Korean girl names and their meanings. Korean names

Bao - protection
Beach - jade
Binh - peace

Vien - completion
Van - cloud
Vinh Bay

Dinh - peak
Duk - desire
Jung - love
Jin-Ho - leader, golden hero
Jung - chaste, love
Dung - brave
Duong - courageous

Yong - brave
Yung - eternal, prosperous

Quan - soldier
Kim is golden
Kui - precious
Kui - precious
Kuang - clear, pure
Kuen - bird

Lien - lotus
Lin - spring
Lan - peaceful

Monkut - crown
Mei - flower
Min - bright

Nung - velvet
Nguyen - the beginning
Ngai - grass
Nung - velvet
Ngoc - gemstone
Nguyet - moon

Pakpao - paper kite
Puong - phoenix

Sunan is a good word

Tien - spirit
Tray is an oyster
Tu is a star
Tuan - bright
Tuen - ray
Toot — White snow
Thai - friendly
Than - bright, clear
Thi - poem
Thu - autumn
Thuan - tamed

Hanyul - heavenly
Hyun - wise
Hung - brave
Hoa - flower
Huong - pink
Huang - spring
Hong - rose
Huang - spring

Bao - protection
Beach - jade
Binh - peace

Vien - completion
Van - cloud
Vinh Bay

Dinh - peak
Duk - desire
Jung - love
Jin-Ho - leader, golden hero
Jung - chaste, love
Dung - brave
Duong - courageous

Yong - brave
Yung - eternal, prosperous

Quan - soldier
Kim - golden
Kui - precious
Kui - precious
Kuang - clear, pure
Kuen - bird

Lien - lotus
Lin - spring
Lan - peaceful

Monkut - crown
Mei - flower
Min - bright

Nung - velvet
Nguyen - the beginning
Ngai - grass
Nung - velvet
Ngoc - gemstone
Nguyet - moon

Pakpao - paper kite
Puong - phoenix

Sunan is a good word

Tien - spirit
Tray is an oyster
Tu is a star
Tuan - bright
Tuen - ray
Tuet - white snow
Thai - friendly
Than - bright, clear
Thi - poem
Thu - autumn
Thuan - tamed

Hanyul - heavenly
Hyun - wise
Hung - brave
Hoa - flower
Huong - pink
Huang - spring
Hong - rose
Huang - spring

Among representatives of this nationality you can find the following unusual names for boys:

Bao Binh (protector, peacemaker),
Jin Ho (leader, heroic personality),
Duong (noble and courageous),
Dung Kuan (brave warrior)
Yung (always prosperous),
Kim (gold)
Lan (peaceful),
Meng Huo (brave tiger),
Ngoc (gemstone)
Thang (bright, radiant, clear),
Jong Il (true sun).

Rare male names of Korean origin

Among Koreans, names written in one word are less common than two-syllable ones. Often they are formed from two words, slightly modified for ease of pronunciation.

Among these adapted names you can find the following:

Amen,
bojing,
Bokin,
Wenyan,
Gengis,
Guren,
Deming,
Janji,
Zian,
Zengzhong,
Yongnian,
Yongliang,
Kiang,
Longway,
Mingli,
Tengfei,
Changming,
Chenglei,
Chuanli,
Shanyuan,
Yusheng,
Yaoting.

For the names of sons choose:

Bao (defender)
Beach (jade),
Van (clouds),
Vien (completion),
Jung (love)
Jin (leader)
Dinh (peak),
Duong (masculinity)
Yong (fearlessness)
Yung (well-being)
Kim (gold)
Kuang (purity)
Lan (peace)
Monkut (crown, crown),
Min (radiance, brightness),
Nguyen (source, beginning),
Ngoc (jewel)
Sek (rock),
Tien (spirituality),
Tu (star),
Tuan (radiant),
Tuen (rays of the sun)
Thai (friendly)
Hanyul (heaven)
Hyun (insight, wisdom)
Hung (courage)
Shin (loyalty and devotion),
Yuong (bravery).

On a note. Koreans do not have a clear division of names into male and female; only the meanings of the hieroglyphs are important.

General information

The modern Korean anthroponymic system is the result of social transformations at the end of the 19th century. The so-called reforms of the year can be considered a conditional starting point. Cape(1894), although the process itself lasted for many years and was subject to significant interference from Japanese colonial policy. Traditionally, only nobles could have a surname (in this, Korea was no different from other countries). The privilege of bearing a surname was abolished back in 1909 under the Korean Empire, but the practice of universal surname took root already under the Japanese colonial administration. However, the main activities of the Japanese authorities in this area, in particular, the well-known “Decree on Changing Names” (創氏改名 Japanese. so:si kaimei창씨개명, the decree was put into effect by a decision of the Daegu District Court (大邱, which in English Wikipedia became Taikyu) occurred in the late 30s and early 40s.

This highly politicized topic, fortunately, is not related to the issues that interest us. However, it should be borne in mind that such a late institutionalization of the Korean anthroponymic system requires additional caution when considering genealogies dating back to Korean settlers in the Russian Far East in the second half of the 19th century.

