Chapter 3, Article 4-2 of the Romanization of Korean only says that 'the romanization of surnames shall be determined separately', so there is still no finalized official spelling for surnames. In the table below, the 'Official' column shows each one-syllable surname written by the romanization table (Chapter 2), and the 'Common customary spellings' column shows spellings widely used on passports and in academia and the press. The customary spellings are a reference summarizing actual usage, not an official rule.
Surname
Official
Common customary spellings
김 1
Gim
Kim
이 2
I
Lee, Yi, Rhee
박 3
Bak
Park, Pak, Bahk
최 4
Choe
Choi, Choe
정 5
Jeong
Jung, Jeong, Chung
강 6
Gang
Kang
조 7
Jo
Cho, Jo
윤 8
Yun
Yoon, Yun
장 9
Jang
Jang, Chang
임 10
Im
Lim, Im, Yim
감
Gam
Kam
경
Gyeong
Kyung
고
Go
Ko, Koh
공
Gong
Kong
곽
Gwak
Kwak
구
Gu
Koo, Ku
국
Guk
Kook, Kuk
권
Gwon
Kwon
금
Geum
Keum, Kum
기
Gi
Ki
길
Gil
Gil, Kil
나
Na
Na, Ra
남
Nam
Nam
남궁
Namgung
Namkung, Namgoong
노
No
Noh, Roh
도
Do
Do, Doh
독고
Dokgo
Dokko
동방
Dongbang
Dongbang
두
Du
Doo
류
Ryu
Ryu, Yoo
마
Ma
Ma
맹
Maeng
Maeng
명
Myeong
Myung
모
Mo
Mo
목
Mok
Mok
문
Mun
Moon
민
Min
Min
반
Ban
Ban, Bahn
방
Bang
Bang
배
Bae
Bae
백
Baek
Baek, Paik
범
Beom
Bum
변
Byeon
Byun, Byeon
봉
Bong
Bong
빈
Bin
Bin
사공
Sagong
Sakong
서
Seo
Seo, Suh
서문
Seomun
Seomun
석
Seok
Seok, Suk
선
Seon
Sun, Seon
선우
Seonu
Sunwoo, Seonwoo
설
Seol
Seol, Sul
성
Seong
Sung, Seong
소
So
So
손
Son
Son, Sohn
송
Song
Song
승
Seung
Seung
신
Sin
Shin, Sin
심
Sim
Shim, Sim
안
An
Ahn, An
양
Yang
Yang
엄
Eom
Um, Eom
여
Yeo
Yeo
연
Yeon
Yeon, Youn
염
Yeom
Yeom, Youm
예
Ye
Ye, Yeh
오
O
Oh
옥
Ok
Ok
왕
Wang
Wang
용
Yong
Yong
우
U
Woo
원
Won
Won
위
Wi
Wi, Wee
유
Yu
Yoo, Yu
육
Yuk
Yook, Yuk
은
Eun
Eun
인
In
In
전
Jeon
Jeon, Jun, Chun
제
Je
Je
제갈
Jegal
Jegal, Chegal
주
Ju
Joo, Ju, Chu
지
Ji
Ji, Jee
진
Jin
Jin, Chin
차
Cha
Cha
채
Chae
Chae
천
Cheon
Chun, Cheon
추
Chu
Choo, Chu
탁
Tak
Tak
태
Tae
Tae
편
Pyeon
Pyun
표
Pyo
Pyo
하
Ha
Ha
한
Han
Han
함
Ham
Ham
허
Heo
Heo, Huh, Hur
현
Hyeon
Hyun
형
Hyeong
Hyung
호
Ho
Ho
홍
Hong
Hong
황
Hwang
Hwang
황보
Hwangbo
Hwangbo
How to read this chart
The Top 10 mark follows the surname population ranking of Statistics Korea's 2015 Population and Housing Census (김, 이, 박, 최, 정, 강, 조, 윤, 장, 임). The rest are in Korean alphabetical order.
In 2009 the National Institute of Korean Language published a draft surname romanization (박 Bak, 이 Yi, etc.) but never finalized it. So neither Park nor Bak is a 'wrong' spelling.
For passports, using the same surname spelling as your family helps with travel and immigration, so matching the family surname is accepted as a reason to change the spelling (Ministry of Foreign Affairs passport information).
If a spelling already appears on your passport, degree or foreign documents, keeping it is the safest choice (Chapter 3, Article 7: personal names may keep the spelling they have been using).
Two-syllable surnames
Two-syllable surnames such as 남궁, 황보, 제갈, 선우, 독고, 사공, 서문 and 동방 are written as one word with both syllables joined (남궁민수 → Namgung Minsu). The converter's Name mode recognizes these surnames automatically, and if you type a space (남궁 민수) it treats the part before the space as the surname.
Sources: Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Notice No. 2014-42, Romanization of Korean; press reports on the National Institute of Korean Language's second draft surname romanization (2009, not finalized); Ministry of Foreign Affairs passport information, 'rules for romanized names'; Statistics Korea 2015 Population and Housing Census. As of 2026-09-23.