What Is Your Name in Korean: Different Ways to Ask and Answer

Learning how to introduce yourself is always the first step when picking up a new language, and Korean learning is no exception. In Korean, asking someone's name and sharing your own is not hard once you know the basic phrases. This guide will walk you through different ways of asking "what is your name," how to respond with your own name, and the transliteration rules that help you write English names in Hangul. Let's get into it.

How to say "what is your name" in Korean

The most common way to ask someone's name in Korean is 이름이 뭐예요? (i-reum-i mwo-ye-yo). This phrase works in most everyday situations and translates directly to "what is your name?"

Breaking it down:

You'll hear this phrase constantly in Korean dramas, variety shows, and real-life conversations. The pronunciation sounds like "ee-reum-ee mwo-yeh-yo" with a slight roll on each syllable.

Formal vs informal ways to ask

Korean has different politeness levels, and how you ask someone's name changes based on the situation.

If you want to add "hello" before asking someone's name, you'd say 안녕하세요, 이름이 뭐예요? (an-nyeong-ha-se-yo, i-reum-i mwo-ye-yo). Pretty simple combination.

How to respond with your name in Korean

When someone asks your name, you'll want to respond with 제 이름은 (your name)입니다 (je i-reum-eun (your name) im-ni-da). This translates to "my name is (your name)."

Here's the breakdown:

So if your name is Chris, you'd say 제 이름은 크리스입니다 (je i-reum-eun keu-ri-seu-im-ni-da).

For casual conversations, you can shorten this to just (your name)이에요 or (your name)예요 . If your name ends in a consonant, use 이에요. If it ends in a vowel, use 예요. For example, Anna would say 안나예요 (an-na-ye-yo), while David would say 데이빗이에요 (de-i-bit-i-e-yo).

Writing your English name in Korean

Here's where things get interesting. Korean doesn't have all the same sounds as English, so when you write your name in Hangul, you're matching sounds as closely as possible rather than doing a direct letter-by-letter conversion.

Basic Hangul transliteration rules

The Korean alphabet has 14 basic consonants and 10 basic vowels. Some English sounds don't exist in Korean, so you need to substitute them with the closest Korean equivalent.

Key consonant rules:

Vowel adjustments:

Every syllable in Korean must end with either a vowel or one of seven allowed final consonants (ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ, ㅇ). This means names ending in sounds like "th" or "ck" need special handling.

Examples for popular English names

Let me show you how common names get transliterated:

You can check your name transliteration using Google Translate, though it's not always perfect. Type your name in English and translate it to Korean. Google Translate will give you a Hangul version, but double-check the pronunciation to make sure it sounds close to how you actually say your name.

Korean name structure

Korean names work differently from Western names.

Cultural etiquette for using names

In Korea, using someone's name directly can actually be considered rude in many situations, especially with people older than you or in higher social positions. Instead, Koreans often use titles or relationship terms.

For example, you might call an older male coworker 형 (hyeong) if you're a male, or 오빠 (oppa) if you're female. These terms mean "older brother" but get used for non-relatives too. Teachers get called 선생님 (seonsaengnim), which means "teacher" but also shows respect.

When you first meet someone in a formal setting, using their full name with a title like 씨 (ssi) is safe. So "Chris씨" (keu-ri-seu-ssi) works well. Just don't use 씨 with family names only, that's considered awkward.

In casual friend groups, people use names freely, but even then, you might hear nicknames or shortened versions more often than full given names.

Common mistakes to avoid

When learning to say and write your name in Korean, watch out for these typical errors.

Anyway, if you're serious about learning Korean language beyond just basic phrases, Migaku's browser extension and app let you look up Korean words instantly while watching Korean shows or reading Korean content. Makes the whole immersion learning process way more practical. There's a 10-day free trial if you want to check it out.

FAQs

If you want to get comfortable with these phrases, repetition is key

Watch Korean variety shows where guests introduce themselves. You may hear 이름이 뭐예요 dozens of times per episode. Korean dramas also feature tons of introduction scenes, especially in workplace or school settings. Pay attention to how characters adjust their speech based on who they're talking to.

Getting introductions right sets the tone for every Korean conversation you'll have.✅