Given Names

Given names are normally two HanJa characters. The HanJa versions of names aren’t often used in daily life, but they are necessary for formal purposes, such as legal documents and genealogies.

Some given names are normally for boys while others are normally for girls, which is also a common practice with western given names. Unlike the western world, one syllable/character in the given name traditionally represents the family branch and generation. For example, the 37th generation of boys for a particular family branch (including cousins) may all start or end with the same syllable/HanJa character. Often the grandparents will select a HanJa character that will be used for the boys or girls born to their children. Not everyone follows this tradition and it wasn’t always done for girls, but it is still widely practiced.

For names based on HanJa, each syllable has a meaning. The following table is based on a government issued listing of HanJa for use in given names (인명용 한자표). You can look up the meaning of each of the following HanJa by entering the HanJa or HanGul version into an online dictionary, such as http://hanjadic.bravender.us/. This powerful online dictionary translates any direction between English, Korean HanGul, and HanJa.

HanJa characters that share the same HanGul spelling have the same pronunciation. However, each HanJa character has a different meaning. http://hanja.naver.com/category/name is an excellent reference to learn more about the HanJa used in names. It includes the meaning, number of strokes in the HanJa character, and even the stroke order for drawing the HanJa character correctly. This will be particularly useful if you are drawing the character in Microsoft IME or another HanJa entry method on a computer.

If you know an ancestor’s name in HanGul but do not know how to write their name in HanJa, the following list can help. It provides candidate HanJa versions of a syllable used in a given name. Each HanJa candidate has a different meaning. The HanJa version of the name is needed to find an ancestor’s name in a Korean Family Registry genealogical record.

Table 2.3  HanJa Syllables Used in Korean Given Names

HanGul
English

HanJa Used in Given Names

Ga

                             

Gak

                    

Gan

                          竿                       

Gal

                 

Gam

                                     

Gap

         

Gang

                          橿                         

Gae

                                       

Gaek

 

Gaeng

     

Gyak

Geo

                               

Geon

                       

Geol

     

Geom

           

Geop

   

Gae

   

Gyeok

           

Gyeon

                   

Gyeol

            

Gyeom

           

Gyong

                                                                                                           

Gyae

                               谿                 

Go

                              稿                                       

Gok

           

Gon

                     

Gol

   

Gong

                             

Goj

Gwa

                     

Gwak

     

Gwan

                                     

Gwal

     

Gwang

                         

Gwae

   

Gwe

               

Gweng

     

Gyo

                                                     

Gu

                                                                                          絿                 

Guk

           

Gun

         

Gul

     

Gung

         

Gweon

                 

Gweol

       

Gwae

         

Gwe

         

Gyu

                                 

Gyun

           

Gyul

Geuk

           

Geun

                槿                   

Geul

Geum

                         

Geup

           

Geung

     

Gi

                                                                                                                                 

Gin

Gil

       

Kim

Ggek

Na

                 

Nak

Nan

   

Nal

 

Nam

       

Nap

 

Nang

 

Nae

       

Nyeo

Nyeon

   

Nyeom

     

Nyeong

   

No

         

Nong

   

Nyo

尿   

Nun

Nul

Noy

 

Nyu

   

Neung

Ne

       

Nek

 

Da

   

Dan

                                       

Dal

       

Dam

                                 

Dap

       

Dang

                     

Dae

                               

Daek

Deok

 

Do

                                                                            

Dok

                禿 

Don

                 

Dol

 

Dong

                                           

Du

                     

Dun

         

Deuk

Deung

               

Ra

                   

Rak

             

Ran

               

Ral

 

Ram

                 

Rap

   

Rang

               

Rae

       

Raeng

Ryak

 

Ryang

                         

Ryeo

                                 

Ryeok

           

Ryeon

                       

Ryeol

         

Ryeom

    斂 殮

Ryeop

Ryeong

                                       

Ryae

       

Ro

                                 

Rok

  祿    鹿       

Ron

Rong

           

Roy

             

Ryo

                  

Ryong

 

Ru

                       

Ryu

                         

Ryuk

   

Ryun

             

Ryul

       

Ryung

Reuk

 

Reum

 

Reung

        

Ri

                                                     

Rin

                 

Rim

         

Rep

     

Ma

             

Mak

         

