In South Korea, parents are slowly moving away from traditional methods of choosing baby names.
Name decisions used to be made either by a grandfather or by a professional baby namer (who would use the Chinese zodiac to spot “weaknesses” in the baby’s fate and choose a name to help counter those weaknesses). While many parents still consult with professionals, the belief that choosing a name via astrology can affect a baby’s fate is less common than it once was.
So how are parents in Korea choosing names these days? In various ways…
- Some are choosing names based on how easy they are to pronounce in English, avoiding tricky Korean syllables such as “Eun” and “Eo.”
- Some are looking to pop culture (especially celebrities and reality TV) for names.
- Some are taking a more creative route, turning Korean words into names. (One woman interviewed by Arirang News mentioned her son’s name was Ara, from the Korean word for “sea.”)
- Some are going for a unisex sound with syllables like “ji” and “bin.”
According to Arirang News, the most popular baby names in South Korea from 2008 through most of 2013 were Seo-yeon for girls and Min-jun for boys:
Top Girl Names | Top Boy Names |
---|---|
1. Seo-yeon 2. Ji-won 3. Seo-young 4. Su-yeon 5. Seo-hyeon 6. Min-seo 7. Min-jeong 8. Min-ju 9. Ji-yun 10. Yu-jin | 1. Min-jun 2. Ji-hun 3. Hyun-wu 4. Min-seong 5. Dong-hyeon 6. Jeong-wu 7. Do-hyeon 8. Hyeon-jun 9. Geon-wu 10. Min-jae |
Sources: Baby-naming in Korea: What are the most popular names?, The Most Popular Baby Names in Korea, South Korea: parents pick names that foreigners can pronounce (h/t Onomastics.co.uk)
Related fact: Min-jun and Seo-yeon also top the name-change list.
In 2005, the Korean Supreme Court “ruled that changing names should be permitted unless the intention was to hide crimes committed or avoid punishment.” Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have applied to change their name.
Source: One in 60 Koreans Want to Change Their Names