The official date of the beginning of the resettlement is considered to be 1864, when the Korean village of Tizinhe was founded (later the Vinogradnoe state farm, in 1938 merged with the village of Gvozdevo, Khasansky district, Primorsky Krai). F.V. Soloviev in his “Dictionary of Chinese toponyms on the territory of the Soviet Far East” interprets this name as of unclear origin. In Chinese sources it is written in characters 雞心河 (Chinese. Jixin-he계심하), that is, “Chicken Heart River” (Soloviev translates as “Chicken River”). Actually, Chinese 雞心 ( Jixin) has the meaning “jujuba” or “jujube” (棗 Chinese. zao조, however, in Korean this shrub is called 대추 taechhu, and the hieroglyphic name is not used). This is a variety of zisiphus (lat. Ziziphus jujuba), colloquially called the "Chinese date". This is a shrub of the buckthorn family with rather large red-brown berries (drupes), in shape really reminiscent of a chicken heart. So the river is most likely Date. Its Russian name is Grape, however, probably not as a result of confusion, but in the sense of “wine berry”.

We will also not touch on another sensitive topic - the issue of large-scale falsification of pedigrees, in particular, the so-called practice of “ancestor correction” (換父易祖 환부역조), when one’s own “bad” ancestor was attached to a “good” family. They were usually attached to former patrons and by agreement, usually to lines where there were no direct male descendants. According to some reports, up to 90% of all genealogies have been falsified to one degree or another, although this figure still seems overestimated.

At the same time, all of South Korea almost entirely turned into descendants of ancient noble families (see, for example, A. N. Lankov, “A Nation of Nobles?”). I note, however, that this is by no means a one-time phenomenon associated with social upheavals after the liberation of the country in 1945, but it seems to be a good old tradition. Surnames (賜姓사성) and new(賜貫 사관) took place back in Silla, and continued briskly under Goryeo. For example, part of the Kims from Gyeongju (慶州金氏 경주 김씨) became the Kwons from Andong (安東權氏 안동권씨).

Corrections of genealogies became even more widespread from the beginning of the 15th century after the establishment of the Joseon Dynasty. It is from this period that the first genealogical books that have reached us date back. The oldest are considered to be the 1423 genealogy of the Yu family of Munhwa (文化柳氏 문화유씨) and the 1476 genealogy of the same Kwons of Andong, and in both cases the genealogical lines go back to the beginning of the 10th century. There is also information about the pedigree of the O family from Hezhu (海州吳氏 해주오씨) dating back to 1401, dating back to the end of the 10th century, however, there are some questions about this source.

When we talk about genealogical books, we usually mean the so-called Chokpo(族譜족보). In general, there are about a dozen types of genealogical books, collectively called “family tree records” 譜牒 (보첩). Including, “generation records” (世譜 세보, sometimes also 世誌 세지 세지), “generated notes” (派譜派譜, sometimes also 支譜 지보), “family records” 家譜 (가보 or 家牒 가첩, here 家 namely “family”, not “yard”, so the translation “Household records” is incorrect) and others. Most names include the character 譜 (보), meaning “organized records,” including an ordered “family tree.”

Page of the "Generation Records" (世譜) of the Yu family of Munhwa, copy 1565 from the collection of the Academy of Korean Studies (한국학 중앙연구원)

In any case, starting from early period Joseon, we already see most of the basic elements and connections of the system. Returning to the issue of falsifications, we can say that they, in any case, are systemic and, thus, form a holistic and self-valuable picture.

A modern full Korean name consists of a character (usually one) for the surname and a character (usually two) for the given name. The situation here is the opposite of that in the West or in Russia, where a theoretically unlimited number of surnames is combined with a limited, although quite quickly replenished, repertoire of names. In Korea, on the contrary, a limited repertoire of surnames is combined with a given name, which, generally speaking, can be a combination of any hieroglyphs. The Korean surname always comes before the given name. Now, however, sometimes there is a Latin entry in the English style: first name, then last name (sometimes separated by a comma).

The modern repertoire includes 284 surnames (according to South Korean statistics for 2000) Full list of approximately 350 surnames, it also includes surnames that have fallen out of use and hieroglyphic spellings. However, they are distributed very unevenly. The above graph shows that 50% of the country’s population bears one of the four “big” surnames, and the 40 most common surnames already cover 90% of the population.

For comparison, in the United States, according to the 1990 census, 18,839 surnames were registered, 50% of the country's population have 140 surnames, and 90% have about 700 surnames.

There are also a small number of two-syllable surnames (複姓 복성), whose bearers collectively make up less than 0.15% of the population (we are talking about South Korea). Most two-syllable surnames are historically Chinese, but are considered properly Korean: Namgung (南宮 남궁), Hwangbo (皇甫 황보), Sunwoo (鮮于 선우), Dokko (獨孤 독고), Jegal (諸葛 제갈), Dongban (東方 동방 ), Sagon (司空 사공), Seomun (西門서문), Ogeum (魚金어금) and Sobong (小峰소봉). In addition, there are several obsolete two-syllable surnames, as well as so-called naturalized surnames (歸化城 귀화성), belonging to post-war repatriates from Japan.

When talking about Korean surnames, there are a few important points to keep in mind. Firstly, some surnames have variations in hieroglyphic spelling. Here we must distinguish two cases. For example, the surname Ko (고) is now written with the character 高. But there is also a variant (previously more common) 髙 - these are different spellings of the same hieroglyph. Moreover, not all dictionary variations are actually used in surnames. In another case, the surname Pyeong (편) is now written with the character 扁 (넓적할 편 "flat"). However, there is a variant 偏 (치우칠편 "oblique"). This is exactly a different hieroglyph, however, the same surname. In fact, with this surname everything is a little more complicated - there was a splitting of the clan with the replacement of the hieroglyph with a homophone. But officially now this is considered one surname, and the spelling 偏 is non-standard.