Man

    滿                                 

Mal

           

Mang

                     

Mae

                           

Maek

       

Maeng

         

Myeok

 

Myeon

       綿           

Myeol

 

Myeong

                                   

Myae

Mo

                                             

Mok

           

Mol

  歿

Mong

   

Myo

                       

Mu

              貿                           

Muk

 

Mun

                       

Mul

   

Mi

                                             

Min

                                           

Mil

   

Bak

                                   

Ban

                                                 

Bal

                   

Bang

                                                     

Bae

                                     

Baek

             

Beon

                   

Beol

     

Beom

                   

Beop

 

Byeok

                   

Byeon

            便 

Byeol

         

Byong

                                     

Bo

                                 

Bok

                                 

Bon

Bol

Bong

                               

Bu

                              簿                                                        

Buk

Bun

                        忿           

Bul

      彿 

Bung

         

Bi

                                                                                       

Bin

                                            

Bing

     

Sa

            使                                                                                                           

Sak

     

San

                     

Sal

       

Sam

             

Sap

      

Sang

                                                             

Sae

   

Saek

       

Saeng

       

Seo

西                                        婿                               

Seok

                                 

Seon

                                                                       

Seol

                           

Seom

             

Seop

     

Seong

                                       

Sae

                 

So

                                                                                  

Sok

               

Son

         

Sol

 

Song

             

Swae

       

Swe

 

Su

                                                                                                                           

Suk

    宿                   

Sun

                                                     

Sul

     

Sung

   

Seul

     

Seup

       

Seung

                     

Shi

                                                             

Shik

                             

Shin

                                               

Shil

       

Shim

                 

Ship

   

Ssang

Sshi

A

                                              娿 

Ak

                         

An

                   

Al

     

Am

             

Ap

     

Ang

           

Ae

                   

Aek

           

Aeng

     

Ya

                     

Yak

           

Yang

                                               

Eo

                   

Eok

       

Eon

           

Eol

 

Eom

         

Eop

 

Aen

Yeo

            輿               

Yeok

                 

Yeon

              沿                                                            嬿   

Yeol

       

Yeom

                 

Yeop

     

Yeong

                                                           

Yae

                                                 

O

                                                               

Ok

       

On

               

Ol

Ong

               

Wa

             

Wan

                                           

Wal

Wang

       

Wae

     

Oy

       

Yo

                  耀                                 

Yok

         

Yong

                                               

U

                                                                       

Uk

                 

Un

                               

Ul

   

Ung

 

Won

                                                             

Wol

   

Wi

                                               

Yu

                                                                                                       

Yuk

     

Yun

                       

Yul

   

Yung

     

Eun

                         

Eul

 

Eum

           

Eup

   

Eung

     

We

                                   

I

                                                     

Ik

           

In

                                       

Il

               

Im

             

Ip

 

Ing

     

Ja

                    姿                                 

Jak

                         

Jan

       

Jam

           

Jap

Jang

                                                                      漿         

Jae

                               

Jaeng

     

Jeo

                                                     

Jeok

                                              

Jeon

                      殿                                                             

Jeol

               

Jeom

               

Jeop

   

Jeong

                                                                                                                                      

Jae

                                                 

Jo

        調                                                                                   

Jok

     

Jon

 

Jol

   

Jong

                                     

Jwa

       

Jwe

Ju

                                                                                       

Juk

 

Jun

                    駿                       

Jul

Jung

     

Jeuk

 

Jeul

Jeup

   

Jeung

                   

Ji

                                                                         

Jik

       

Jin

                                                                                       

Jil

                           

Jip

             

Jing

   

Cha

                                   

Chak

           

Chan

                                      

Chal

       

Cham

                   

Chang

                                         

Chae

                             

Chaek

     

Chae

     

Chaek

                             

Chaen

                            穿         

Chael

                   

Chaem

                 

Chaep

                 

Chaeng

                     

Chae

                   

Cho

                                                     

Chok

         

Chon

     

Chong

                   

Chwal

Choy

   

Chu

                                           

Chuk

                     

Chun

  椿   

Chul

   

Chung

               

Chwae

     

Chuy

                         

Cheuk

       

Cheung

Chi

                                             

Chik

   

Chin

Chil

   

Chim

                 

Chip

Ching

 

Kwae

 

