Why Alberto is 알베르투 in Portugal but 아우베르투 in Brazil
A final o is 우 (Section 19, rule 13) on both sides of the Atlantic. But an l before a consonant is a final ㄹ in Portugal and 우 in Brazil (rule 5), so the records have 알베르투 for Portuguese and 아우베르투 for Brazilian people. The Spanish Alberto is 알베르토.
| Language | Name | In Korean | Records |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portuguese (Portugal) | Alberto | 알베르투 | 2 |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | Alberto | 아우베르투 | 2 |
| Spanish | Alberto | 알베르토 | 5 |
Common Portuguese first names
The Portuguese first names that appear most often in the records, with the spelling the institute uses. Brazilian names follow a few extra rules, so both spellings are shown.
| Name | Portugal and other countries | Brazil |
|---|---|---|
| José | 조제 | 조제 |
| Luiz | – | 루이스 |
| António | 안토니우 | 안토니우 |
| Alberto | 알베르투 | 아우베르투 |
| Fernando | 페르난두 | 페르난두 |
| Maria | 마리아 | 마리아 |
| Francisco | 프란시스쿠 | 프란시스쿠 |
| João | 주앙 | 주앙 |
| Marcelo | 마르셀루 | 마르셀루 |
| Pedro | 페드루 | – |
| Ricardo | 히카르두 | 히카르두 |
| Sérgio | – | 세르지우 |
| Vítor | 비토르 | 비토르 |
| Armando | 아르만두 | – |
| Cláudio | – | 클라우지우 |
| Cristiano | 크리스티아누 | 크리스티아누 |
| Felipe | – | 펠리피 |
| Filipe | 필리프 | – |
| Joaquim | 조아킹 | 조아킹 |
| Jorge | 조르즈 | 조르지 |
| Lucas | – | 루카스 |
| Luís | 루이스 | – |
| Renato | – | 헤나투 |
| Roberto | – | 호베르투 |
| Rubens | – | 후벵스 |
| Thiago | – | 치아구 |
| Aécio | – | 아에시우 |
| Amalia | 아말리아 | – |
| Amanda | – | 아만다 |
| André | – | 안드레 |
Portuguese surnames
Most surnames appear only once or twice in the records. These are the ones recorded for more than one person, followed by the surnames of some well-known people.
| Surname | In Korean | Records | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silva | 시우바 | 3 | Brazil |
| Amado | 아마두 | 2 | Brazil |
| Bolsonaro | 보우소나루 | 2 | Brazil |
| Coelho | 코엘류 | 2 | Portugal and others |
| da Silva | 다시우바 | 2 | Brazil |
| dos Santos | 두스산투스 | 2 | Portugal and others |
| Galvão | 가우방 | 2 | Brazil |
| Gomes | 고메스 | 2 | Portugal and others |
| Haddad | 아다드 | 2 | Brazil |
| Pereira | 페레이라 | 2 | Brazil |
| Serra | 세하 | 2 | Brazil |
| Teixeira | 테이셰이라 | 2 | Brazil |
| Jota | 조타 | 1 | Portugal and others |
| Leão | 레앙 | 1 | Portugal and others |
| Costa | 코스타 | 1 | Portugal and others |
| Yala | 얄라 | 1 | Portugal and others |
| Trovoada | 트로보아다 | 1 | Portugal and others |
| Neves | 네베스 | 1 | Portugal and others |
| Monteiro | 몬테이루 | 1 | Portugal and others |
| Cabi | 카비 | 1 | Portugal and others |
The same name in other languages
A name keeps the sound it has in its own language, so names shared by several languages are spelled differently in Korean. All spellings below are from the official records; other-language spellings are shown when at least two people have them.
| Name | Portuguese | Other languages |
|---|---|---|
| José | 조제 | Spanish 호세 |
| António | 안토니우 | Spanish 안토니오 · Italian 안토니오 |
| Pedro | 페드루 | Spanish 페드로 |
| Alberto | 알베르투 | Spanish 알베르토 |
| Rafael | 하파엘 | Spanish 라파엘 |
| Carlos | 카를루스 | Spanish 카를로스 |
| Eduardo | 에두아르두 | Spanish 에두아르도 |
| Fernando | 페르난두 | Spanish 페르난도 |
| Ricardo | 히카르두 | Spanish 리카르도 |
| Marcelo | 마르셀루 | Spanish 마르셀로 |
| Mário | 마리우 | English 마리오 · Spanish 마리오 · German 마리오 · Italian 마리오 |
| Jorge | 조르즈 | Spanish 호르헤 |
How Portuguese names are written in Korean
Portuguese names are written with Table 17 (표 17) and the fifteen special rules in Chapter 3, Section 19 (제3장 제19절 포르투갈어의 표기). Rules marked “in Brazilian Portuguese” apply only to Brazilian names and places, so the same name can be spelled one way for a Brazilian and another for someone from Portugal — KoreaSum keeps the two apart. The special rules, with the official examples:
- c, g — Before a, o, u they are ㅋ and ㄱ; before e and i they are ㅅ and ㅈ. Official examples: Cabral 카브랄, Egas 에가스, Gil 질.