Secondly, writing Hangul usually corresponds to several hieroglyphic variants. And all these are different surnames. Simply put, the surname is hieroglyphic, not Hangul. As let's take an example the second most common surname is Lee (이). It is usually believed that this is the surname 李 (오얏 나무 이 “plum”, by the way, meaning not so much the fruit as the [blooming] tree). But besides “plum” there is also Li 異 (다를이 “amazing”), Li 伊 (저이 “that”), and Li 離 (떠날이 “to leave”). However, these are all very rare surnames.

The name Lee generally deserves a separate story. First of all, “Li” is a normative Russian spelling, which is an exception in the system of practical Korean transcription by L. R. Kontsevich (for some reasons I do not always strictly adhere to its rules). Etymologically there is the initial ‑ㄹ – l/-r. Therefore, before (and still in the DPRK) it is written 리 ri. In different dialects, this sound gives different reflexes, resulting in the variants I, Li, Ri and Ni (orthographic 니 neither is obsolete). In addition, given the widespread suffix in Koryo-saram surnames -guy, we also have Igai, Ligai, Rigai and Nigai options. Technically, all eight of these variations are doublets of the same (Hangul) surname.

A few words about the suffix itself -guy. It goes with all surnames that end in a vowel, although some variants are extremely rare. There is much that is unclear about the origin of this suffix. Among the Koryo-Saram themselves, there is a very popular opinion that this is a consequence of census errors during the deportation of Koreans to Central Asia. However, this is simply a common misconception that has no basis in fact. Without delving too deeply into the topic, I note that back in 1865 P. A. Gelmersen, at that time a staff captain of the General Staff under the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia, who needed a translator, took in a Korean boy of about 15 years old, Ejimuni ( Evgenia) Kogaya. Later, Helmersen took him with him to St. Petersburg, where he assigned him to study. Apparently, Evgeniy Kogai is the first Korean to visit the capital Russian Empire, and definitely the first one to receive formal education.

In the same year (1865), several people from that very village of Tizinhe “without pretense, but to their hearts” converted to Orthodoxy. According to the calendar, the names Peter, Anton, and Paul were given to the Koreans Ungudi, Kegyi, Holoni, as well as their wives, who became, respectively, Maria, Feodosia and Ksenia. Here, of course, we are interested in someone named (is it a name?) Kegyi.

To begin with, I will note one important point. The first Korean settlers were not just northerners, but came from an area called Yukjin (“Six City” 六鎭 육진 or 六邑 육읍). This is a fortress belt in the very north of North Hamgyong Province, which was founded by King Sejong the Great in 1434 on the southern bank of the Tumangan River for protection from the Jurchens (the construction itself lasted more than 100 years): Jeongseong (鍾城 종성), Onseong (穩城 온성 ), Hwaryeong (會寧회령), Gyeongwon (慶源 경원), Gyeongheung (慶興 경흥) and Puryeon (富寧 부령). The area has a distinct Yukchi dialect (육진 방언), which exhibits a number of highly archaic features. In particular, only the old nominative case of 이 is used And(nominative in 가 ha generally a rather late phenomenon). So this suffix could not be a frozen nominative. Linguistically, it is more accurate to assume that the Sino-Korean morpheme 家 (가 ka/ha“house, family”), merged with the nominative in 이 And: Li+ga+i= "[so-and-so] is from Lee's house/family." But, firstly, Koreans do not add the word 家 to their surname. One can, of course, assume that what was meant was not the surname as such (there might not have been one), but an indication of the patron’s house, but this is also strange. Secondly, it is necessary to somehow explain why this suffix appears only in surnames ending in a vowel.

Perhaps there was a graphic decomposition of the diphthong here ke, turned into ka+And(historically, it's just the opposite - modern diphthongs are the result of contractions), so it might be worth trying to look up the etymology ge.

A remarkable example of such decomposition is the surname 崔, modern South Korean Choi, which is a graphical Cho+And, which everywhere gives the northern dialect Tsoi.

Balanced pronunciation of diphthongs is also a feature of the Yukchin dialect (however, not only it). I will not argue that it is this dialect that underlies the Koryo-saram (Koryo-mal) language, but the fact that it had a great influence on it, and the fact that it was the language spoken by the first Korean settlers is indisputable. I will also note that it is incorrect to identify Koryo-mal with the Korean dialects of northeastern China - they have their own specifics, although, of course, they have features common to all northern Korean dialects.

Concluding the conversation about the suffix -guy, let us consider a curious case with the name and surname of the famous Russian (Soviet) Korean, later a prominent party and government figure of the DPRK, Alexei Ivanovich Hegai. He was born in 1908 in Khabarovsk. As a rule, Russian Koreans had two names - Orthodox Russian and traditional Korean. Anatoly Ivanovich, apparently, did not have a Korean name at all. His Korean name Ho Ga Yi (許哥而 허가이) became widely known after he began working in North Korea in 1945. There is a version that the name for it was invented by the outstanding Korean linguist, and also the leader of the “Yan’an group” in the leadership of the WPK, Kim Doo Bong. This is most likely not the case. There are documents from which it follows that Alexey Ivanovich wrote himself this way in Korean before (back in the 30s) (for more details, see A. N. Lankov “Ho Ga I: An Essay on Life and Work”). In general, here we are dealing with a rather rare case of the “reverse transformation” of an already Russified surname into a Korean name (and, apparently, a deliberately specific one).