Ta

                         

Tak

                             

Tan

                 

Tal

 

Tam

     

Tap

 

Tang

       

Tae

                           

Taek

     

Taeng

Teo

To

     

Tong

           

Toy

退         

Tu

         

Teuk

 

Teum

Pa

                             

Pan

               

Pal

   

Pae

      浿             

Paeng

     

Pyak

Pyeon

  便               

Pyeon

Pyeong

         

Pyae

                 

Po

                                                    

Pok

         

Pyo

                         

Pum

 

Pung

         

Pi

           

Pil

                     

Pip

 

Ha

                               

Hak

           

Han

                           

Hal

 

Ham

                     

Hap

           

Hang

                               

Hae

                                     

Haek

 

Haeng

         

Hyang

                 

Heo

     

Heon

     

Heol

Heom

 

Hyeok

         

Hyeon

                                                 

Hyeol

     

Hyeom

Hyeop

                       

Hyeong

                                     

Hyae

            譿             

Ho

                                                                                 

Hok

   

Hon

         

Hol

   

Hong

                   

Hwa

                           

Hwak

         

Hwan

                                 

Hwal

         

Hwang

                                                   

Hwe

                                       

Hwek

 

Hweng

   

Hyo

                               

Hu

                  帿       

Hun

                       

Hung

Hwae

   

Hwon

     

Hwe

             

Hyu

       

Hyul

   

Hyung

       

Heuk

Heun

       

Heul

     

Heum

   

Heup

     

Heung

Heuy

                                               

Hil

110 thoughts on “Given Names

  1. i would like to have a meaningful korean name. i’m currently studying korean. :3 i’m from myanmar. my myanmar name is Aye Chan Thwe. Aye and Chan together means (Aye Chan) peaceful. Aye and Chan itself (Aye, Chan) means cold, cool. And I dont really know what Thwe means. I think its somehow like being slim, and one thing i’m sure is that it is an adjective describing the outer appearance of a girl, positive description. can you please make one pretty korean name for me?

    • The family name Dae ( 大 in Chinese characters, 대 in Korean characters) sounds close to Thwe and means great. The given name AeJin 愛珍 애진 means Precious Love. Dae AeJin. 大愛珍 대애진. Ae is love, and Jin is precious or rare.

      Do you like that one?

      You could also change the Ae into An (안 安) to change the name to mean precious peace…

      Or a pure Korean name that means beautiful is AhReum 아름.

  2. hello, my name is yvonne and my chinese surname is zhang 张 which is 장 in korean. can you help me find a korean name for yvonne? my self given korean name is 해변 haebyeon which literally means seaside, but it is not based on hanja.
    and can you please give me the meaning of the name 김현주 for my baby girl. thank you 🙂

    • 김현주 = 金賢珠
      金 = gold; metals in general; money
      賢 = virtuous, worthy, good; able
      珠 = precious stone, gem, jewel, pearl

      If you want a popular Korean girl name that sounds almost like Yvonne, YaeEun would be good:
      장예은 = 张譽恩 = Jang YaeEun
      譽 = fame, reputation; praise
      恩 = kindness, mercy, charity

  3. This is difficult 🙁 my name is Romina, it means “the woman from Rome”, it also means sensitive, honest and creative. Can you give some ideas ? That would be great 🙂

  4. So I came across this website while trying to figure out how to get the Korean meanings for names, especially for my friend’s baby girl named Hannah (named for the prophet Samuel’s mother Hannah in the Bible). Could you help with that? or perhaps direct me to a resource I could use to figure out those kinds of things myself so that I can do it for other names and figure out if I want to create a new name in Korean or just stick with my given name (Molly) transcribed phonetically?

  5. How to make Rui? as Hui 希 (Heuy)?

    keep up! i always visit here for korean naming! <3

    Kansahamnida!

  6. This is so helpful! I finally found my korean name base on my chinese name. Can i know what it means?
    吕欣静 // 여흔정

    Thank you!

  7. so guys, my chinese name is 孙爱佳 in chinese and according to the table, my korean name is son ae ga, like…. is that even a common name? i wonder if that sounds like a legit korean name xD or do you have any alternative? much thanks!

