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Write your name in Hindi

Type any name and see it in Devanagari, with every letter explained. Free, instant, nothing to sign up for. It works for English names and Indian names — and it tells you when there is more than one correct spelling.

Common names, already written out

These are pre-worked so you can see how it behaves. Notice that English and Indian names use different letters for the same t and d sounds — that is explained below.

How it actually works

Your name is transliterated, not translated

These are different things and the difference matters. Translating "Rose" would give you गुलाब (gulaab), the Hindi word for the flower — which is not your name. Transliterating writes the same sounds in Devanagari: रोज़. Names are always transliterated.

Every consonant already contains a vowel

This is the single fact that makes Devanagari confusing at first. Hindi is not an alphabet, it is an abugida: क is not "k", it is "ka". The short "a" is built in.

To get a different vowel you attach a mark called a matra: क + ि = कि (ki), क + ी = की (kee), क + ो = को (ko).

And to get a bare "k" with no vowel at all, you must actively remove the built-in one with a stroke called a halant: क् — which is why "John" is जॉन and not जॉना.

English spelling gets in the way

Hindi is written the way it sounds. English is not. "Kate" has four letters and three sounds; the e is silent and only there to lengthen the a. So Kate is केट, three letters, not केटे.

The same problem appears in ph (Sophia is सोफ़िया, with an f sound), ck (Nick is निक), x (Alex is अलेक्स, because x is really "ks") and silent letters (Knight is नाइट).

The two t sounds — and why doctor is डॉक्टर

Hindi distinguishes two sounds English treats as one:

• त — dental. Tongue against the teeth. This is the t in Spanish or Italian.
• ट — retroflex. Tongue curled back. This is the t in Indian English.

English t sits between them, and India settled on the retroflex for English words long ago — which is why doctor is डॉक्टर and computer is कंप्यूटर, not डॉक्तर and कंप्यूतर.

So English names take ट and ड. Names of Indian origin already have a traditional spelling with त and द — Sita is सीता, not सिटा. This tool detects which, and where the choice is genuinely open it offers you both.

Questions people ask

Why does my name look longer in Hindi?

Because Devanagari writes vowels that English drops, and every consonant is a full letter. It also stacks consonants into conjuncts, so what looks like one complicated character is often two letters joined.

Can I write my surname too?

Yes — type the whole name. Each word is transliterated separately, which is correct: Hindi keeps the space.

Is there one official correct spelling?

No, and anyone who tells you otherwise is overselling. Newspapers in India spell the same foreign name two or three ways. What matters is that a Hindi speaker reading it aloud produces your name — and that is what this tool optimises for.

What about names from other languages?

It works on sounds, so it handles most names reasonably. It is tuned for English and Indian names, and it is weakest on names with sounds Hindi does not have at all — the French "u" in Hugues, or Arabic ع.

Keep going

• The full guide to writing your name — the method, by hand
• Every Devanagari letter, with sounds
• Short answer version
• All 15 free guides · 22 questions answered