Klingon names are frequently mispronounced by non- Klingons. Furthermore, when written in the writing systems of other languages, they usually end up with spellings which only suggest their true pronunciation. For example, the Klingon sound tlh at the beginning of a word is almost always written kl by English speakers, presumably because the sound tl cannot occur at the beginning of an English word. Similarly, Klingon Q is often rendered kr, and Klingon q always comes out k.

The following is a list of a few Klingon names along with their usual English spellings.

mara Mara
matlh Maltz
geng Kang
qeylIS Kahless
qolotlh Koloth
qor Kor
qoreQ Korax 
QaS Kras
Qel Krell
Qugh Kruge
torgh Torg
valQIS Valkris

Names may be used in direct address (that is, calling somebody by name) at the beginning or end of the sentence. Other words in direct address (such as qaH sir, joHwl' my lord) are used similarly.

torgh HIghoS Torg, come here! (HIghoS proceed toward me!)

lu' qaH Yes, sir!