  8. Finally i found my name in korea.. thank you^^ but can i ask u something my chinese name is 陈巧玲 and in korean is 진교령… Is there any alternative character for the 령? and can i know what it mean in my name? ^^ 감사합니다~~

  9. Hi! While studying Korean I wanted to make my name Korean even if its a Turkish name 🙂
    My name is Duygu (sounds a little bit like 두이구)
    In Turkish it means “Sensation”, “Emotion”, “Affection”
    Is there a Korean name that could fit?

    • Jung : 정/情 means emotion. sorry i dont know about korean name meana affection ㅠㅠ

  10. My name is Shin Hae Yeon (신해연) and I want to know what my Hanja name is. Can someone write/spell it out for me?
    Thanks.

  11. Hi ^^
    My Chinese name is 何圆詠.Does that means my name in hanja is 연영?I don’t know about the family name though and also the meaning.Thank you

    • Your korean name is 하원영 Ha Won-young. 何 is surname means what/which, 圆 means circle, 詠 means chant

  12. I tried to locate what would be my Korean name?… I tried to use chinesse character, and I come up with Lin Sai Yongli Lu….林赛永利铝

    Thank you

  13. My given name is Kianna Taylor but my self given Korean name is Han BamJung. I really like this name but a friend of mine said that my name would be more like this 죄 자정 Jwe JaJeong. I’m not sure what either of these mean but if I were to have a Korean name closest to my given birth name what would that be?

  14. Hi, my chinese name is 陳靜儀, and from the Table 2.3 HanJa Syllables Used in Korean Given Names, i found my name is 진정의. is this correct? how can i pronounce it? thanks!

  15. My husband is Korean, but he does not speak the language. We are having a boy and are looking for a name to go with the generation name, Hee (“bright”). We would like it to mean something like wisdom, strength, or messenger to match the meaning of his English name. Can you suggest something?

    • Do you know if Hee is the first or last syllable of the given names for that generation? If not, you can find out by looking at the HangRyeolPyo in the family JokBo — many of those are online. If you look up your family name here, you can usually find the HangRyeolPyo http://www.surname.info/2080-0248/surnames.htm . Generally there will be an “O” for the character of the given name that you can select and the character for that generation either to the right or left of that — you can use that to see if Hee should be the first or last syllable. Some JokBo family records have a pattern, like every other generation alternating if the first or last character is determined by a character in the HangRyeolPyo table.

    • You can look up Hee in this table and click on the name to see if it is a boy or girl name and see who some famous people with that name were: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Korean_given_names

      You can then choose HanJa characters for the name you choose using a chapter from my book: http://koreangenealogy.org/book/names/given-names/ . Use the right HanJa character for Hee from your family’s HangRyeolPyo table, then choose the other character from the list.

      太喜:

      For example:

      1) If the “Hee” you refer to is 희 (it isn’t 히, is it?) then choose the HanJa listed in your family’s JobKo HangRyeolPyo. It is most likely one of these for 희: 希 喜 稀 戱 姬 晞 僖 熺 禧 橲 嬉 憙 熹 羲 爔 曦 凞 俙 憘 犧 噫 熙 烯 暿 熙 . For this example, let’s assume Hee is 喜. To find its meaning, paste the Character into Chinese Tools ( http://www.chinesetools.eu/chinese-dictionary/index.php?q=Korean:%20hanja ) and select “English”. 喜 (one of the HanJa characters for Hee) means to be fond of / to like / to enjoy / to be happy / to feel pleased / happiness / delight / glad.
      2) Select the other syllable of the given name. If we chose the name Tae-hee ( 태희 in HanGul ), you can select any HanJa character that you’d like for 태 (Tae). The options are found in the table here http://koreangenealogy.org/book/names/given-names/ under “Tae”: 太 泰 怠 殆 態 汰 兌 台 胎 邰 笞 苔 跆 颱 鈦 . Each one of those has a different meaning, but all are pronounce “Tae” and written as 태 in HanGul. Let’s choose the first one, “太”. If you look it up on ChineseTools ( http://www.chinesetools.eu/chinese-dictionary/index.php?q=Korean:%20hanja ) you find the meaning for “太” is highest / greatest / too (much) / very / extremely.
      3) When you put those together to make a two-syllable given name: Tae-Hee = 태희 = 太喜 = Great Happiness.

