José in Korean 호세
Korean media, baristas and the immigration office write José as 호세: two syllables, said ho-se. Here's how it's built, how to say it, and what people will call you.
José letter by letter
Each Hangul block is one syllable, built from a consonant, a vowel and sometimes a final consonant underneath.
ㅗ is a pure "o" with rounded lips. Don't add the w-glide English puts in "go".
- Two even beats, ho-se: Korean doesn't stress one syllable over the other the way English does.
How Koreans would call you
Korean given names are almost always two syllables, so 호세 already sounds natural to Korean ears. With foreign names some Koreans skip 야 and just say 호세 or 호세 씨.
Why it's spelled 호세
Spelled letter-by-letter you'd get 조즈, but Korean media write 호세, because the name is written the way it sounds in Spanish, not the way it's spelled.
- Korean writes Spanish names by their Spanish sound: vowels are read as written and j is an h sound (ㅎ).
Type José on a Korean keyboard
On the standard two-set (두벌식) layout, 호세 is the jamo ㅎㅗ ㅅㅔ, typed with the keys gh tp. 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 José in Korean?
José is written 호세 in Hangul (Revised Romanization: hose). It is the standard spelling Korean media use for the name and follows the Spanish pronunciation. In Hangul it has two syllables: 호 + 세.
How do you pronounce José in Korean?
Say it ho-se, with even weight on every syllable. ㅗ is a pure "o" with rounded lips. Don't add the w-glide English puts in "go".
Spellings follow the National Institute of Korean Language loanword rules and common Korean media usage. Last checked: October 2026.