Returning to surnames, I will also note that Russian transcription can often introduce significant ambiguity. For example, Kan is generally considered to be a surname 姜, one of the ten most common. However, the Russian spelling corresponds to two variants of the Hangeul spelling: 간 and 강 (with back-lingual n). In practical transcription, back-lingual n transmitted as nb, but this option does not occur in life (Kang is very rare). As a result, for 간 we have the hieroglyphic 簡 (대쪽 간 “bamboo plank”) and four variants for 강: 姜 (성 강, originally an anthropo- and toponymic hieroglyph, later meaning “ginger”), 康 (편안 할 강 “well-being” ), 强 (힘쓸강 "strong", with the common variant 彊), and 江 (강강 "river").

Simplifying somewhat, the Korean system pongwan(本貫 본관) or simply Mon(本본) is a system of assigning generations of the male line (父系부계) to a specific geographical location. In Koryo-saram pronunciation, this word often sounds like bond or poi / sing with loss of final n(another feature of the Yukchin dialect) and the same old nominative in And.

Relatives of one yet form a "family" or "clan" ssi氏 (씨). It is often said that Mon- this is the homeland (故鄕 고향 Gohyang, Chinese version of the second character 鄉) of the founder of the clan (始祖시조).

First, let's talk about our homeland. There is a nuance here related to translation. In Russian, “homeland” is, first of all, the place where a person was born. Terminologically, the place of birth is called 出生地 (출생지) in Korean. A Gohyang- this is exactly the place where the family came from. In Korean, the question about the homeland Gohyang, in fact, implies precisely the ancestral homeland, although now in response they can also name the place of birth. There is also a technical term 貫鄕 (관향) meaning "place of [the origin of the genealogical] line." Moreover, 鄕 (향) is not some place in general, but a very specific registered settlement (otherwise it cannot be attributed).

The emergence of a clan is associated with the fact that its future founder separates and, as a rule, moves to a new place. The reverse is not necessary; the clan can spread without division (分貫 분관 or 分籍 분적). In addition, some new there is a so-called intermediate founder (中始祖중시조). This is a person who revived a family after a decline. Sometimes this word is translated as “an intermediate ancestor who left the place of original residence of the clan.” However, the revival of a clan is not necessarily associated with resettlement, and even in this case, not always with the place of original residence.

As for the ancestors and founders, it seems family lines were originally tied specifically to the ancestors, such as the well-known “knee” system. Later, already within the framework and then under the influence of Chinese administrative practice, they began to attribute locally. A fairly close analogue is the situation with Joseph, Mary’s husband. As is known, he was from the tribe of David, but assigned to Bethlehem - in a somewhat free interpretation, David is the founder, and Bethlehem ponom.

Large clans often have several genealogical lines (系계), which may be further divided into branches (宗派종파or simply 派파). One of the branches is usually called local (鄕派향파), that is, remaining in the ancestral place 鄕 (향). Other branches are usually named after the new location. The metropolitan branch (京派 경파) is particularly common, further illustrating the social dynamics. As an example, let's take the largest clan - the Kim family from Gimhae (金海金氏 김해김씨), constituting almost 9% of the country's population (more than 4 million people as of 2000) This Mon traces himself to Kim Suro (金首露 김수로, 42?-199? AD), the legendary (judging by the exact estimated years of his life) founder of the ancient Korean kingdom of Geumgwan Kaya. This state entity is also known as Karak (駕洛 가락), after the motto of the government, so they are sometimes called Karak Kims (駕洛金氏 가락김씨). The genus itself is divided into 4 lines, forming 25 branches, including one Japanese. These are the descendants of the Japanese general Sayaka (沙也可), who also traced his origins to Kim Suro. During the Imjin War (1592), he defected to the Korean side and is known by the rather descriptive Korean name Kim Chun Seong (金忠善 김충선 “Especially Devoted”). However, from the Korean point of view, there is no irony here - the clan was simply stuck in Japan for one and a half thousand years, and as soon as the opportunity presented itself, Sayaka restored historical justice.

Initially Mon united blood relatives, but apparently began to incorporate outside families on a clientele basis quite early, especially during periods of large-scale political and social change. It all turned pongwan more into the social system, although its related nature is emphasized everywhere. Various parallels can be drawn, for example, with Chechen tapes, also initially consanguineous, but later social structure, within which there is a related structure var.

Each surname has one or more new. In the Joseon era, there were about 4,400 surnames out of 250. new. According to the censuses of the 1930s, for the same 250 surnames there were already only 3300 new. The official figure for South Korea for 2010 is 4,175 new for 284 surnames. However, many pony are inactive, historical or doublet, so real figure noticeably less. The fact is that the names of places have changed several times, and in ponah usually the old name is retained, and not necessarily the one that was official at the time of relocation. The histogram below shows that pony distributed very unevenly (although the distribution itself is normal, positively skewed).

Most new(348) comes from the surname Kim. Note that pony are not unique, that is, the same Mon(in the sense of place of registration) can have several genera. As an example, we give a table (not entirely complete and without taking into account differences) new, which are assigned to the former Silla capital Gyeongju (慶州 경주).