      In your case, you said Hee stood for “Bright”. Hopefully you know which HanJa character it is or can find it on the family HangRyeolPyo. There are several HanJa representations of Hee 희 that mean bright, so you’ll need to find the right one to write his name in HanJa properly and know the precise definition: 熙 凞 煕 熈 熙 熹 凞 . You could still use Tae-Hee but make it Tae-Hee = 태희 = 太熙 = Great Brightness.

      Another option is Gwang-Hee = 광희 = 光熙 = Bright Light or Bright Glory or Glorious Brightness. http://hanjadic.bravender.net/%E5%85%89

      Another option is Man-Hee = 만희 = 萬熙 Immeasurable Brightness or Eternal Brightness.

      Another option is Jung-Hee. http://hanjadic.bravender.net/%E6%AD%A3

  16. A cousin of mine who perished during the Holocaust, lived in Paris before WWII. In the mid 1930s she married to an Asian man named Dji-Tchang-Tson (at least this is the way that his name was written by the German/French occupation administration). In 1942, when she was arrested by the French police, my cousin, whose maiden name was Esther Rivka Brener, together with her husband Dji-Tchang-Tson, were residing in a suburb of Paris called Boulogne-Billancourt. There has been a dispute within the family weather, Dji-Tchang-Tson, was Korean or not. Going by the name, can you tell if this indeed is/was a Korean name? If in fact it is, how would the name be broken up – Family name, First name? How would you write this name in Korean characters? What does the name mean?
    I thank you,
    Moshe Goldwaser
    mauh2o@att.net

  17. My Chinese name is 陈雅琪 and I did use the websites you’ve mention above. 첸아기 (Chen-A-Gi) Is there another way to write my name that preserves the meaning without it translating to baby?

  18. Hi admin. I want to ask you. I want to have korean name for girl means “to control the world” and write it in hanja and with hangul. My surname is choi. Thank you very much.

  19. Hello! Is it possible to get help with the Hanja meaning for 해솔 (Haesol)? Thank you so much! Its greatly appreciated.

  20. Hello admin. My name is Channie in hangul is 찬니. Based on the table, i choose  賛膩 for hanja character. But i don’t know means of that. But “channie” is means joy, bold, strong willed, cheerful and creative. I hope you can help me admin. 감사합니다^^

  21. Hello!
    Could you tell me how to write in hangul and translate name “John Hi”?
    Thank you!

    • In the Korean bible, John is 요한 . The name Hi isn’t a traditional Korean family name, but you can write it as 히

    • 白莎葉 (Bai Sha Ye), this is Chinese Name. 백사엽 (Baek Sa Yeop), and this is Korean Name. Hope this can really help you.

  22. Hello,
    My husband is Korean but he doesn’t speak Korean very well. We are having a girl. I want to give our daughter a name that means happy. My husband wants to give her a name means beautiful. Is there a name that carries both meaning? Could you please help? Thank you!

    • 아름 (“Areum”) is a beautiful pure Korean name (no HanJa/chinese way to write it — just written in HanGul) that means “beautiful” or “beauty”. Also, any Korean girl name with “Mi” 미 as one of the syllables will have something to do with beauty.

  23. Hello~
    My husband is Korean and we are having a girl. I would like to give our daughter a name that means intelligent and beauty. Is there a name that carries both meaning? Any help would be much appreciated. thanks you!
    (we might want to put the word “秀 수” in the middle. actually not sure yet)

  24. Hello, my name is Tiare which is a flower and means ‘strong or rising fragrance, beautiful’ so, i would like to have a Korean name with a similar meaning. Can you please help me? Thanks in advance.

  25. Hi! my name is Natalia, and the meaning is nativity which is my korean name?? can you help me? thank you so much!!

  26. my english name is donna. i would like to ask how to translate my name in korean and how to pronounce it.. thank you in advance.. i hope anyone can help me..

  27. Hello! This is probably a long shot, but I’m writing a story where one of the main characters is of Korean descent. He has a pair of younger siblings who are twins and I’ve been struggling to find fitting names for them. I’m terrified of picking names that are gibberish or very strange to actual Koreans– I want to be true to the heritage. One twin is a fierce girl who is associated with fire, the other is a calmer, quiet boy who has an affiliation with water. Do you have any suggestions?

