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Korean names

Blogs > Guss
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Guss
Profile Blog Joined November 2007
Sweden712 Posts
August 15 2010 19:57 GMT
#1
help me out i dont understand. First of all i understand they have 3 names, like Xellos; Seo Ji Hoon. Seo is the family name but then the other two are confusing. Tossgirl is called Seo Ji Soo. Seo again the family name, but then the second name is the same. Someone explain the last two names.

Bisu[Shield] FIGHTING!
Catch]22
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
Sweden2683 Posts
August 15 2010 19:59 GMT
#2
they are just names, and they have 3 instead of 2, I'm pretty sure you have a second name aswell, i know most of us swedes do, but we rarely use it, these guys do, whats so confusing?
Guss
Profile Blog Joined November 2007
Sweden712 Posts
August 15 2010 20:01 GMT
#3
how can they have the same second name, is Ji a name like swedish Kim that can go both ways?
Bisu[Shield] FIGHTING!
prototype.
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
Canada4215 Posts
August 15 2010 20:03 GMT
#4
the second and third is the first name
( ・´ー・`)
Guss
Profile Blog Joined November 2007
Sweden712 Posts
August 15 2010 20:05 GMT
#5
same with Kang Min, is he just a rare breed that doesnt have a "second" first name?
Bisu[Shield] FIGHTING!
baller
Profile Blog Joined March 2006
527 Posts
August 15 2010 20:06 GMT
#6
On August 16 2010 05:01 Guss wrote:
how can they have the same second name, is Ji a name like swedish Kim that can go both ways?

sometimes names can be boy and girl both

like imagine someone is named "michael jordan" and someone else is named "michelle obama" but instead of "michelle" she was named "michael obama" but still a woman. also imagine that michael is a name that can be both boy and girl.

ur welcome.
mesobored123
Profile Joined March 2010
United States62 Posts
August 15 2010 20:07 GMT
#7
Like you said the first is the last name/family name and for 2nd and 3rd its their first name. For Kang Min his first name is just the 2nd. When Korean choose their name it's usually 1 syllable or 2 but mostly 2.
Guss
Profile Blog Joined November 2007
Sweden712 Posts
August 15 2010 20:10 GMT
#8
ok i got it now, thank you for clearing that up.
Bisu[Shield] FIGHTING!
Ares[Effort] *
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
DEMACIA6550 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-08-15 20:21:09
August 15 2010 20:15 GMT
#9
On August 16 2010 05:06 baller wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 16 2010 05:01 Guss wrote:
how can they have the same second name, is Ji a name like swedish Kim that can go both ways?

sometimes names can be boy and girl both

like imagine someone is named "michael jordan" and someone else is named "michelle obama" but instead of "michelle" she was named "michael obama" but still a woman. also imagine that michael is a name that can be both boy and girl.

ur welcome.

Lol, wow
Moderatorgold coin
MorningMusume11
Profile Blog Joined November 2007
United States3490 Posts
August 15 2010 20:19 GMT
#10
+ Show Spoiler +

The Kang Min type names aren't that rare actually (the two names)
There are some cases where the have more than three (Kpop reference... Sandara Park 박산다라
Even rarer... the last name might have two of em... like Hwang Bo
Entropic
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
Canada2837 Posts
August 15 2010 20:19 GMT
#11
I have 2 first names. And apparently Swedes do too.
MaRiNe23
Profile Blog Joined December 2006
United States747 Posts
August 15 2010 20:28 GMT
#12
Nal_rA's "second" first name is "iny" So bascailly they call him "minny" hyung instead of "Min hyung" But that "iny" can go together with any korean name. Like boxer's name is "Lim Yohwan" so they would call him "yohwan-e" hyung. This might be a bit confusing but just tell me if u need more explanation.

And for the tossgirl thing, her name is Seo Ji Soo as you said. "Seo" is her last name and her first name would be "Ji-Soo"..a two syllabal word. Same as Thomas..it's two syllabus can be broken down to Tah-mus in korean.
We have competitive ladder, strong community, progaming in Korea going strong, perfectly balanced game..why do we need sc2? #1 ANTI-SC2 fan
The_Pacifist
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States540 Posts
August 15 2010 20:29 GMT
#13
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre is all one name.

What I don't understand is why the English translation of Korean names makes it so that a two syllable word ends up being turned into a 2 word name. Each Korean character "chunk" is only a syllable, not necessarily a word, but for Korean names being translated into English, each syllable gets treated as if it were its own word. I wonder why.

