Harold in Korean 해럴드
Korean media, baristas and the immigration office write Harold as 해럴드: three syllables, said hae-reol-deu. Here's how it's built, how to say it, and what people will call you.
Harold letter by letter
Each Hangul block is one syllable, built from a consonant, a vowel and sometimes a final consonant underneath.
ㄹ between two vowels (해럴) is one quick tap of the tongue, like the tt in American "butter": closer to a soft d than an English r.
- 드 carries the filler vowel ㅡ (eu). Keep it short and light, almost just the consonant.
- ㄹ at the bottom of 럴 is an l: the tongue touches just behind the teeth and stays there.
- ㅓ (eo) in 럴 is the open "uh" of "sun", not an "o".
- ㅐ (ae) is said like the e in "bed" by most Koreans today, a little more closed than the a in "cat".
How Koreans would call you
Korean given names are almost always two syllables (after a one-syllable family name), so at 3 syllables 해럴드 reads as a foreign name at a glance. With foreign names some Koreans skip 야 and just say 해럴드 or 해럴드 씨.
Why it's spelled 해럴드
Spelled letter-by-letter you'd get 하롤드, but Korean media write 해럴드, because the name is written the way it sounds, not the way it's spelled.
- The unstressed "uh" vowel is written ㅓ (eo), whatever letter English uses for it.
- Korean adds the vowel ㅡ to consonants that have no vowel of their own (드), which is why Harold has 3 syllables in Korean.
Type Harold on a Korean keyboard
On the standard two-set (두벌식) layout, 해럴드 is the jamo ㅎㅐ ㄹㅓㄹ ㄷㅡ, typed with the keys go fjf em. Want to get fast at it? Try the Hangul Typing Test.
Similar names in Korean
Write any name in Hangul
Questions people ask
How do you write Harold in Korean?
Harold is written 해럴드 in Hangul (Revised Romanization: haereoldeu). It is the standard spelling Korean media use for the name. In Hangul it has three syllables: 해 + 럴 + 드.
How do you pronounce Harold in Korean?
Say it hae-reol-deu, with even weight on every syllable. ㄹ between two vowels (해럴) is one quick tap of the tongue, like the tt in American "butter": closer to a soft d than an English r.
Spellings follow the National Institute of Korean Language loanword rules and common Korean media usage. Last checked: October 2026.