  28. Well, my Korean name is Song Ji Yeon and I know how to write in hangul and hanja. But my real name is 徐意雯, in Chinese pronunciation which is Xu Yi Wen. I know my surname in Korean is Seo, and my second name could be pronounce as Yi, but I write it as Yee, for my third name I have really no idea. can you help me?

    • Your korean name based on your real name is Seo Eui-mun. Hangul is 서의문^^ sorry for late reply, i’m not one of admin in here hehe^^ and can you help me? i want chinese name using this character : 宙. i’m girl.

  29. Hi. My Chinese name is 薛婉妮. Can anyone help me translate my name into Hangul? I really dk how to translate it. And i got it as Seol Yeon Hee. Is it correct?

  30. Hi! I’m learning korean and my name is Mariana Navarro, nickname Mari or Nana
    I want to get a korean name that sounds femenine and has a cute meaning, but I would like it to an ㅁ or an ㄴ in it, to sound somewhat similar to my spanish name. I’ve searched like a hundred meanings to 마 매 미 묘 모 나 니 내 리 라 로, etc, but I can’t decide :c
    Can you help me get a cute name? <3

  31. Hi! I’m trying to create a Korean name for myself because I’m sick of people not being able to pronounce “Rachel” (spelt 래이첼).

    “Rachel” means “ewe”. My middle name is Anne (“grace”) – but I have a cousin called Grace who is known as “은혜” by our Korean relatives, so that name is out, as is 하나 which is also the name of two relatives. I also have a name in my own language (Gaidhlig), which is Raghnaid, which means “counsel” or “advice”.

    I’d like to keep either 아, 은 or 혜 in my name somewhere as a reflection of my middle name. A surname isn’t a concern for me as my “English” surname is one syllable (I usually write it 해 or sometimes 해이) and if that doesn’t work I can always use my Korean relatives’ surname (기). But I would like a good Korean name that I can pronounce and that Koreans can pronounce! Do you have any suggestions?

    (Alternatively, could you provide meanings and gender associations for the hanja in the list?)

  32. Hi, i stumbled to this website and tried translating my name.. my chinese name is 吳珍珍 i looked for the korean counterpart in the site and i formed 우 진 진 what does this name means?

    Thank you!

  33. Hi! My name in chinese is 何颖萱. may i know what will be the korean name closest to it and its meaning? thank you! so far, i can only find the first two syllables :(( oh and my mum says 颖 means intelligent so maybe my korean name will have a similar meaning?

  34. Hello, I have been trying to find out what my name means. My father was born in Korea shortly before the war and ended up making his way over to the United States in his teenage years. Our surname is Sung and the middle name given to me was his first and middle names, Jai-Yul. I do know that the Sung clan is small and originates from China over a thousand years ago, however I have not been able to find much on Jai-Yul, other than it might be a variant of Jae-Yeol.

    Any insight would be awesome, thank you.

    • Under the assumption that your name is spelled 성제열 or 성제율… We need the HanJa/Chinese version to get the meeings. The family name 성 could be 成 or 星 ( http://koreangenealogy.org/book/names/family-names/ ). There is also a possibility that the family name is Seung, which is 承 or 昇. Jai could be 제 or 재. 제 could be on of these (each has a different meaning): 弟 第 祭 帝 題 除 諸 製 提 堤 制 際 齊 濟 濟 悌 梯 瑅 劑 啼 臍 薺 蹄 醍 霽 媞 . 재 could be one of these: 才 材 財 在 栽 再 哉 災 裁 載 宰 梓 縡 齋 渽 滓 齎 . Yul could be 열 which is one of these: 熱 悅 閱 說 咽 . Yul could also be 율 which is one of these: 聿 燏 汩 . You can find the meanings of those HanJa/Chinese characters using online dictionaries like https://translate.google.com/#zh-CN/en/ . It will be important to know how your father spelled his name in HanJa/Chinese to pick the right characters and get the right meetings.

  35. Hi i was wondering if “绮” has a korean character to it because i cant find it on the list. Can i also have the meaning of surname 진 please?

  36. My boyfriend is Korean and his family name is Park (박). My names Ally and we met at a Bootcamp in the military and recently his sister gave me the name Huyn Jae. She writes it as 박현재 – Park Huyn Jae. What’s the meaning? I’m really curious as to what my Korean name means.

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