Your Name in Korean
Type your name and you'll see how it's written in Korean, in hangul, with South Korea's official standard for English words. We also show you how your name sounds and what comes from each syllable.
Usual form in Korea
MichaelHow it sounds: /ˈmaɪkəl/breakdown from the dictionary pronunciation
- Mimaɪ마이
- chaelkəl컬
Approximate result, not an official translation. Before getting it tattooed or using it for anything permanent, check it with someone who speaks Korean or with a professional translator: many names have more than one correct form, and one stroke more or less changes the syllable (러 and 리, 스 and 즈).
Results are estimates. Solvemis accepts no responsibility for the results obtained or for how they are used. The transcription is approximate and isn't a certified translation: a name can be written in several ways. Before using it in a tattoo, a document or anything permanent, check it with a native speaker or a professional translator.
Solvemis is free, with no sign-up. If it helped and you’d like to support the project: Buy me a coffee
How it works
How to use it
- Type your first name as you usually write it.
- See the result in hangul, horizontal or vertical.
- Below you'll see how your name sounds in the phonetic alphabet and what comes out in hangul from each syllable.
- Press Copy to take it with you. If it's for a tattoo, check it first with someone who speaks Korean.
How it is calculated
Two steps. First, the pronunciation of your name comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, shown in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Then each sound is written in hangul with the «외래어 표기법», South Korea's official standard for writing foreign words, and its section for English: a final p, t or k after a short vowel closes the syllable (Jack, 잭), other final consonants take the vowel ㅡ, an l between vowels is written twice and an r after a vowel isn't written (Peter, 피터). On top of that there's a list of about a thousand names with the form most used in Korea for real people with that name, taken from Wikidata (Michael, 마이클). Without that list, the rules alone give the most used form for 78 % of those names.
Name → pronunciation (IPA) → hangul
Sources
- 외래어 표기법 (문화체육관광부 고시 제2017-14호) — National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원)
- The CMU Pronouncing Dictionary (© 1993-2015 Carnegie Mellon University, BSD licence) — Carnegie Mellon University
- Baby names in England and Wales: from 1996 (Open Government Licence v3.0) — Office for National Statistics
- Frequently Occurring Names from the 1990 Census — U.S. Census Bureau
- The International Phonetic Alphabet and the IPA Chart — International Phonetic Association
- Wikidata: data licensing (CC0) — Wikimedia Foundation
About this calculator
What hangul is
Hangul is the Korean alphabet. Its letters are grouped into blocks, and each block is a syllable: a consonant, a vowel and sometimes a final consonant. 잭 is j (ㅈ), a (ㅐ) and k (ㄱ) at the bottom. Foreign names are written with it by how they sound, not by how they’re spelled.
From your name to hangul, in two steps
1. How it sounds. English spelling is a poor guide to pronunciation, so the sounds of your name come from a pronunciation dictionary. Peter is /ˈpiːtə/: a long ee and a weak final vowel, spelt er.
2. How that sound is written. Then each sound is written with the Korean letter the standard assigns to it. Long vowels aren’t marked, so pi is 피, and the final er is 터, with the r left out, as in the standard’s examples. Result: 피터.
The official standard for English
South Korea’s standard for foreign words has a section for English with ten rules. The ones you’ll notice most: a final p, t or k after a short vowel closes the syllable (Jack, 잭), but after a long vowel it takes ㅡ (Mike, 마이크); an l between vowels is written twice (Charlotte, 샬럿); and [ou] is written 오, not 오우 (Joe, 조).
Forms set by usage
Some names are written in Korea in a way the standard doesn’t give: Michael is 마이클 rather than 마이컬, and Bob is usually 밥. For about a thousand names we use the form most seen in Korea for real people with that name, and we also show you the other usual forms.
Names that aren’t on our list
Our list has more than seven thousand first names, mostly from the official name statistics of England and Wales and the United States. If yours isn’t there, we say so rather than guess. If you want, we work out an approximation from similar names, clearly marked: it may not match how you say your name.
Frequently asked questions
What is hangul?
It's the Korean alphabet. It has a letter for each consonant and each vowel, but they aren't written in a row: they're grouped into one-syllable blocks. 피 is p (ㅍ) with i (ㅣ), and 터 is t (ㅌ) with eo (ㅓ). Foreign names are written with it by how they sound.
How do you know how my name sounds?
English spelling doesn't tell you how a name is pronounced: Stephen and Steven sound the same, and the ch is different in Charlotte and Christopher. So the pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which lists more than seven thousand first names, not from the spelling.
Why do some names have more than one form?
Because Korean lacks some English sounds and usage doesn't always follow the standard. Thomas is 토머스 by the standard and is also written 토마스. When usage has settled on another form, as with Michael (마이클), we give you that one and show you the others.
What if my name isn't on your list?
We tell you, and if you want we work out an approximation from similar names: Kayleigh from Kayla and Leigh. It may not match how you say your name, so check it before you use it.
Can I get it tattooed?
You can, but bear in mind it's an approximate transcription, not a certified translation, and Solvemis isn't responsible for how it's used. Before getting any tattoo, check it with someone who speaks Korean or a professional translator, who can also check the strokes: in hangul, one stroke more or less changes the syllable (러 and 리, 스 and 즈), and a tattoo isn't easy to fix.
Updated 8 October 2026
Missing something in this tool, or a tool we don't have? Write to us