How to pronounce Korean last names
The English spelling of a Korean surname is often a poor guide to its sound. Lee is “ee”. Choi is “chweh”, not “choy”. Park has no R. Kim is the only common one that sounds exactly as written. This guide gives the real pronunciation of the 40 most common surnames and the four rules behind the mismatches.
Look up any surname's Hangul
Four rules that explain most of it
1. Korean has no R in most of these names
Park (박) is bahk; Kwak (곽) is kwahk; Kwon (권) is kwuhn. The R was added by early romanizers to show that the vowel is long and open, not to be pronounced. Pronounce “Park” the way a Bostonian would — with no R — and you are close.
2. The initial L is silent in South Korea
Lee (이) is simply ee; Lim (임) is eem. Korean words cannot begin with the ㄹ sound in the South, so the historical Ri/Rim became I/Im. The spelling “Lee” was kept because it looked like a name in English. North Koreans do pronounce the R: Ri, Rim.
3. Korean vowels are pure — no glide
English speakers turn “o” into “ow” and “e” into “ay”; Korean does not. Cho (조) is a clipped jo, Seo (서) is suh, Bae (배) is beh. Two-letter combinations like “oi” and “ae” are single vowels: Choi (최) is one syllable, chweh, not cho-ee.
4. Initial consonants are softer than their spelling
The Korean ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅈ at the start of a word sit between English voiced and voiceless sounds — Kim (김) is between kim and gim, Park between park and bark, Jung between jung and chung. That is why the same surname is spelled Kim/Gim, Park/Bak and Jung/Chung: romanizers heard different halves of the same sound. Aim for a soft, unaspirated consonant and either spelling will be understood.
Pronunciation guide: the 40 most common surnames
| Surname | Hangul | Say it | Also spelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kim | 김 | exactly as it looks: "kim" with a short i | Ghim, Kin |
| Lee | 이 | in Korean it is simply "ee" (이) — the L is silent in South Korea; North Koreans say "ree" | Lee, Yi, Rhee |
| Park | 박 | closer to "bahk" (박) — the r is not pronounced | Park, Pack, Bark |
| Jung | 정 | "jung" rhymes with "sung"; older spelling Chung is the same sound | Jung, Chung, Joung |
| Choi | 최 | "chweh" (최), one syllable — not "choy" | Choi, Choy, Che |
| Cho | 조 | "jo" (조), like the English name Joe | Joe, Joh, Jho |
| Kang | 강 | "kahng" with a soft k (강) | Khang, Kahng, Kwang |
| Jang | 장 | "jahng" (장), sometimes spelled Chang | Jhang, Zhang, Jahng |
| Yoon | 윤 | "yoon" (윤), rhymes with moon | Yoon, Youn, Yune |
| Lim | 임 | "eem" (임) — the L is silent in South Korea | Lim, Yim, Rim |
| Shin | 신 | "shin" (신), like the English word | Shin, Sheen, Sihn |
| Yoo | 유 | "yoo" (유), like the word you | Yoo, You, Ryu |
| Han | 한 | "hahn" (한) | Hahn, Hann, Haan |
| Oh | 오 | "oh" (오), a pure o sound | Oh, Ou, Ohe |
| Seo | 서 | "suh" (서) — not "see-oh" | Suh, Su, Sur |
| Jeon | 전 | "juhn" (전), often spelled Chun or Jun | Jun, Chun, Chon |
| Kwon | 권 | "kwuhn" (권), one syllable | Kwon, Kweon, Kwun |
| Hwang | 황 | "hwahng" (황) | Whang, Hoang, Huang |
| Ahn | 안 | "ahn" (안), like the French "an" | Ahn, Ann, Anh |
| Song | 송 | "song" (송), a rounder o than the English word | Soung, Shong, Sohng |
| Yang | 양 | "yahng" (양) | Ryang, Yaung, Young |
| Ko | 고 | "go" (고), with a soft k | Koh, Goh, Kho |
| Moon | 문 | "moon" (문), like the word moon | Moon, Mon, Moun |
| Son | 손 | "sohn" (손), like the English word sewn | Sohn, Shon, Sun |
| Bae | 배 | "beh" (배), rhymes with day | Bea, Bai, Pai |
| Baek | 백 | "bek" (백), one syllable | Back, Baik, Paik |
| Heo | 허 | "huh" (허) — Hur and Huh are attempts at the same sound | Hur, Huh, Her |
| Noh | 노 | "no" (노) | Noh, Roh, Ro |
| Nam | 남 | "nahm" (남) | Nahm, Nham, Nan |
| Shim | 심 | "sheem" (심) | Shim, Sym, Seem |
| Ha | 하 | "hah" (하) | Hah, Har, Hwa |
| Joo | 주 | "joo" (주), like the word Jew without the vowel glide | Joo, Choo, Jou |
| Koo | 구 | "goo" (구) | Koo, Goo, Kuh |
| Kwak | 곽 | "kwahk" (곽), one syllable | Kwag, Kwack, Gwag |
| Sung | 성 | "sung" (성), rhymes with hung | Sung, Soung, Seoung |
| Woo | 우 | "oo" (우) — the w is barely heard | Woo, Wu, Wo |
| Cha | 차 | "chah" (차) | Char, Tcha, Tchah |
| Jin | 진 | "jeen" (진) | Jhin, Jean, Gin |
| Min | 민 | "meen" (민) | Minn, Mihn, Meen |
| Ryu | 류 | "ryoo" (류), one syllable with a tapped r | Yoo, Ryoo, Yu |
Stress and tone
Korean has no word stress. Each syllable gets equal weight and length, so a three-syllable full name is three even beats — Kim Yu-na with no syllable louder than the others, rather than the English habit of stressing the first (KIM yuna) or last. There are no tones either; Korean is not Chinese in this respect. Pitch does rise slightly on the final syllable of a question.
The names people get wrong most
- Choi — chweh, rhyming with “sway” with a ch. Never “choy”.
- Lee — ee. If a Korean introduces themselves as “Ee Ji-eun”, that is a Lee.
- Park — bahk. Drop the R entirely.
- Jung / Jeong / Chung — all jung, rhyming with “sung”. The eo is the vowel in “sun”.
- Seo / Suh — suh, the vowel of “sun”. Not “see-oh”.
- Heo / Hur / Huh — huh. Three spellings of the same short syllable.
- Kwon — one syllable, kwuhn. Not “kwon” like “won”.
- Yoo / Yu / Ryu — yoo; Ryu (류) has a light tapped r at the front.
- Baek / Paik / Back — bek, one syllable, vowel of “bet”.
- Hwang — hwahng, with the h and w both sounded.
Frequently asked questions
How do you pronounce the Korean last name Lee?
In South Korea, simply “ee” — the L is silent, because Korean words cannot begin with that sound. In North Korea it is pronounced “ree” and spelled Ri.
How do you pronounce Choi?
“Chweh”, one syllable, rhyming with “sway”. The common English pronunciation “choy” is wrong.
How is Park pronounced in Korean?
“Bahk” — there is no R sound. The R in the spelling was added to show a long open vowel.
Is it Jung or Jeong?
Both are the same surname 정, pronounced “jung” rhyming with “sung”. Jeong is the official Revised Romanization; Jung and Chung are older passport spellings.
Why is Kim sometimes spelled Gim?
The initial ㄱ in Korean sits between English k and g. Gim is the official Revised Romanization; Kim is the spelling almost every family actually uses.