Name: Albert Rhodes
Translated Name: Al Bert Rhodes

Just seems more confusing to me.
Piste
Profile Blog Joined July 2006
6183 Posts
August 15 2010 20:29 GMT
#14
I have three first names + a surname. Yippii.
MaRiNe23
Profile Blog Joined December 2006
United States747 Posts
August 15 2010 20:30 GMT
#15
It's not actually 3 names though if you think about it because The first is the last name because koreans put last names at the beginning then the other two names are bascially their first name broken into syllables as I explained above
We have competitive ladder, strong community, progaming in Korea going strong, perfectly balanced game..why do we need sc2? #1 ANTI-SC2 fan
Hesmyrr
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Canada5776 Posts
August 15 2010 20:34 GMT
#16
Syllables. Let's say Steven. You pronounce it Ste*ven. Same principle; their name is Kangmin but it is pronounced as Kang*min
"If watching the MSL finals makes you a progamer, then anyone in Korea can do it." - Ha Tae Ki
MaRiNe23
Profile Blog Joined December 2006
United States747 Posts
August 15 2010 20:53 GMT
#17
On August 16 2010 05:34 Hesmyrr wrote:
Syllables. Let's say Steven. You pronounce it Ste*ven. Same principle; their name is Kangmin but it is pronounced as Kang*min

No, Nal_rA has a special korean name in that it's only a "one-syllable" name. "Kang" is his last name so although commentators might say "Kang Min sun soo," normal dongsengs would just call him "minny hyung"..just read what i posted above.
We have competitive ladder, strong community, progaming in Korea going strong, perfectly balanced game..why do we need sc2? #1 ANTI-SC2 fan
l10f *
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
United States3241 Posts
August 15 2010 20:54 GMT
#18
ForGG and Tossgirl have the same name :D
Writer
Ilikestarcraft
Profile Blog Joined November 2004
Korea (South)17733 Posts
August 15 2010 20:58 GMT
#19
On August 16 2010 05:54 l10f wrote:
ForGG and Tossgirl have the same name :D

l10f has the same name as also iron and soulkey
"Nana is a goddess. Or at very least, Nana is my goddess." - KazeHydra
fabiano
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
Brazil4644 Posts
August 15 2010 21:02 GMT
#20
On August 16 2010 05:29 The_Pacifist wrote:
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre is all one name.


You think thats long? You sure dont know the name of the 32th King of Portugal:

Carlos Fernando Luís Maria Vítor Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Xavier Francisco de Assis José Simão de Bragança Sabóia Bourbon Saxe-Coburgo-Gotha

:D
"When the geyser died, a probe came out" - SirJolt
Parabola
Profile Joined May 2010
Korea (South)111 Posts
August 15 2010 21:08 GMT
#21
good ol' bourbon
The first sign of maturity is the discovery that the volume knob also turns to the left.
imBLIND
Profile Blog Joined December 2006
United States2626 Posts
August 15 2010 21:08 GMT
#22
I don't know if korean names work the same way chinese names do, but most asian people i know have a surname, a generation name, and the 'first' name.
Usually, kids in the same family will share the surname and the generation name and only have different first names.
im deaf
seRapH
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States9795 Posts
August 15 2010 21:17 GMT
#23
On August 16 2010 06:08 imBLIND wrote:
I don't know if korean names work the same way chinese names do, but most asian people i know have a surname, a generation name, and the 'first' name.
Usually, kids in the same family will share the surname and the generation name and only have different first names.

yes it works the same way. as does japanese names.

not sure about southeast asian names, though. no idea how those work
boomer hands
Kyuukyuu
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Canada6263 Posts
August 15 2010 22:16 GMT
#24
Generation names aren't really in use anymore
SanguineToss
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
Canada815 Posts
August 15 2010 22:35 GMT
#25
Generation names are in the discretion of the parents ( like any given name)

the korean name is very unique ( just like any other name) and has great meaning within each charachter.

Usually there are three characters.

[ X ] [ Y] [ Z ]

again, there could be more but it is very common for their to be just 3.

X = the last name, i.e. Kim, , Lee, Park etc
Y and Z = These are the two other places for charachters. You pretty much as a korean parent put anything you want in there that doesn't sound stupid. ( im sorry i dont know how to explain this because im not a korean parent and dont really know whats stupid and whats not) what is really common is putting names from han mun which is the chinese charachters which mean something... sorry its not a good explanation i know.

there are a lot of 'combinations' you can make out of these two name boxes. You can even flip Y and Z around, again in the discretion of the parent.

so in the end every parent names their child something like

X= Lim
Y= Yo
Z= Hwan

= Lim Yo Hwan
the emperor is born
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