Of particular interest here are the Volson and Kerim pony. Wolseong Moon Fortress (月城 월성) is an ancient palace of the Silla rulers, now Gyeongju Historical and Archaeological Site and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Kerim (鷄林 계림) literally means “Cock Forest” (rather, just a grove), which was located not far from the palace to the west (according to a modern map and topographic references, about 700 meters). And yes, this is the same chicken (雞계, 鷄 spelling, more common in Korea) that we have already encountered in the name Chijinghe, although it is hardly worth drawing far-reaching conclusions from this. However, the story of the forest itself is so interesting that it perhaps deserves a separate story.

In the Samguk Sagi chronicle, this forest appears as the “Primordial Forest” (始林시림 sirim). Sometimes they translate “Virgin (primordial) forest”, but here 始 is precisely “beginning, place of origin” (the same 始 that in the founding ancestor 始祖 시조 sizhuo), and now it will become clear why.

In the 9th year of his reign (65 AD), the ruler of Silla Tharhae, surnamed Sok (昔석 - here are the Wolseong Soki!) heard at night that a rooster (鷄계) was crowing in the Sirim forest. True, according to another chronicle, “Samguk Yusa”, this happened in the 3rd year of Gyeongshin (庚申 경신) under the motto of the reign “Eternal Peace” (永平 Chinese. yongping) of the Chinese Eastern Han dynasty, that is, in the 60th year AD. e. (hence some confusion in dates, including with Tharkhe himself).

The next morning the ruler sent Prince Hogon to find out what was going on. However, in “Samguk Yusa” Hogon was simply walking at night in the vicinity of Wolseong. This is generally a very interesting character. Hogon (瓠公호공) literally means "Prince Pumpkin". It is believed that he was called that because he sailed to Korea from Japan with a gourd tied to his belt. It's all about the pumpkin here! However, swimming through the Tsushima Strait, whose minimum width is 47 kilometers, is also impressive.

In Korean, gourd pumpkin (lat. Lagenaria siceraria, this is not at all like an ordinary pumpkin Cucurbita) usually called 朴 (박 pack). The full Chinese version of this character is 樸 (the spelling 朴 is now considered simplified in China) and simply means “raw wood”, although, of course, botanically Lagenaria is a vine (common gourd - grass). But most importantly, it is the third most common Korean surname, Park.

The character 朴 itself consists of two elements: 木 “tree” (generally a solid plant) and 卜 “to guess.” Fortune telling means clarifying a dark, incomprehensible situation. So it is quite possible that this surname is, in fact, originally Korean, associated with the root finger밝 (밝다 “bright, clear”, as well as “knowledgeable”; the causative 밝히다 also means “to enlighten, to inform”). Let me also remind you that the legendary founder of Silla was named Park Hyokkose (朴赫居世 박혁거세). Another spelling of his name (just a variant spelling, not another name) is Pulgune (弗矩內 불구내). According to accepted interpretation, character 赫 (붉을혁 hake) "bright red" is the Korean root 붉 ( pulk) "red", hieroglyph 居 (거 co) plays a purely phonetic role, the character 世 (세 se) "peace" is the Korean word 누리 ( nuri) “peace, light”, which was contracted into 뉘 ( Well). All together we get Pulgune, that is, “illuminating or enlightening the world.” Well, the gourd itself is a very important item in fortune-telling (shamanic) practices in Korea, southern Japan and northeastern China.

So, Prince Pumpkin discovered that a golden chest was hanging on the branches of a tree, and a white rooster was sitting under the tree. When the chest was opened (according to one version, the chest was delivered to the palace, according to another, the ruler himself arrived at the place), a boy of extraordinary beauty was found in it. About the chest. The original contains the character 樻 (함 궤), which means “large chest”, now generally “cabinet” (in Chinese it is usually written 櫃 or 匱 with the same reading, there is also the meaning of “large basket for carrying earth”). The Korean interpretation of 함 is actually another character 函 (함함), which simply means "box" or "box". But this is the word usually used in modern retellings (sometimes also 상자). Hence, in many translations, the boy sits in something like a parcel box.

Everyone, of course, was very happy and remembered Hyokkose, who was also found in the forest, and near the Chicken (again!) stream (鷄井 계정 gyejong). True, he was not sitting in a chest, but in an egg, but that doesn’t matter. Anyway, the boy was named Kim Alji (金閼智 김알지), and his descendants later became the rulers of Silla. And from then on the forest began to be called Petushin. However, “Samguk Yusa” notes that it is also called Pigeon (鳩林 구림, actually, this is not exactly a “dove”, but a “dove”, however, it is more likely that it is the turtle dove, and not the rooster, that will crow at night). There is also a version that either a rooster or some other vocal bird was the totem of some Korean tribes (I am not saying that the Koreans had a totem system at all!) And the “original” (시림 sirim), it may have been sarim(this is a valid transition), where sa- old Korean word for bird. Possibly modern 새 ( se) "bird" is the old 사 ( sa) plus frozen old nominative 이 ( And): sa+And=se. Central Korean say also compared with Old Japanese sanKî"heron". However, there is not a very good match there (although there is a Korean dialect form with n) and in general the transition from a generic name to a specific name seems doubtful (for more details, see, for example, Alexander Vovin. “Koreo-Japonica: A Re-evaluation of a Common Genetic Origin”). In general, this version of the name of the forest seems to me, if not erroneous, then, in any case, insufficiently substantiated, and most importantly, redundant.

