposed = name[0].decomposition();
+        if (decomposed.isEmpty()) {
+            return name.left(1);
+        }
+        return decomposed.left(1);
+    }
+    if (QLocale::system().language() == QLocale::Japanese) {
+        // We do this here for Japanese locale because:
+        // 1. it does not make much sense to have every different Kanji to have a different group.
+        // 2. ICU transliterator can't yet convert Kanji to Hiragana.
+        //    https://unicode-org.atlassian.net/browse/ICU-5874
+        if (name[0].script() == QChar::Script_Han) {
+            // Unicode Han
+            return QString::fromUtf8("\xe6\xbc\xa2");
+        }
+    }
+#ifdef HAVE_ICU
+    static auto ue = UErrorCode::U_ZERO_ERROR;
+    static auto transliterator =
+        std::unique_ptr<icu::Transliterator>(icu::Transliterator::createInstance("Han-Latin; "
+                                                                                 "Katakana-Hiragana; "
+                                                                                 "Latin-ASCII",
+                                                                                 UTRANS_FORWARD,
+                                                                                 ue));
+
+    if (ue == UErrorCode::U_ZERO_ERROR) {
+        icu::UnicodeString icuText(reinterpret_cast<const char16_t *>(name.data()), name.size());
+        transliterator->transliterate(icuText);
+        return QString::fromUtf16(icuText.getBuffer(), static_cast<int>(icuText.length())).left(1);
+    }
+#endif
+    return name.left(1);
+}
+}
+
 AppEntry::AppEntry(AbstractModel *owner, KService::Ptr service, NameFormat nameFormat)
     : AbstractEntry(owner)
     , m_service(service)
@@ -78,6 +128,7 @@ AppEntry::AppEntry(AbstractModel *owner, const QString &id)
 void AppEntry::init(NameFormat nameFormat)
 {
     m_name = nameFromService(m_service, nameFormat);
+    m_group = groupName(m_name);
 
     if (nameFormat == GenericNameOnly) {
         m_description = nameFromService(m_service, NameOnly);
@@ -118,6 +169,11 @@ KService::Ptr AppEntry::service() const
     return m_service;
 }
 
+QString AppEntry::group() const
+{
+    return m_group;
+}
+
 QString AppEntry::id() const
 {
     if (!m_id.isEmpty()) {
diff --git a/applets/kicker/plugin/appentry.h b/applets/kicker/plugin/appentry.h
index 1ea466d11..5c7a54f7f 100644
--- a/applets/kicker/plugin/appentry.h
+++ b/applets/kicker/plugin/appentry.h
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ public:
     QString name() const override;
     QString description() const override;
     KService::Ptr service() const;
+    QString group() const override;
 
     QString id() const override;
     QUrl url() const override;
@@ -59,6 +60,8 @@ private:
     QString m_id;
     QString m_name;
     QString m_description;
+    // Not an actual group name, but the first character for transliterated name.
+    QString m_group;
     mutable QIcon m_icon;
     KService::Ptr m_service;
     static MenuEntryEditor *m_menuEntryEditor;
diff --git a/applets/kicker/plugin/appsmodel.cpp b/applets/kicker/plugin/appsmodel.cpp
index 667afa343..63817ebb0 100644
--- a/applets/kicker/plugin/appsmodel.cpp
+++ b/applets/kicker/plugin/appsmodel.cpp
@@ -163,6 +163,8 @@ QVariant AppsModel::data(const QModelIndex &index, int role) const
         }
 
         return actionList;
+    } else if (role == Kicker::GroupRole) {
+        return entry->group();
     }
 
     return QVariant();
@@ -691,7 +693,11 @@ void AppsModel::sortEntries()
         if (a->type() != b->type()) {
             return a->type() > b->type();
         } else {
-            return c.compare(a->name(), b->name()) < 0;
+            if (a->group() != b->group()) {
+                return c.compare(a->group(), b->group()) < 0;
+            } else {
+                return c.compare(a->name(), b->name()) < 0;
+            }
         }
     });
 }
diff --git a/applets/kicker/plugin/rootmodel.cpp b/applets/kicker/plugin/rootmodel.cpp
index 837108744..03811c910 100644
--- a/applets/kicker/plugin/rootmodel.cpp
+++ b/applets/kicker/plugin/rootmodel.cpp
@@ -370,11 +370,17 @@ void RootModel::refresh()
                 for (int i = 0; i < model->count(); ++i) {
                     AbstractEntry *appEntry = static_cast<AbstractEntry *>(model->index(i, 0).internalPointer());
 
-                    if (appEntry->name().isEmpty()) {
+                    // App entry's group stores a transliterated first character of the name. Prefer to use that.
+                    QString name = appEntry->group();
+                    if (name.isEmpty()) {
+                        name = appEntry->name();
+                    }
+
+                    if (name.isEmpty()) {
                         continue;
                     }
 
-                    const QChar &first = appEntry->name().at(0).toUpper();
+                    const QChar &first = name.at(0).toUpper();
                     m_categoryHash[first.isDigit() ? QStringLiteral("0-9") : first].append(appEntry);
                 }
             }