Spellings of these surnames
Korean surnames have no single official spelling. Use the one that is already in your passport.
Uses the Revised Romanization of Korean (2000), the system on Korean road signs. Sound changes inside a word are applied (신라 → Silla). A few depend on the meaning of the word, so check place names against an official sign.
About the Hangul romanizer
This tool writes Korean (Hangul) in Latin letters. It follows the Revised Romanization of Korean (국어의 로마자 표기법, 2000). This is the official system in South Korea. You see it on road signs, subway maps and in passports: Seoul, Busan, Jongno, Gyeongbokgung.
Revised Romanization writes Korean the way it sounds, not letter by letter. So 신라 is Silla, not "Sinla", and 종로 is Jongno. The tool knows these sound rules. It also has a mode for people's names (로마자 이름) and a letter by letter mode, which keeps every Hangul letter so the word can be written back. Koreans search for this as 로마자 변환 or 영문 주소 변환.
Features
- Sound rules — liaison, nasal sounds, the ㄹ rules, ㅎ sounds, palatal sounds (같이 → gachi) and the added ㄴ in common words
- Addresses — a hyphen before 시, 도, 구, 동, 로, 길 like on official signs: Jongno-gu, Sejong-daero 175
- Person's names — surname first, usual spellings (Kim, Lee, Park) or the rule spelling (Gim, I, Bak), with the other spellings listed
- Letter by letter — the transliteration of RR §3.8 (값 → gabs), so the Hangul can be rebuilt
- Options — capital letters, hyphens where letters could be misread (Jung-ang), passport-style capitals
- Live and private — the result changes as you type, and nothing leaves your browser
The letters
Vowels
| ㅏ | ㅓ | ㅗ | ㅜ | ㅡ | ㅣ | ㅐ | ㅔ | ㅚ | ㅟ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | eo | o | u | eu | i | ae | e | oe | wi |
| ㅑ | ㅕ | ㅛ | ㅠ | ㅒ | ㅖ | ㅘ | ㅙ | ㅝ | ㅞ | ㅢ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ya | yeo | yo | yu | yae | ye | wa | wae | wo | we | ui |
Consonants — some are written in two ways. Before a vowel ㄱ ㄷ ㅂ are g, d, b; at the end of a syllable they are k, t, p. ㄹ is r before a vowel and l at the end, and ㄹㄹ is ll.
| Letter | Before a vowel | At the end |
|---|---|---|
| ㄱ ㄲ ㅋ | g, kk, k | k |
| ㄷ ㄸ ㅌ | d, tt, t | t |
| ㅂ ㅃ ㅍ | b, pp, p | p |
| ㅈ ㅉ ㅊ | j, jj, ch | t |
| ㅅ ㅆ ㅎ | s, ss, h | t |
| ㄴ ㅁ ㅇ | n, m, (silent) | n, m, ng |
| ㄹ | r | l |
The sound rules it applies
| Rule | Hangul | Said like | Romanized |
|---|---|---|---|
| A final moves to the next vowel | 한국어 | [한구거] | hangugeo |
| ㄱ ㄷ ㅂ before ㄴ ㅁ become nasal | 백마 | [뱅마] | Baengma |
| 국물 | [궁물] | gungmul | |
| ㄹ after ㅁ, ㅇ becomes ㄴ | 종로 | [종노] | Jongno |
| ㄹ after ㄱ ㄷ ㅂ becomes ㄴ | 왕십리 | [왕심니] | Wangsimni |
| ㄴ + ㄹ becomes ㄹㄹ | 신라 | [실라] | Silla |
| ㄹ + ㄴ becomes ㄹㄹ | 별내 | [별래] | Byeollae |
| An ㄴ is added | 학여울 | [항녀울] | Hangnyeoul |
| ㄷ, ㅌ + 이 become 지, 치 | 해돋이 | [해도지] | haedoji |
| 같이 | [가치] | gachi | |
| ㅎ + ㄱ ㄷ ㅈ become ㅋ ㅌ ㅊ | 좋다 | [조타] | jota |
| In nouns, ㅎ after ㄱ ㄷ ㅂ stays h | 묵호 | [무코] | Mukho |
| Hard sounds are not written | 압구정 | [압꾸정] | Apgujeong |
More place names: 부산 Busan, 독립문 Dongnimmun, 속리산 Songnisan, 한라산 Hallasan, 대관령 Daegwallyeong, 경복궁 Gyeongbokgung, 광희문 Gwanghuimun. Everyday words: 안녕하세요 annyeonghaseyo, 감사합니다 gamsahamnida, 괜찮아요 gwaenchanayo, 떡볶이 tteokbokki, 비빔밥 bibimbap.
