홍길동 is written Hong Gildong, or Hong Gil-dong with the optional hyphen. Type a Korean name in Hangul to see it under Korea's official romanization — surname first and apart, given name joined — with the surname spellings the Korean passport office suggests.
Type the surname and given name together in “Name in Hangul”, e.g. 홍길동.
If the name could start with a two-syllable surname (Hwangbo + Ra, or Hwang + Bora), pick which.
Choose “Without hyphen” or “With hyphen” for the given name.
Press “Copy” beside the spelling you want.
If something goes wrong
Already have a passport? Type its spelling into “Spelling you already use” to see whether it matches, differs only by a hyphen or space, or uses other letters.
A spelling aid, not an official check. Before you write it on a passport application, check it once more in the passport office's own search at passport.go.kr.
How the spelling is madeHow this works
The rule for personal names
Korea's official romanization (국어의 로마자 표기법), chapter 3, article 4, writes a person's name surname first, then a space, then the given name joined into one word. A hyphen between the syllables of the given name is allowed. The rule's own examples are Min Yongha (Min Yong-ha) and Song Nari (Song Na-ri).
Sound changes inside a name are not written, the same article adds. The name 한복남 is said with an ng in the middle, yet it is written Han Boknam, and Hong Bitna follows the same rule even though it sounds closer to Hong Binna. So this tool takes each syllable on its own. Nothing is respelled by sound.
The surname is left open
The last line of that article reads, in effect, that surnames are to be settled separately. Letter by letter, the surname 김 becomes Gim, and the surname usually written Lee becomes just I. The Korean passport office's own “recommended romanized name” search, by contrast, offers both GIM and KIM for the first, and LEE and YI for the second.
So for each surname this page first lists what that search offered when we asked it on 30 October 2026, and then the letter-by-letter spelling if it is not already there. A surname that is not in our list gets the letter-by-letter spelling only; check it in the passport office's search. Article 7 of the same chapter also lets names keep a spelling already in use.
On a Korean passport
A passport spells the Hangul name on the family register, syllable by syllable, by the official romanization. The given name is written together as a rule; a hyphen between syllables is allowed, and a space can be asked for.
When a passport is renewed or replaced, the romanized name is kept the same as on the earlier one. It can be changed only for the reasons listed in Article 3-2(2) of the Passport Act's Enforcement Decree, such as a legal change of the Hangul name, a different spelling already used for work or study abroad, or a first passport not yet used for travel. That is why the passport office asks people to choose carefully the first time. Adding or removing only a hyphen or a space is applied for with the change form, and anyone holding a valid foreign visa is asked to tell the officer.
What this tool does, and its limits
When one syllable ends in an l sound and the next begins with one, both are written l, so the pair becomes ll (chapter 2, article 2). The passport search does the same: the given name 설리 comes out as SEOLLI. Otherwise letters are kept as written, so a given name such as Sinra is not respelled Silla.
Ten surnames are read as two syllables: Namgung, Hwangbo, Jegal, Seonu, Dokgo, Sagong, Seomun, Dongbang, Eogeum and Mangjeol. When a name could also be read with a one-syllable surname (Hwangbo + Ra, or Hwang + Bora), the page asks which. A space typed between surname and given name decides it. The name is worked out on this page and not sent anywhere. Before writing it on a passport application, check it once more in the passport office's search.
Can I put a hyphen in the English name on a Korean passport?
Yes. The given name is written together as a rule, and a hyphen between syllables is allowed — Gildong or Gil-dong. On a passport you already hold, adding or removing the hyphen is applied for with the romanized-name change form; if you have a valid foreign visa, tell the officer, because the visa may no longer match.
Is 김 written Kim or Gim?
The passport office offers both. The romanization rule leaves surnames to be settled separately, so letter by letter 김 is Gim, while the passport office's own search gives GIM and KIM. The Passport Act's Enforcement Decree also lists matching the surname of family members travelling with you as a reason to change it.
Can I change the English name on my passport later?
Only for set reasons. A new passport keeps the spelling of the earlier one as a rule, and a change needs a reason in Article 3-2(2) of the Enforcement Decree — for example a legal change of the Hangul name, a different spelling already used for work or study abroad, or a first passport not yet used to travel. Choose carefully the first time.