Guide
Nepali name pronunciation guide
Each name page shows a respelling (like sa-GAR), an IPA transcription and, for most names, audio.
Reading our respellings
Syllables are separated by hyphens and the stressed syllable is in capitals. “aa” is a long a, as in “father”, and a plain “a” is short, like the u in “cup”.
Key sounds in Nepali names
| व / ब | Usually both said as b: विवेक is “Bibek”, विशाल is “Bishal”. |
|---|---|
| श / ष / स | All usually said as s in Nepali, though names are often romanized with “sh” (Shanti, Santosh). |
| Aspirated consonants | ख, घ, थ, ध, फ, भ have a puff of air: Bhim, Thapa (not English “th”). |
| Vowel length (मात्रा) | ि/ी and ु/ू are written differently, but in everyday Nepali speech the difference is small. सीता and गीता have long ई. |
| Final vowel | The inherent “a” at the end is usually silent: सागर is “Sa-gar”, not “Sa-ga-ra”. |
| ज्ञ | Said as gya: ज्ञान is “gyaan”. |
Audio is generated by a neural text-to-speech voice and may not match every regional accent.
Last updated 2026-10-21.