Romanize a Korean name the way the passport rule does, and see which spellings other passport holders chose.
Korean Passport Name Romanizer
HONG GILDONG
This is the spelling the rule itself produces.Everything runs in your browser — no name is sent anywhere. This page explains the published rules; the passport office applies them, and only it can confirm a spelling or a change.
How to use the Korean passport name romanizer
Type the family name and the given name in Hangul, exactly as they appear on the family relation register (가족관계등록부) — the passport rule starts from that record, not from the resident register or an English name you use.
The page romanizes each syllable on its own, as the rule requires, so 빛나 is BITNA even though it is said [빈나]. This is the spelling the regulation describes.
Under each syllable are the spellings passport holders actually use, with MOFA's own counts — for 이 as a family name, 98.68% chose LEE. Click a spelling to see the full name with it.
The notes say whether a spelling could be changed later, flag spellings with a negative meaning in English, and flag single-letter names that airlines struggle with. A passport keeps its romanized name on renewal, so the first choice matters.
How a Korean passport name is romanized, and why the first choice sticks
A Korean passport shows the holder's name twice: in Hangul, and in Roman letters. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is explicit that the Roman-letter version is a transliteration of the Hangul name, required by the international passport standard — "not an English name". The rule, in the Enforcement Rules of the Passport Act, is that the Hangul name on the family relation register is romanized syllable by syllable, matching its sound, using the Revised Romanization of Korean. The given name is written as one word; a hyphen between syllables is allowed, and so is a space. MOFA's own examples are HONG GILDONG for 홍길동 and KIM BITNA for 김빛나.
The rule and the reality
Family names are where the rule and practice part company. Revised Romanization spells 이 as I, 김 as GIM and 박 as BAK, but MOFA's statistics on 23 million valid passports show 98.68% of people named 이 using LEE, 99.53% of people named 김 using KIM, and 96.35% of people named 박 using PARK. Customary spellings are accepted, and they are so common that they are protected: a spelling used by enough people cannot later be changed on the ground that it does not match the pronunciation. Given names split more evenly — for the syllable 정, JUNG and JEONG are both widely used — which is why this page shows the counts for each syllable rather than a single answer.
98.68% of the 4,260,334 passport holders named 이 spell it LEE, and 1.00% spell it YI. The romanization rule itself gives I. — Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 외교부고시 제2018-1호 예시 목록
Why you should choose carefully
Immigration systems identify travellers by the romanized name and date of birth, so a passport keeps its romanized name when it is renewed, and changes are allowed only on the grounds the Passport Act's Enforcement Decree lists. They include a spelling that plainly does not match the pronunciation — but not one that follows the romanization rules, and not one used by enough other people with the same name: since the revision of 31 December 2024, a spelling used by 50% or more, or by 10,000 or more, of them. Other grounds include a spelling with an obviously negative meaning (MOFA's examples include SIN, GANG and SUCK), a name already used abroad for work or study, matching family members' family names for travel together, adding a spouse's family name, and a first passport that has never been used. Even an approved change can cause questions when you re-enter a country you visited under the old spelling.
For Koreans and their families in Southeast Asia
Work passes, school records, bank accounts and residence permits across Southeast Asia are issued in the romanized passport name, so a spelling that differs between documents can hold up an application. For families travelling or living abroad together, MOFA accepts matching the family name to other family members' passports as a ground for change — so it helps to see which spelling the rest of the family already uses before the first application, rather than after.
LEE for 98.68% of 이, a family name split between JUNG and JEONG, and the spellings you may change for what they mean in English
The romanized name in a Korean passport is a transliteration of the Hangul name — the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says in as many words that it is not an English name.
The rule romanizes the name syllable by syllable, so 김빛나 is KIM BITNA: 빛 is BIT on its own, even though 빛나 is said [빈나].
Of 4,260,334 passport holders named 이, 98.68% spell it LEE and 1.00% spell it YI; the romanization rule itself gives I.
99.53% of the 6,085,737 holders named 김 spell it KIM; the rule's GIM is used by 27,575, or 0.45%.
The family name 정 is split: JUNG 46.02%, JEONG 40.96%, CHUNG 8.34% and JOUNG 1.88%.
As a given-name syllable, 영 is YOUNG for 80.83% of holders, though the rule gives YEONG.
Since 31 December 2024 a spelling used by 50% or more of people with the same name, or by 10,000 or more of them, cannot be changed on the ground that it does not match the pronunciation. The share threshold was 1% before.
MOFA accepts a change for a spelling with an obviously negative English meaning, listing among its examples SIN, GANG, SUCK, KILL, BARK and DUCK.
A given name that is a single letter can be extended, so KIM A may become KIM AH — but KIM JOO A may not become KIM JOO AH, because only the whole name counts.
A spouse's family name can be added to a passport, in the form "spouse of" followed by the spouse's romanized family name.
