Korean names and their meaning

Korean names: meaning, pronunciation and spelling of names in Korean.


Korean names and their meaning

Korean traditions when choosing a name

According to the tradition widespread in Asia, the korean name consists of a person’s surname and a personal name following it.
Thus, the surname is always written before the personal name.

Usually a korean surname consists of one syllable, and a personal name consists of two.
Names consisting of one or three syllables are quite rare.
If the surname of a korean consists of two syllables, then usually a personal name consists of one syllable.

In Korea a person initially acquired a surname by the name of the clan to which he or she belonged.
At the same time, a married woman did not change her last name.
But the children received the name of the father.
So the clan surname continued to live for centuries.

What do you call a yacht — so it will sail

45% of koreans carry the surname Kim, Lee and Pak.
But korean parents are practically unlimited in choosing a name for their child.

At the moment, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Korea, when choosing a personal name for a child, allows the use of more than five thousand from the list of allowed characters.
However some korean families are not limited to this list.

An interesting point:
Korean personal names are not actually divided into purely masculine and purely feminine.
Compare the use of the names Alexey and Maria in our tradition.

Of course, we also have names that can be given to both men and women:
Alexander and Alexandra, Eugene (m.) and Eugene (f.), Julius and Julia.
But in Korean tradition most personal names are universal.

Parents give the name of the child taking into account many factors.
Finding a child’s personal name is an important and sacred process, and therefore the whole clan or at least all close relatives participate in it.
Koreans believe, that the name chosen for the child determines his fate.

Family councils come up with names, and then parents go to the fortuneteller to find out the stars’ opinion on their choice.
The fortuneteller “studies” what the stars say about the fate of the child, what awaits him in the future, and renders his verdict.
It turns out that the decisive word in the choice remains with the fortuneteller

Usually a personal name reflects the quality that parents wish their child — good luck, health, prosperity, beauty.

Korean names

The tables below show korean names, meanings, spelling according to the rules of the Revised Romanization.
The spelling of korean names is given in Hangul.
Where possible, close meanings of the name and synonyms are given.

To facilitate perception, the names are sorted by spelling in a Revised Romanization.

Korean names on B

Revised Romanization Hangul Meaning

Bae

Inspiration

Bon Hwa

번화 Glorious, Prosperous, Blooming, Successful

Korean names on C

Chin

Expensive

Chin Hwa

친화 Most prosperous, Friendly, Fair

Chin Mae

친매 Truth

Cho Hee

처히 Beautiful, Independent

Chul

Firm

(wish to have your own business?)

Chung Hee

충히 Righteous, Right, Fine

Chung Ho

충호 Righteous, Faithful, Devotee

Korean names on D

Dae

Greatness, Great, Significant, Tall, Stable

Dae Hyun

대휸 Great, Big

Dan Bi

단비 Sweet rain

Dong Sun

동순 Eastern integrity

Dong Yul

동율 Oriental Passion, Fair

Duk Young

둑용 Acceptance of integrity

Korean names on E

Eun Kyung

은귱 Silver

Eun Ji

은지 Quite successful in his life

Korean names on G

Gi

Brave

Korean names on H

Ha Neul

하늘 Heaven, Heavenly, Fate

Hae Won

해원 Grace

Hea Jung

해중 Grace

Hee Young

히용 Pleasure, Joy

Hwa Young

화용 Beauty, Eternal

Hyun

Righteous

Hyun Ae

휸애 One who has wisdom

Hyun Jae

휸재 One who has wisdom

Hyun Ki

휸기 Wisdom

Hyun Shik

휸식 Wisdom, Food, Sunrise, Western Style

Hyun Su

휸수 Longevity, Young Tree, Movement, Goal Going to Goal

Korean names on I

I Seul

이슬 Dew, Freshness, Tear

Korean names on J

Jae Hwa

재화 Respect, Beauty, Wealth, Success

Jin Kyong

진경 Ornament

Jung

Righteous, Central

Jung Hee

중히 Moral, Attentive, Thrifty, Caring

Jung Hwa

중화 Moral, Chinese, Heavenly

Jung Su

중수 Beauty

Korean names on K

Kang Dae

강대 Powerful, Strong, Confident, Brave

Kwang

Extensive, Light, Glow

Kyu Bok

규벅 Standard

Kyung Mi

귱미 One who has honor and beauty, Cool

Kyung Soon

귱순 One who has the honor, gentleness and moderation

Korean names on M

Mi Cha

미차 Beauty

Mi Hi

미히 Beauty, Beautiful

Mi Ok

미억 Beautiful and big pearl, Memory, Mind

Mi Young

미용 Eternity, Beautiful, Beautiful

Min Hee

민히 Insight

Min Jee

민지 Intelligence

Min Jung

민중 Clever

Min Ki

민기 Insight

Min Kyung

민귱 Insight

Mok

Spirit, Soul

Myung Dae

뮹대 Shine, Light

Myung Hee

뮹히 Shine, Light

Myung Ok

뮹억 Shine, Light

Korean names on N

Nam Kyu

남규 South

Korean names on S

Sang

Durable

Seung

Successor

Shin

Present, God, Divine, Lord

Sou

Swim, Fly

So Young

서용 Nice, Beautiful

Soo

French, Fun, Long Lasting, Long Life, Man

Soo Min

수민 Quality

Soo Yun

수윤 Flawless

Sook

Lighting

Sun Hee

순히 Kindness, Gentle, Calm, Mild, Quiet

Sun Jung

순중 Kindness

Korean names on Y

Yon

Lotus Flower, Lotus, Sun, Kite

Yong

Brave, Spirit, Soul

Yoo Ra

유라 Enough aside

Young

Forever Blooming Flower, Dragon

Young Jae

용재 Forever prosperous

Young Nam

용남 Forever

Young Soo

용수 Forever rich

Yun

Melody

Clarifications and suggestions are welcome.
If there is no name of interest in the list, you can ask its meaning in the comments.
We will try to help.

We also recommend watching sections:

Sections will evolve and fill.

My native Russian language, therefore possible flaws in the translation. )))
Original article in Russian:


Posted by Hymenoptera Serpen™
Asia in my mind
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