As for the surname Kim, allegedly the boy received it because the chest was gold (金 금 kym). Most likely, this is also a native Korean surname associated with the old word Geum, meaning something like a tribal leader. IN modern language the word 임금 ( imgeum, in the old spelling with the etymological initial n and the so-called “lower A) "ruler". It consists of the word 님 ( him), now used as a polite address and an honorific suffix (선생님, 형님, etc.), and the same 금 ( Geum). Also, the legendary founder of Ancient Joseon, Tangun, bore the title of Wangom (王儉왕검). This word is written in two characters: Chinese 王 (왕 van listen)) "ruler", subsequently the title of Korean kings, and 儉 (검 homo) "modest" (with weak "side" O). But, according to the general opinion, we are not talking about a “modest ruler” (and in terms of grammar it doesn’t work out very well), but about a phonetic notation in Chinese characters of some Korean word, which gives “ruler- homo».

Finishing the story about ponah, let me mention that, the majority new considered Korean. That is, technically, at one stage or another they were assigned to the original Korean lineages, including people from ancient kingdoms on the territory of the Korean Peninsula. However, there are also about 200 Chinese, a dozen Japanese, 2-3 Mongolian and Jurchen, 4-5 Uyghur and several Vietnamese and Taiwanese. Even more curious is the presence of “Western” new. There are Dutch ones. One of them is the Pak family from Wonsan (元山朴氏 원산박씨), descendants of the Dutch navigator Jan Janse de Weltevree, who lived in Korea in 1653–1666. and had the Korean name Pak Young (朴淵 박연). There is an American one - the Ha family from Yeongdo (影島河氏 영도하씨), whose founder Robert Holley, an American lawyer, preacher and television host, naturalized in 1997, the Korean name is Ha Il (河一 하일). There are also two German ones, of which the “German” Lee (獨逸李氏 독일이씨) is especially interesting - it seems to be the only Mon tied to the whole country. Its founder is a German actor and businessman of Korean origin, Bernhard Quandt, born in 1954 in Bad Kreuznach (Rhineland-Palatinate), naturalized in 1986, Korean name Lee Han Woo (李韓佑 이한우), better known as under the pseudonym Lee Chham (李參 이참, which he writes in English as Lee Charm).

Finally, there are two Russian yet. The founder of the Lee family from Seongnam (城南李氏 성남이씨) is football player Denis Vladimirovich Laktionov, born on September 4, 1977 in the village of Krasnozerskoye, Novosibirsk region. In the mid-90s he played for the Sakhalin club and the country's youth team. He also played two friendly matches for the Russian national team, and in 2002 he was included in the preliminary squad for the World Cup in Korea. Since the late 90s, he has played in Korean clubs, twice becoming the league's top scorer and three times a member of the symbolic team of the South Korean championship. Later he switched to coaching. In 2003, he received Korean citizenship and the name Lee Seong Nam (李城南 이성남). According to his own testimony, he could have chosen any surname, but settled on Lee, like Bruce Lee. And the name is in honor of the city of Seongnam (城南성남, Gyeonggi Province), for whose club he played.

The founder of the Sin family from Kuri (九里申氏 구리신씨) is also a football player, goalkeeper Valery Konstantinovich Sarychev, born on January 12, 1960 in Dushanbe. He played for CSKA and Moscow Torpedo. In 1986 he won the USSR Cup, and in 1991 he was recognized as the best goalkeeper in the country. Since the early 1990s, he played for Korean clubs, naturalized in 1999. He became a four-time champion of Korea, winner of the Asian Champions Cup, the Asian Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup of Asia and Africa, founded the first Korean goalkeeper school, and coaches the country's youth team. He has a very interesting Korean name, Shin Eui Song (申宜孫 신의손). On the one hand, this is a completely ordinary Korean first and last name. On the other hand, this is the Korean phrase 신의 손, which means “hand of God.”

The name consists of two, or less often one, hieroglyphs. We're talking about the official name (官名 관명 or 冠名 관명, actually, technically these are slightly different things, but since both words are pronounced the same gwangmyeon, they are sometimes confused even in specialized literature) or real name (實名 실명 or 本名 본명) and adult name (字자). It's worth noting about this term that it is often incorrectly translated as "honorific name", and technically Chinese and Korean 字 are terminologically different.

Hieroglyphs, just like in China and Japan, could be anything. Sometimes there are very rare ones, used only in anthroponyms, and unique ones at that. After liberation in South Korea (I will not touch on the situation in the DPRK), the process of regulating the hieroglyphs used in anthroponyms began.

First, whenever possible, discrepancies are eliminated. However, some options are allowed. For example, the key 礻 can be written as 示. Secondly, reading is unified. For example, the character 復 has two dictionary readings: 부 pu and 복 pok. Names are now read-only 부 pu. Moreover, in most Chinese compound words it is read exactly as 복 pok.

Finally, the list of acceptable hieroglyphs itself is limited. The use of characters not from the list is generally allowed, but in official documents they must be written in Hangeul. Registration and identification documents indicate separately the hieroglyphic and Korean spellings. Among others, there were purely technical considerations for reproducing rare hieroglyphs and spelling variants. The rapid development of information technology has practically eliminated this problem, but regulation remains.

Hieroglyphic lists are regularly revised, corrected and updated. The current version is based on the List of Nominal Characters (人名用漢子表인명용한자표), published by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Korea in 1991, which included 2,854 characters and 61 variants. It is also allowed to use all the characters from the school hieroglyphic minimum. Now the official list already includes 5761 hieroglyphs. The figures given vary slightly depending on spelling variations. In addition, some hieroglyphs from the original lists have been clarified or changed. However, they have not been taken out of use, and amendments to documents, as a rule, are not made. Therefore, some of the hieroglyphs are in a “semi-legal” position.