Frequently asked questions
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The Hangul name on the family relation register is romanized syllable by syllable, matching its sound, by the Revised Romanization of Korean (여권법 시행규칙 제2조의2). The given name is written as one word; a hyphen or a space between syllables is also allowed.
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Yes. Customary spellings are accepted and are by far the most common: MOFA's statistics show 99.53% of people named 김 using KIM and 98.68% of people named 이 using LEE. This page lists the spellings holders actually use for each syllable.
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Because the passport rule romanizes each syllable on its own. 빛 alone is BIT. Ordinary Revised Romanization of the word would follow the pronunciation [빈나], but a passport name does not.
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Only on the grounds in 여권법 시행령 제3조의2 — for example a spelling that plainly does not match the pronunciation, a name already used for work or study abroad, matching family members, adding a spouse's family name, a first passport never used, or a spelling with a negative meaning. A spelling that follows the rules, or that 50% or more (or 10,000 or more) of people with the name use, cannot be changed for not matching the pronunciation.
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Joined is the rule (GILDONG); a hyphen (GIL-DONG) or a space (GIL DONG) is allowed. Whichever you choose will be kept on renewal, and a later change of spacing can invalidate a visa issued in the old form, so choose once and consistently.
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MOFA's examples include SIN (신), GANG (강), SUCK (석), ILL (일), BUM (범), GUN (건), KILL (길), NO (노), BIN (빈), DUCK (덕) and BARK (박). Discomfort alone is not enough; the word must be listed with a clearly negative meaning in a published dictionary.
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It can be with airline bookings and immigration systems. MOFA allows a change when the family name, or the whole given name, is a single letter — KIM A to KIM AH — but not when one syllable of a longer name is, so KIM JOO A cannot become KIM JOO AH.
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They are the figures MOFA published with its 2018 notice, from 23 million valid passports, covering 20 common family names and 100 common given-name syllables. Shares will have shifted since; treat them as MOFA's published snapshot. Syllables outside those lists show the rule's spelling only.
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They are romanized syllable by syllable and joined, as NAMGUNG. MOFA published no statistics for them.
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No. The romanization and the statistics are computed in your browser; nothing is transmitted or stored.
Method & sources
How it computes
Each syllable of the registered Hangul name is romanized on its own by Revised Romanization (여권법 시행규칙 제2조의2: "음절 단위로 음역에 맞게"), upper case, given name joined (hyphen or space allowed). Counts and shares are MOFA's published figures (외교부고시 제2018-1호). A spelling is protected from a "does not match the pronunciation" change if it is the rule's own or used by 50% or 10,000 of that syllable's holders (standard revised 31 Dec 2024).
What this tool implements
- The spelling rule is MOFA's: syllable by syllable, by the Ministry of Culture's romanization, given name joined with a hyphen or space allowed. The test suite reproduces MOFA's own examples, HONG GILDONG and KIM BITNA.
- Holder counts are MOFA's published figures for 20 family names and 100 given-name syllables from 23 million valid passports, transcribed from MOFA's document and verified twice: by checksum against the rendered document (sum of counts 145,731,609; 354 spellings), and by recomputing 32 of the percentages MOFA printed beside the counts — all match. The data file is generated from that transcription and --check fails on drift.
- ⚠️ The figures are MOFA's 2018 snapshot, published with its 2018 notice. The page labels them as such and does not present them as current shares.
- Protection from a "does not match the pronunciation" change is computed from the current standard (50% or 10,000, revised 31 December 2024, previously 1% or 10,000). The page describes the other grounds for change in prose and says the passport office decides.
- Negative-meaning flags use MOFA's published examples (SIN, GANG, SUCK, ILL, BUM, GUN, KILL, NO, BIN, DUCK, BARK) and the 2018 list's footnotes (GUN under 근, SICK under 식).
Sources
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs (passport.go.kr), 로마자성명 표기의 기본방법: https://www.passport.go.kr/home/kor/contents.do?menuPos=37
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs (passport.go.kr), 로마자성명 표기의 변경 허용 요건 (여권법 시행령 제3조의2 grounds): https://www.passport.go.kr/home/kor/contents.do?menuPos=39
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 외교부고시 제2018-1호 and 로마자표기 성명의 정정 등이 제한되는 예시 목록 (published 2018-06-21): https://overseas.mofa.go.kr/gt-ko/brd/m_5678/view.do?seq=1344782
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs, notice of the 31 December 2024 revision of the change-restriction standard (1% → 50%; 10,000 unchanged), published 2025-01-09: https://overseas.mofa.go.kr/kh-siemreap-ko/brd/m_2414/view.do?seq…
- National Institute of Korean Language, Romanization of Korean (current notice 문화체육관광부 고시 제2024-27호): https://korean.go.kr/front_eng/roman/roman_01.do
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