The short version: foreign names are written in Hangul by sound, following the official loanword rules of the National Institute of Korean Language (외래어 표기법). Consonant clusters get a soft 으 (Chris → 크리스), F becomes ㅍ (Sophia → 소피아), V becomes ㅂ (Kevin → 케빈), an L between vowels doubles to ㄹㄹ (Emily → 에밀리), and a short final consonant can tuck under the syllable (Jack → 잭). Japanese and modern Chinese names follow their own pronunciation: Tanaka → 다나카, Mao Zedong → 마오쩌둥. Find yours in the searchable list of 103 names below.
Writing your own name in Hangul is often the first thing a learner does after finishing the alphabet, and it is a lovely moment: a script that looked like circles and lines suddenly spells you. It is also where many learners first notice that Korean does not simply swap letters. Emily needs two ㄹs, Christopher grows to five syllables, and Jack fits into a single block. Every one of those changes follows a rule, and once you know the rules, you can write any name correctly.
The ten rules Korean uses to write a foreign name
These follow the official Korean loanword orthography, 외래어 표기법, issued in 1986 and maintained by the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원). The guiding principle is to write what you hear.
Find your name: 103 names in Hangul
Type your name or filter by type. English names use the common Korean spelling; Japanese and Chinese names follow the National Institute of Korean Language’s rules for each language.
Not in the list yet. Say your name aloud, split clusters with 으, turn F into ㅍ and V into ㅂ, and double an L between vowels.
Japanese and Chinese names in Korean: sound, not Hanja
Japanese and Chinese names are written in characters that Korean can also read as Hanja, so you might expect Korean to use its own Hanja readings. For the most part it does not. The loanword rules write them by their original pronunciation, with one historical exception for China.
Japanese names · by Japanese sound
다나카 유키Tanaka Yuki (田中由紀). Not 전중, the Korean Hanja reading of 田中. The same goes for places: Tokyo is 도쿄, not 동경, in modern standard writing.Chinese names · it depends on the century
마오쩌둥 · 공자People from before 1911 keep their traditional Korean Hanja reading (Confucius 孔子 is 공자); modern people are written by Chinese pronunciation (Mao Zedong 毛澤東 is 마오쩌둥).| Name | Characters | Standard Korean spelling | Korean Hanja reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tanaka | 田中 | 다나카 | 전중 |
| Takahashi | 高橋 | 다카하시 | 고교 |
| Tokyo | 東京 | 도쿄 | 동경 |
| Mao Zedong | 毛澤東 | 마오쩌둥 | 모택동 |
| Confucius | 孔子 | 공자 | 공자 |
| Beijing | 北京 | 베이징 | 북경 |
Four mistakes that make a name look off
Check yourself — five names
Pick the Hangul a Korean speaker would write.
L between vowels doubles: 에밀리.
Short vowel + final k tucks under as a batchim: 잭.
F becomes ㅍ: 소피아.
Japanese names are written by Japanese sound, with a plain ㄷ at the start: 다나카.
Clusters get 으 (크), and the final -er loses its R: 퍼.
Your name was the first word
Hanguljo takes you from Foundation lessons (Hangul, stroke order, native audio) through the TOPIK 1–6 lessons with Hanja roots and memory hooks, a 7-stage SRS engine, conversation lessons with shadowing, dictation, an OCR scanner, lessons from any Korean video you paste in, and home screen, lock screen and quiz widgets. Calm by design, free to start.
Learn Korean with Hanguljo - FreeQuick reference
- Official rules
- 외래어 표기법 (Korean loanword orthography, 1986), National Institute of Korean Language. Write the sound, not the spelling.
- Consonants
- Clusters get ㅡ (크리스); L and R → ㄹ, L between vowels → ㄹㄹ (에밀리); F → ㅍ; V → ㅂ; Z/J → ㅈ; TH → ㅅ or ㅌ; SH → 시/슈.
- Endings
- Short vowel + final p/t/k → batchim (잭, 닉, 맷); otherwise a syllable with ㅡ (케이트, 마크); post-vocalic R dropped (피터).
- Vowels
- ai → 아이, ei → 에이, short a (cat) → 애.
- Spacing
- Given name, space, family name: 존 스미스.
- Japanese and Chinese names
- By original pronunciation: Tanaka 다나카, Suzuki 스즈키, Tokyo 도쿄, Mao Zedong 마오쩌둥, Beijing 베이징; Chinese people before 1911 keep the Hanja reading (Confucius 공자).
Frequently asked questions
How do I write my name in Korean?
Write how your name sounds, using Hangul and the official loanword rules: split consonant clusters with ㅡ (Chris 크리스), turn F into ㅍ and V into ㅂ (Sophia 소피아, Kevin 케빈), double an L between vowels (Emily 에밀리), and let a short final consonant become a batchim (Jack 잭). Put a space between your given name and family name (존 스미스).
Why is Emily written 에밀리 and not 에미리?
Korean ㄹ sounds like R or a flap between vowels. To show a clear English L between vowels, Korean doubles it as ㄹㄹ: the first ㄹ closes the previous syllable and the second opens the next. So Emily is 에밀리, Lily 릴리 and Julia 줄리아.
How does Korean write Japanese and Chinese names?
By their original pronunciation, not by Korean Hanja readings. Tanaka (田中) is 다나카 and Tokyo is 도쿄. For Chinese names, people from before 1911 keep their traditional Korean reading (Confucius is 공자), while modern people follow Chinese pronunciation (Mao Zedong is 마오쩌둥, Beijing is 베이징).
Is 한나 or 해나 correct for Hannah?
Both are used. 해나 is the official dictionary form, and 한나 is common in everyday use. For a personal name, choose the one closest to how you pronounce it and use it consistently. The same applies to Matthew (매슈 / 매튜) and Joseph (조지프 / 조셉).
Do Korean names go family name first?
Korean names do: 김민수 is family name 김 plus given name 민수. Foreign names written in Hangul usually keep their original order with a space in between: 존 스미스 for John Smith.
- National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원), Korean language norms (한국어 어문 규범) — includes 외래어 표기법 with its Japanese and Chinese transcription rules.
- National Institute of Korean Language, Standard Korean Language Dictionary (표준국어대사전).
- National Institute of Korean Language, Revised Romanization of Korean.