Katherine in Korean 캐서린
Korean media, baristas and the immigration office write Katherine as 캐서린: three syllables, said kae-seo-rin. Here's how it's built, how to say it, and what people will call you.
Same Hangul as Catherine: Korean spells the sound, so different English spellings can land on the same 캐서린.
Katherine 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 (서린) is one quick tap of the tongue, like the tt in American "butter": closer to a soft d than an English r.
- ㅓ (eo) in 서 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".
- ㅋ at the start is aspirated: a clear puff of air, like the k in "kite".
- Give all 3 syllables the same weight. Korean has no strong stress, so it's kae-seo-rin, evenly.
How Koreans would call you
Korean given names are almost always two syllables (after a one-syllable family name), so at 3 syllables 캐서린 reads as a foreign name at a glance. In casual sentences Koreans often add 이 after a name that ends in a consonant: 캐서린이 왔어 ("Katherine's here").
Why it's spelled 캐서린
Spelled letter-by-letter you'd get 카세라인, but Korean media write 캐서린, because the name is written the way it sounds, not the way it's spelled.
- Korean has no th, so th becomes ㅅ (s), the closest sound.
- The final e is silent. It only makes the vowel before it long.
- The unstressed "uh" vowel is written ㅓ (eo), whatever letter English uses for it.
Type Katherine on a Korean keyboard
On the standard two-set (두벌식) layout, 캐서린 is the jamo ㅋㅐ ㅅㅓ ㄹㅣㄴ, typed with the keys zo tj fls. 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 Katherine in Korean?
Katherine is written 캐서린 in Hangul (Revised Romanization: kaeseorin). It is the standard spelling Korean media use for the name. In Hangul it has three syllables: 캐 + 서 + 린.
How do you pronounce Katherine in Korean?
Say it kae-seo-rin, with even weight on every syllable. ㄹ between two vowels (서린) 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.