Shirley in Korean 셜리
Korean media, baristas and the immigration office write Shirley as 셜리: two syllables, said syeol-li. Here's how it's built, how to say it, and what people will call you.
Shirley letter by letter
Each Hangul block is one syllable, built from a consonant, a vowel and sometimes a final consonant underneath.
The double ㄹ in 셜리 is a clear English l, as in "hello", not an r.
- Two even beats, syeol-li: 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 셜리 already sounds natural to Korean ears. With foreign names some Koreans skip 야 and just say 셜리 or 셜리 씨.
Why it's spelled 셜리
Here the letters and the sound line up: applying the loanword rules letter by letter already gives 셜리, the same spelling Korean media use.
- An r after a vowel (before a consonant or at the end) isn't written. Korean spelling follows British-style pronunciation, where that r is silent.
- An l between vowels is written twice (final ㄹ + ㄹ), so Koreans say a clear l instead of a tapped r.
Type Shirley on a Korean keyboard
On the standard two-set (두벌식) layout, 셜리 is the jamo ㅅㅕㄹ ㄹㅣ, typed with the keys tuf fl. 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 Shirley in Korean?
Shirley is written 셜리 in Hangul (Revised Romanization: syeolli). It is the standard spelling Korean media use for the name. In Hangul it has two syllables: 셜 + 리.
How do you pronounce Shirley in Korean?
Say it syeol-li, with even weight on every syllable. The double ㄹ in 셜리 is a clear English l, as in "hello", not an r.
Spellings follow the National Institute of Korean Language loanword rules and common Korean media usage. Last checked: October 2026.