Korean names in English
Revised Romanization has no fixed rule for surnames, and many Koreans keep an older spelling. Names have several accepted spellings. The spelling in your passport is the one to use. The tool shows the usual spelling first and lists the others.
| Surname | Usual spelling | Other spellings | By the RR rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| 김 | Kim | — | Gim |
| 이 | Lee | Yi, Rhee | I |
| 박 | Park | Pak | Bak |
| 최 | Choi | Choe | Choe |
| 정 | Jung | Jeong, Chung | Jeong |
| 강 | Kang | — | Gang |
| 조 | Cho | Jo | Jo |
| 윤 | Yoon | Yun | Yun |
| 장 | Jang | Chang | Jang |
| 임 | Lim | Im | Im |
The rules say: write the surname first, then a space, then the given name joined (a hyphen is allowed). Sound changes inside a given name are not written. So 한복남 is Han Boknam (not Bongnam) and 홍빛나 is Hong Bitna. In "Person's name" mode, 김민준 gives Kim Minjun, or Gim Minjun with the rule spelling, or Kim Min-jun with the hyphen.
Addresses
Tick Address and the tool puts a hyphen before the unit, the way official signs do. Sound changes are not carried across the hyphen.
| Address | Romanized |
|---|---|
| 서울특별시 종로구 세종대로 175 | Seoul-teukbyeolsi Jongno-gu Sejong-daero 175 |
| 경기도 성남시 분당구 | Gyeonggi-do Seongnam-si Bundang-gu |
| 강남대로94길 | Gangnam-daero 94-gil |
| 종로2가 | Jongno 2-ga |
A road called 종로 is Jong-ro on road signs, while the district 종로구 is Jongno-gu. Short city names like 대구 and 안동 keep no hyphen.
Letter by letter
The normal romanization follows the sound, so you cannot always write the Hangul back from it. RR §3.8 has a second way for libraries and research: one Latin spelling for each Hangul letter. ㄱ ㄷ ㅂ ㄹ are always g, d, b, l, and a silent ㅇ inside a word is a hyphen.
| Hangul | By the sound | Letter by letter |
|---|---|---|
| 값 | gap | gabs |
| 읽다 | ikda | ilgda |
| 좋다 | jota | johda |
| 학여울 | Hangnyeoul | hag-yeo-ul |
| 없었습니다 | eopseotseumnida | eobs-eoss-seubnida |
Frequently asked questions
Why is 신라 Silla and not Sinla?
Revised Romanization writes the sound. When ㄴ meets ㄹ, Koreans say [실라], so it is written Silla. In the same way 종로 is said [종노] and written Jongno.
How should I write my Korean name in English?
Use "Person's name". Write the surname first, then the given name in one word: Hong Gildong. If you already have a passport, use exactly the spelling in it, because banks, visas and plane tickets must match.
Is it Lee or Yi? Kim or Gim?
Both are correct. By the rule 이 is "I" and 김 is "Gim", but almost everyone writes Lee and Kim. Other common pairs are Park/Bak, Choi/Choe and Jung/Jeong. The tool lists them for every surname it finds.
Why is 축하합니다 "chukahamnida"?
When ㄱ ㄷ ㅂ meet ㅎ, RR writes the h in nouns (묵호 Mukho, 집현전 Jiphyeonjeon) and makes one sound in verbs (잡혀 japyeo). The tool cannot read the meaning, so it makes one sound only before 하다 and 히다 endings. Check names of places against a road sign.
Does it use McCune–Reischauer?
No. McCune–Reischauer is the older system with marks like ŏ and ŭ (Pusan, Sŏul). It is still used in North Korea and in some books. This tool uses only the Revised Romanization of South Korea.
Can it be wrong?
A few rules depend on the meaning of the word, for example the added ㄴ (학여울 → Hangnyeoul). The tool knows the common cases. For an official name, check the sign or the website of the place.
Good to know
- Spaces stay where you put them; the sound rules work only inside a word
- Numbers, Latin letters and punctuation are not changed
- Single letters like ㅋㅋ are written with their sound (kk)
- Nothing you type is sent anywhere
Related tools
- Korean English Typing Converter — fix text typed on the wrong keyboard (한영 변환)
- Your Name in Korean — an English name in Hangul (the other way round)
- Korean Keyboard — type in Hangul online
- Korean Age Calculator — 만 나이 and 세는 나이
- Pinyin Converter — Chinese characters to pinyin
- Furigana Converter — Japanese kanji to hiragana and romaji
How to use it
- Choose Words & places, Person's name or Letter by letter
- Type or paste Korean text in the left box. The Latin letters show on the right as you type
- For an address, tick Address to get Jongno-gu and Sejong-daero
- For a name, pick the surname spelling, the order and the hyphen you want. The other spellings of the surname show below
- Press Copy to copy the result
