Korean writes foreign names in Hangul, packing letters into square syllable blocks. Each block holds a starting consonant, a vowel and sometimes a final consonant, so a name is spelled one beat at a time. Common English names have spellings Koreans already use, and the converter shows those. Other names are sounded out and marked as approximate.
Popular Names in Hangul
| Name | Hangul (romanization) |
|---|---|
| Emma | 엠마 (emma) |
| Olivia | 올리비아 (ollibia) |
| Charlotte | 샬럿 (syalleot) |
| Grace | 그레이스 (geureiseu) |
| Lucy | 루시 (rusi) |
| Liam | 리암 (riam) |
| Noah | 노아 (noa) |
| Oliver | 올리버 (ollibeo) |
| James | 제임스 (jeimseu) |
| Michael | 마이클 (maikeul) |
| Jack | 잭 (jaek) |
| David | 데이비드 (deibideu) |
| Peter | 피터 (piteo) |
| Smith | 스미스 (seumiseu) |
| Taylor | 테일러 (teilleo) |
How a Syllable Block Works
Hangul has 14 basic consonants and 10 basic vowels. A block always starts with a consonant; when a syllable starts with a vowel sound, the silent circle ㅇ fills that slot. The same ㅇ at the bottom of a block is pronounced "ng".
엠마 — Emma, two blocks: em + ma
- M, N, K, T, P, S, L and R all have close Hangul letters
- Short final consonants can close a block (잭 Jack, 닉 Nick)
- A doubled L stays doubled across blocks (엘라 Ella); other doubled letters are usually written once (토미 Tommy), though a few settled spellings keep them (엠마 Emma)
- F becomes ㅍ (p), V becomes ㅂ (b) and Z becomes ㅈ (j)
- L and R share one letter, ㄹ
- Leftover consonants get the vowel ㅡ (eu), so Smith is 스미스
The romanization shown under each result follows the Revised Romanization of Korean, the official system since 2000, which is why 스 reads "seu" rather than "s".
Common Questions
How do you write your name in Korean?
Split the name into its sounds, then build one block per syllable: a consonant, a vowel, and a final consonant if the syllable ends in one. Michael becomes 마 (ma) 이 (i) 클 (keul). The converter does this for you and uses the common spelling when one exists.
Why are there different Korean spellings of the same name?
Korean spells loanwords by sound, and the official loanword rules sometimes differ from what people actually use. Matthew is 매슈 under the rules but 매튜 in everyday use. The tool prefers the spelling you are most likely to see.
Do Koreans write the surname first?
Korean names put the family name first, but foreign names usually keep their own order. Peter Parker is written 피터 파커, given name first.