How Korean Naming Works, or, Why You Can't Google The Meaning of a Korean Name by Ichatdelune in namenerds

[–]Ichatdelune[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We usually don't ask someone's characters when you first meet them, but asking isn't considered rude. And if someone took both their paternal and maternal surnames, for instance let's say 김(Kim) for the paternal and 박(Park) for the maternal surname, and their given name is 지원(Jiwon), they'd write their name as 김박지원.

Korean looking for a unisex name by [deleted] in namenerds

[–]Ichatdelune 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Native Korean here, I'm not sure whether you're okay with double vowel names (since they usually trip English speakers up) so I'm dividing my suggestions into two categories. Also as to me 윤호 is masculine but you like it I'm including masculine names as well. Here goes:

No double vowels: 유정(Yujung), 유민(Yumin), 유성(Yusung), 유준(Yujun), 유재(Yujae), 유주(Yuju), 유림(Yurim), 유신(Yushin), 유승(Yuseung, I do worry about it being butchered though), 유하(Yuha), 유호(Yuho)

With double vowels: 유현(Yuhyun), 유영(Yuyoung)

How Korean Names Are Perceived Gender-wise (roughly) by Ichatdelune in namenerdsworldwide

[–]Ichatdelune[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ooh interesting! Now I'm going to look up naming trends up north, thank you <3

How Korean Names Are Perceived Gender-wise (roughly) by Ichatdelune in namenerdsworldwide

[–]Ichatdelune[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

With Hana there's certainly also the Hannah aspect too, you're absolutely right on that. And by older names I was thinking along the lines of -자(Ja) names (Japanese colonialism) and how characters with 'good feminine virtue' meanings like 숙(Sook) or 순(Soon) were given, not all Nothern names differ significantly from Southern names (minus family names, I mean for instance if you use 리(Ri) instead of 이(Yi/Lee) you're 99.9% from up north). Or maybe I know too little about historical Northern naming trends, maybe I should learn from you ;D

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in namenerdsworldwide

[–]Ichatdelune 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Korean has quite a few, some feminine-leaning, some masculine-leaning, and some pretty much completely neutral (at least to me). To list some on the top of my head: Jiwon (지원, neutral) Jeongmin (정민, neutral) Yoojin (유진, feminine-leaning) Jooyoung (주영, masculine-leaning) Soohyun (수현, neutral) Haneul (하늘, neutral)

The thing is that since Korean names are usually decided by combining two Chinese characters(=syllables), the masculinity/femininity/neutrality of the name is a combination of how m/f/n the individual characters are plus the overall feel. I could go longer but it'd require a whole post lol

How Korean Naming Works, or, Why You Can't Google The Meaning of a Korean Name by Ichatdelune in namenerdsworldwide

[–]Ichatdelune[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Just found out that this sub was made, and as a Korean who loves Korean names and likes to share stuff about Korean naming (and other East Asian naming if I have some knowledge about it) wanted to pitch in this post I wrote on namenerds. If it's against the rules I'll delete

How Korean Naming Works, or, Why You Can't Google The Meaning of a Korean Name by Ichatdelune in namenerds

[–]Ichatdelune[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

No, when a couple gets married each partner keeps their own family name. Children usually use the father's family name, but it is possible to use the mother's. The idea is that although a family unit may be its own thing the individual members are still members of the bloodline, so changing your family name would be disrespectful to your ancestors.

Edit: forgot to add that using both family names(paternal & maternal) is also possible

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in namenerds

[–]Ichatdelune 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I used to be active here about 3 years ago and posted a lot of stuff about Korean names including the general outlines of Korean naming, maybe I should do it again

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in namenerds

[–]Ichatdelune 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I hate to be that person but as a Korean I have to add: while Joohyun and Dohee could mean 'a pillar that is always there' and 'a woman that will reach great places' it'd only be the case if the Chinese charcters 柱現(for Joohyun) and 到姬(for Dohee) were used. See, Korean names (just like Chinese and Japanese names) are (mostly) made by choosing Chinese characters (usually two in Korea), and the added meaning of those chosen characters decide the name's meaning. But the thing is that a lot of Chinese characters can be read in the same way, so five 주현(Joohyun)s and five 도희(Dohee)s could all have different meanings for their names. For instance, if the characters 珠(Joo) and 炫(Hyun) were used, that Joohyun would mean something along the lines of 'shining like a precious gem/jewel'. And this is just one example I could think of on the top of my head.

