Zara in Korean 자라
Korean media, baristas and the immigration office write Zara as 자라: two syllables, said ja-ra. Here's how it's built, how to say it, and what people will call you.
Zara 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 (자라) is one quick tap of the tongue, like the tt in American "butter": closer to a soft d than an English r.
- ㅈ at the start is soft and unvoiced, halfway between ch and j.
- Two even beats, ja-ra: 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 자라 already sounds natural to Korean ears. With foreign names some Koreans skip 야 and just say 자라 or 자라 씨.
자라 is the Korean word for a soft-shelled turtle.
Why it's spelled 자라
Here the letters and the sound line up: applying the loanword rules letter by letter already gives 자라, the same spelling Korean media use.
- Korean has no z, so z becomes ㅈ (j).
Type Zara on a Korean keyboard
On the standard two-set (두벌식) layout, 자라 is the jamo ㅈㅏ ㄹㅏ, typed with the keys wk fk. 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 Zara in Korean?
Zara is written 자라 in Hangul (Revised Romanization: jara). It is the standard spelling Korean media use for the name. In Hangul it has two syllables: 자 + 라.
How do you pronounce Zara in Korean?
Say it ja-ra, with even weight on every syllable. ㄹ between two vowels (자라) 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.