Maya in Korean 마야
Korean media, baristas and the immigration office write Maya as 마야: two syllables, said ma-ya. Here's how it's built, how to say it, and what people will call you.
Maya letter by letter
Each Hangul block is one syllable, built from a consonant, a vowel and sometimes a final consonant underneath.
ㅇ at the top of 야 is silent, so 야 is just the vowel: ya.
- Two even beats, ma-ya: 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 마야 already sounds natural to Korean ears. With foreign names some Koreans skip 야 and just say 마야 or 마야 씨.
Why it's spelled 마야
Spelled letter-by-letter you'd get 메이아, but Korean media write 마야, because the name is written the way it sounds, not the way it's spelled.
Type Maya on a Korean keyboard
On the standard two-set (두벌식) layout, 마야 is the jamo ㅁㅏ ㅇㅑ, typed with the keys ak di. 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 Maya in Korean?
Maya is written 마야 in Hangul (Revised Romanization: maya). It is the standard spelling Korean media use for the name. In Hangul it has two syllables: 마 + 야.
How do you pronounce Maya in Korean?
Say it ma-ya, with even weight on every syllable. ㅇ at the top of 야 is silent, so 야 is just the vowel: ya.
Spellings follow the National Institute of Korean Language loanword rules and common Korean media usage. Last checked: October 2026.