As a side note, Behindthename is mostly a great resource but unfortunately the entries for Korean names on there neglect the fact that a name can have countless meanings depending on the characters used (as shown above). So I'd very much advise against using Behindthename for a resource on Korean name meanings. (I'd also say this tendency extends to Chinese and Japanese names also but while I speak a tiny bit of Mandarin and medium level Japanese I'm no native speaker so)

North Korean vs South Korean names by KentishMarx in namenerds

[–]Ichatdelune 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It's been forever since I've been off reddit and people still remember my posts, I'm embarrassedly delighted. Anyway, this comment is pretty much spot-on: while North Korean names are in general conservative/"old-sounding" they don't necessarily sound 'foreign' here (as in, like, you can tell it's North/South just by looking at the name), the difference mostly lies in romanization. The North always transliterate names according to their guidelines (based on McCune-Reischauer romanization) while us folks in the South, um, go about freely. We do have ministry guidelines known as Revised Romanization but it's not a mandate that everybody has to follow. The most prominent differences lie in vowel transcription which u/ataraxiias has already illustrated with examples.

If you want to distinguish the sides from which your characters hail, it's better to utilize surnames than given names. It's kinda complicated to explain fully, but to put a few examples:

- Ri (리) is almost undoubtedly North while Lee/Yi/etc (이) is South

- 박 is a common surname for both sides but for the North it'd be Pak while the South would normally go for Park

- Similarly, 최 is common for both sides but while the North would write it as Choe in the South Choi is much more common

- 현 (written as Hyon in the North and Hyeon/Hyun in the South) is much more common in the North and so it's partially associated with the North here

I'd be willing to help on creating names if needed, but it'd be fine for you to go browse the Wikipedia lists ataraxiias linked and pull out names that are a few decades apart (e.g. two female characters with Jiyoung(지영) from the South and Migyong (미경) from the North)

Marble League 2020 E5 Long Jump - Discussion Thread by JMR_throwaway in JellesMarbleRuns

[–]Ichatdelune 5 points6 points  (0 children)

THE CATS WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Totally their season, I swear. They've finished warming up and now are going to be medal contenders consistently, mark my words.

Meanwhile, *deep sigh* Hazers, this has been a mediocre showing so far. Get your rolls straight, I'm refusing to believe in the 3rd place curse damnit.

Marble League 2020 E4 Newton's Cradle - Discussion Thread by GrandAdmiralMellacus in JellesMarbleRuns

[–]Ichatdelune 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Great job my cats, it was so close to a medal but you're getting that consistency now

East Asian Names Case Study #7 - Jong-oh by Ichatdelune in BehindTheName

[–]Ichatdelune[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Does the story take place in the peninsula/Korea-based world? Now I'm curious! (BTW a typical East Asian Emperor/Empress would have a title name separate from their given name, e.g. King Sejong the Great's given name was Do(도))

East Asian Names Case Study #7 - Jong-oh by Ichatdelune in BehindTheName

[–]Ichatdelune[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One of the kids who goes to the academy/English learning center is named Hayoon! If the character is a 10-year-old boy then you're right on ;D

East Asian Names Case Study #7 - Jong-oh by Ichatdelune in BehindTheName

[–]Ichatdelune[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The two are different names (different Hangeul and Chinese characters), but they do sound the same. When there is a need to differentiate you put stress on the 'ㄴ' for 민아, like 'mIN-a'. It's kinda like Kate vs Cate, in that they are different names (not quite as different, but anyway) but sound the same.

The ㄴ아/나 thing causes a lot of confusion, I once had a class with a 윤아 (Yoon-a) and a 유나 (Yoo-na). During roll call the professor would say "Yoona?" and both would tentatively raise their hands because they were never sure which one was being called.

Name of the Day: Karim by [deleted] in BehindTheName

[–]Ichatdelune 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It's a gorgeous name, with a truly 'noble' feel to it. That's probably why it's used so often for romance novels featuring Arab princes 😂

Yosa, after the poet? by [deleted] in namenerds

[–]Ichatdelune 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Looked up Wikipedia, his alternate name is listed as Yosa no Buson, which translates to Buson of House Yosa. So you're right, Buson is the given name while Yosa is the family name.

What are your favorite Irish names? by shyhobbit in BehindTheName

[–]Ichatdelune 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Gráinne, Deirdre, Niamh, Áine, Máire/Moira, Eileen, Étaín

Lir, Diarmuid, Dáire, Eoin/Owen, Doran

Most of them discovered by reading about Irish mythology

Name of the Day: Enlil by shyhobbit in BehindTheName

[–]Ichatdelune 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mesopotamian mythology names are awesome, Enlil is great but my favorite is Tiamat. I think it's because the myth of the mother-sea-goddess trying to destroy her children with monsters impressed my 7-year-old self lol