There are some pretty tricky cases. For example, the character 喆 (철 chul) "wise". Generally speaking, this is a variant spelling of the character 哲, but in Korea they are considered two different characters that have the same reading. In addition, the character 哲 also has a (rare) variant 悊. At the same time, all three are included in the official list: 哲 is included in the school minimum, 喆 was in the original list of nominal characters in 1991, and 悊 was added in 2007.

There are reportedly plans to expand the list to more than 8 thousand characters. This, by the way, is much more than, for example, a similar Japanese list, which includes only about 3 thousand characters, including 2136 ordinary kanji (常用漢字 Japanese. jo:yo: kanji), 632 nominal kanji (人名用漢字 Japanese. jinmeiyo: kanji) and about 240 variants and traditional spellings.

And in conclusion, a few words about the rather interesting topic of native Korean names. Here we must distinguish two cases. First, the use of hieroglyphs to write names, which are native Korean words. However, after the establishment of Koryo, such (official) names are very rare. But sometimes there are Korean components, for which they often use the actual Korean characters (韓子 한자, as opposed to the Chinese characters 漢字 한자 - both words are read the same hancha).

As an example, consider the name of one of the three famous bandits (along with the more publicized Hong Gil Dong, who we will get to later) of the Joseon era, whose name was Lim Kkok Jeon (林巪正 임꺽정). Most likely, Kkokjeon is not a name at all. By official version he was the son of a butcher, and in the 16th century, in fact, he was not given a name. With the butcher (白丁 백정 baekjeon) it’s not that simple either. In Chinese, this word meant a commoner who was not in government service. During the Goryeo era, the term referred to (landless?) tenants and farm laborers. Later it is replaced by the word “commoner” (百姓 백성), which over time democratically turned into “people” in general. And only towards the end of Joseon, 白丁 finally becomes a butcher, perhaps under the influence of the original Korean butcher 백장 ( Baekchan). Most likely, in the Joseon era, this word did not denote a specific profession, but a certain social class of “unclean”, something like the Japanese Burakumin.

The name itself contains a rare, meaningless Korean (not Chinese!) character 巪 (꺽 kkok, however, he also has Chinese reading Ju). It is formed by signing the character 巨 (거 co) "huge" hook that functions as phonetic Korean ㄱ To.

There is no doubt that the word is played on here kokjeon(걱정) “anxiety, worry.” This is a native Korean word that does not have a hieroglyphic spelling, and it is pronounced with a strong initial consonant of the second syllable, although in the name it is read with a strong initial consonant of the first. The dictionary does not note this, and in general hieroglyphic readings with a strong initial consonant are very rare. Perhaps there was originally some name Lim Ko Jong (林巨正 림거정) - so in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty. And there is also the option 林巨叱正 (림거질정). This does not mean, however, that one should read Gojiljeong. The character 叱 (질 chill) plays here the role of a universal “signature” (this is especially clear when the text is arranged vertically). Thus, it becomes 임껏정 ( Lim Kkokjeon). In general, this is the standard way of rendering the Korean final consonant cluster ( patchhima) when written in hieroglyphs, regardless of the quality of the consonant, for example, 㖚 (붓) “brush”, 唟 (것) “thing”.

Secondly, modern actual Korean names that do not have hieroglyphic writing. The fashion for them was quite common in South Korea in the 1980s. There are about one and a half hundred such names, with a significant predominance of female and general gender names. Most are ordinary words. For example, Maeum (마음 “soul”, feminine, sometimes masculine), Bora (보라 “purple” - one of the most popular female names), Podeul (버들 “willow”, masculine). Infinitives ending in ㅁ are common m, etymological "lower" A"usually transmitted ㅡ s. For example, Areum (아름 “beauty”, feminine, actually, is a modern word 아름, which means “armful, pack”). Along with this form, there is also the predominantly masculine Aram (아람). Contractions such as Saerong (새론 “new girl”, feminine) and non-etymological spellings such as Turi (두리 “second, second”, masculine and feminine) are common. Some more interesting examples: Paral (바랄, "sea", masculine, old form with etymological "lower" A") along with the modern generic form Pada (바다). Yeseul (예슬feminine, formed according to the Chinese binomial model by adding the initial syllables of Korean words 예쁘다 eppyda"beautiful" and 슬기롭다 seulgyropta“smart”), Kyol (결 “winter”, feminine, contracted form from 겨울 kyoul, perhaps with a play on the English girl). Since the mid-90s. this fashion quickly declined, although names from the original Korean repertoire remain very popular as pseudonyms, especially among representatives of Korean show business.

Natural philosophy

Chinese natural philosophy, as interpreted in Korean neo-Confucian terms, has had a profound influence on almost every aspect of Korean life. In particular, it sets the basic paradigm for anthroponymic constructions. Therefore, we list the basic concepts that we will need in the future.

The fundamental basis of everything is Yin (陰음) and Yang (陽양) - two principles: “feminine, dark” (Yin) and “male, light” (Yang), the struggle of which gives rise to the “Five (primary) elements” (or elements ) (五行 오행 Chinese) wu-sin). The five elements alternate in an endless cycle, determining the course of all things. The order is generally not important - the cycle can be started from any element, but usually the Tree (木목) comes first, corresponding to the first cyclic sign of the Heavenly Branches. It is followed by Fire (火화), Earth (土토), Metal (金금) and Water (水수). There are two main types of relationships between the Five Elements: they generate (生생) and overcome (剋극) each other. IN general case, this whole metaphysics is called the “Rules of the Five Elements” (五行法오행법).

