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)