- gu, qu — Before a, o, u they are 구 and 쿠; before e and i they are ㄱ and ㅋ. Official examples: Iguaçú 이구아수, Guerra 게하, Aquilino 아킬리누.
- d, t — They are ㄷ and ㅌ — but in Brazilian Portuguese, before i and before a final e or -es, they are ㅈ and ㅊ. Official examples: Amado 아마두, Diamantina 디아만티나 / 지아만치나 (Brazil), Alegrete 알레그레트 / 알레그레치 (Brazil).
- -che — A final -che is 시. Official examples: Angoche 앙고시, Peniche 페니시.
- l — Inside a word before a vowel l is ㄹㄹ (a single ㄹ after m or n); at the end of a word or before a consonant it is a final ㄹ — but in Brazilian Portuguese it is 우 there (a final -ul is 울). Official examples: Carlos 카를루스, Gilberto 질베르투 / 지우베르투 (Brazil), Caracol 카라콜 / 카라코우 (Brazil).
- m, n, -ns — m and n are ㅁ and ㄴ, but at the end of a word both are the final ㅇ, as is the n of a final -ns. Official examples: Manuel 마누엘, Santarém 산타렝, Rondon 혼동, Rubens 후벵스.
- ng, nc, nq — When the g, c or q is written ㄱ or ㅋ, the n before it is the final ㅇ. Official examples: Angola 앙골라, Branco 브랑쿠, Francisco 프란시스쿠.
- r — At the start of a word and after n, l, s, r is ㅎ; elsewhere it is ㄹ or 르. Official examples: Ribeiro 히베이루, Henrique 엔히크, Salazar 살라자르.
- s — At the start of a word or before a vowel s is ㅅ, between vowels ㅈ; before a voiceless consonant or at the end it is 스, before a voiced consonant 즈. Official examples: Afonso 아폰수, Barroso 바호주, Soares 소아르스, mesmo 메즈무.
- sc, sç, xc — sc and xc before e and i are ㅅ; sç is always ㅅ. Official examples: Nascimento 나시멘투, cresça 크레사.
- x — x is 시, but between a word-initial e and a vowel it is ㅈ. Official examples: Teixeira 테이셰이라, exame 이자므.
- Double consonants — Written like single ones — except rr, which is ㅎ or 흐, and ss, which is ㅅ or 스. Official examples: Garrett 가헤트, Barroso 바호주, Mattoso 마토주.
- o — o is 오, but at the end of a word and in -os it is 우. Official examples: Nobre 노브르, Melo 멜루, Saramago 사라마구, Passos 파수스.
- e — e is 에, but 이 in an unstressed first syllable; at the end of a word it is 으 — 이 in Brazilian Portuguese. Official examples: Estremoz 이스트레모스, Chifre 시프르 / 시프리 (Brazil).
- -es — After p, b, m, f, v a final -es is 에스; any other final -es is 으스 — 이스 in Brazilian Portuguese. Official examples: Lopes 로페스, Gomes 고메스, Soares 소아르스, Dorneles 도르넬리스 (Brazil).
Letters to know
From 표 17, the table of Portuguese letters:
| Letter | In Korean | Official examples |
|---|---|---|
| j | ㅈ | Aljezur 알제주르 |
| lh | a final ㄹ, then 리 joined with the next vowel (엘류, 탈랴) | Coelho 코엘류, Batalha 바탈랴 |
| nh | joins the next vowel as 냐, 뉴… | Marinha 마리냐 |
| ão | 앙 | Durão 두랑, Fundão 푼당 |
| ãe | 앙이 | Guimarães 기마랑이스 |
| õe | 옹이 | Camões 카몽이스 |
| h | not written | Henrique 엔히크, hostia 오스티아 |
Source: 외래어 표기법 (Rules for writing foreign words in Korean), National Institute of Korean Language — 제3장 제19절 and 표 17. Names and counts: the institute’s 외래어 표기 용례 records of people, as published on korean.go.kr (read October 2026).
Portuguese-speaking people in the records
A few of the people whose Korean spelling was decided by the government committee on foreign names (외래어 심의회). Foreign names keep their own order in Korean — given name first, then surname.
| Name | In Korean | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Diogo Jota | 디오구 조타 | Portugal |
| Rafael Alexandre Conceição Leão | 하파엘 알레샨드르 콘세이상 레앙 | Portugal |
| António Costa | 안토니우 코스타 | Portugal |
| José Eduardo dos Santos | 조제 에두아르두 두스산투스 | Angola |
| Kumba Yala | 쿰바 얄라 | Guinea-Bissau |
| Miguel Trovoada | 미겔 트로보아다 | São Tomé and Príncipe |
| José Maria Pereira Neves | 조제 마리아 페레이라 네베스 | Cape Verde |
| Gabriel Fernando de Jesus | 가브리에우 페르난두 지제주스 | Brazil |
| Rodrygo Silva de Goes | 호드리구 시우바 지고이스 | Brazil |
| Richarlison de Andrade | 히샤를리송 지안드라지 | Brazil |
| Fábio Wajngarten | 파비우 바잉가르텡 | Brazil |
| Ederson Santana de Moraes | 에데르송 산타나 지모라이스 | Brazil |
| Philippe Coutinho | 필리피 코치뉴 | Brazil |
| Lucas Moura | 루카스 모라 | Brazil |
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