Your name in Korean: how Hangul works and how names are spelled

What Hangul is and where it came from

Hangul is the Korean alphabet. Before it existed, Korean was written with Chinese characters, which took years to learn and did not fit the Korean language well, so most ordinary people could not read or write. King Sejong the Great of the Joseon dynasty set out to change that. In 1443 he and his scholars completed a new script, and in 1446 it was published in a book called Hunminjeongeum, which means the correct sounds for teaching the people.

The design is famously logical. Consonant shapes are based on how the mouth, tongue and throat look when the sound is made, and stronger sounds add an extra stroke. Vowels are built from three simple elements that stood for heaven, earth and people: a dot, a horizontal line and a vertical line. Sejong is said to have claimed that a clever person could learn the letters in a morning, and many learners today find that is not far off.

Hangul Day on October 9

South Korea celebrates Hangul Day, called Hangeullal, on October 9, the date linked to the publication of Hunminjeongeum. It is a national public holiday with exhibitions, calligraphy events and lots of attention on beautiful lettering. North Korea marks its own Korean Alphabet Day on January 15. Hunminjeongeum is also listed in UNESCO's Memory of the World register, and Hangul often appears in lists of the world's best-designed writing systems.

Because of the date, early October is a popular time for people around the world to look up their name in Korean, try a little calligraphy or send a friend a card with their name in Hangul. This tool was made for exactly that kind of fun.

How syllable blocks work

Modern Hangul has 14 basic consonants and 10 basic vowels, plus double consonants and combined vowels. Unlike English, the letters are not written in a long row. They are grouped into square blocks, and each block is one syllable. A block always starts with a consonant, followed by a vowel, and may end with a final consonant called batchim.

When a syllable starts with a vowel sound, a silent circle-shaped letter fills the starting position. That is why the Korean spelling of Emma begins with a circle. Vertical vowels sit to the right of the first consonant, horizontal vowels sit below it, and the final consonant goes at the bottom. The result shows how each block is read, for example ma-i-keul for Michael, so you can sound your name out piece by piece.

• Consonant + vowel: a simple block such as ma or so.
• Consonant + vowel + final consonant: a closed block such as min or keul.
• Silent circle + vowel: a block that starts with a vowel sound, such as i or a.

How foreign names become Korean

Korean does not translate names by meaning. It writes them by sound, a process called transliteration. The National Institute of Korean Language publishes official rules for writing foreign words, and newspapers and publishers follow them. Many common names have a standard spelling, so the tool uses a dictionary of well-known given names and surnames first, such as Michael, Sophia, Smith or Garcia.

For any other name, the tool breaks the spelling into sounds, handles letter groups like sh, ch, th and ee, and builds Korean blocks one by one. It follows a few rules from the official guidelines. A stray consonant that has no vowel after it gets a soft eu sound, which is why Smith has three blocks. An r at the end of a syllable is often dropped, as in British English. An l between vowels is written twice. Cyrillic names are first converted to Latin letters, and Japanese kana use their own conversion table.

Why your name can have more than one spelling

Korean has fewer sounds than English in some areas. There is no separate f or v, and l and r share one letter, so different names can end up looking similar. On top of that, the same written name sounds different in English, French, Spanish or German, and Korean follows the sound. Some celebrities and brands also keep traditional spellings that differ from the rules. That means you may see a slightly different version of your name elsewhere, and both can be acceptable.

If you know how your family pronounces your name and the result looks off, try typing it the way it sounds. Small changes in the input, such as Jon instead of John or Ana instead of Anna, can move the Korean spelling closer to how you actually say it.

Tips for cards, tattoos and gifts

A Korean name card is a lovely way to celebrate Hangul Day, decorate a profile, or start a conversation with Korean friends. Pick a card style, save the image and share the link so friends can see the same card. Nothing you type is sent to a server; everything happens in your browser.

• For a tattoo, engraving or printed gift, always have a native Korean speaker check the spelling and the lettering first.
• Ask friends to make their own cards and compare how your names look side by side.
• Try your full name, a nickname and your favorite character's name to see different block patterns.
• Practice writing your name by hand, copying the order of the blocks shown under the card.