How to choose female and male Korean names

In Korea, it is customary to choose a name according to the horoscope, as well as in accordance with various concepts of Eastern philosophy. In view of this, many parents turn to professional fortune tellers working in specialized Jakmyeonseo centers for help. These specialists carry out the necessary calculations and determine which female or male Korean name will be the most favorable for a newborn child.

Popular Korean names include:

Vien. Literally translated, this means “completion,” and it is implied that such a child will bring all undertakings to a victorious end.
Dinh. This word translates as “peak,” and when a boy is given such a name, his parents “program” him to achieve heights in life.
Gin. This name is similar in meaning to the previous one and reflects the leadership qualities of the individual.
Yong. The word is translated as "courage" and is often combined with "Kuan" (soldier). Most often this is the name given to boys born into warrior families.
Heh. The name means “respectful”; it is expected that such a child will treat his parents and others with respect.

In addition, Asian peoples quite often give boys names containing the names of animals. For example, in Korea, the name Yuong Ho, meaning “brave tiger,” is very common.

Namesakes and namesakes

In all countries it is much more common to meet a person with the same name than with the same surname. In Korea, it's the other way around. There are not even two hundred and ninety names in the entire country. And there are three most common ones: Kim, Lee and Park. So meeting a person with the same last name in Korea is not an oddity, but a pattern. However, this person will not necessarily be your relative. Twenty million people in the southern part of the country alone have five common surnames. But meeting a namesake among these people is quite difficult. Korean names very numerous. Moreover, very often they do not know sexual differentiation. That is, both a man and a woman can have the same name. But a person’s own, unique designation is written in one or two hieroglyphs. To them is added tollimcha - a syllable common to the entire generation of a given family. Therefore, the names of brothers, sisters and even cousins sound very similar.

Korean names are mostly two-syllable, while surnames, on the contrary, are very short. But since the name of a person and his family affiliation are written in hieroglyphs (in Hangul or Khancha), then in Latin or Cyrillic transcription they are indicated with a space and a capital letter. But they should be pronounced together. It's like writing Key Rill or Ol Ga. When designating a Korean, the surname is placed first, and then the given name. If it happens that the first consists of more than one syllable, the second should be very short. For example, a Korean singer named Somun goes by the name Tak. But usually two syllables of a person's individual name complete the short gender designation. If you are not Korean, but just want to give your son or daughter one of the names of this people, you may not know these subtleties. However, in the traditional value system, it is important to take into account all these nuances of the pedigree.

How do they come up with names in Korea?

Since the list of surnames in this country is sadly short, the need for a huge number of individual names has arisen. You have to somehow distinguish between several million Kims or Packs. Korean names were compiled in three directions. The first is euphony and (most importantly) a good combination with the surname. The second is beautiful writing so that the hieroglyphs look organic. And the third direction - like other peoples - is the meaning of the name. But this latter was not given much importance in traditional Korea. Such hieroglyphs as lake and cloud were mixed, resulting in Van Ho. Recently, borrowing names from other languages and cultures has become widespread in South Korea. But they are still written in hieroglyphs: Han Na, Da Vid.

Korean girl names

We have already mentioned that in this country it is difficult to determine what kind of person is hidden behind his generic and individual name - whether he is a man or a woman. But still, most often girls are given names whose meaning reflects the qualities that parents would like to endow with their daughter. This is quite understandable. After all, other nations also call their daughters Roses, Lilies, Margaritas, etc. Korean names for girls are also not devoid of this logic. Therefore, there is Lien (lotus), Mei (flower), Nguyet (moon), Hong (rose), Tu (star). What mother does not wish her daughter female happiness? Therefore there are names such as Jung (love), Kui (jewel), Jung (prosperous). At the same time, girls are often wished courage (Yuong), wisdom (Hyun), courage (Dung), peace (Lan). The following popular names are common to girls and boys: Ha Neul (sky), Ah Reum (beauty), Kip Peum (joy), Yi Seul (dew, purity). From China came the fashion of identifying girls with precious stones or metals. An example of this is Kim (gold), Beach (jade).

Korean male names

In the traditions of this people, the son has always been the continuer of the family and the further guardian of his parents. Therefore, when naming him, not only the beautiful sound of his name was taken into account, but also the meaning of the latter. The parents tried to “encode” their son, to give him the qualities that they wanted to see in him. Vien means the Finisher (of every work). The name Dinkh is no less popular. That means it's the "top". The implication is that Dinh will always reach the zenith of all his endeavors. A similar name is Jin Ho, which means "leader". In families of military boys, they are often called Yong Kuan - “Brave Soldier”. The name He, who honors parents, is very popular. Just as girls are named after flowers, boys are named after animals. The popular name is Ho - tiger. Let us repeat once again: Koreans connect these monosyllabic words with others. This is how everything turns out new and unusual names.

Watch the video: Korean names and surnames / Personal name and family (clan) name

Korean male names have a deep history. Their use has varied throughout history. In ancient times, before the Three Kingdoms period, native Korean names were used. They were then replaced by modern Chinese characters. Over time, they were supplemented by the names of the Manchus and Mongols, since their interpretation was very close to the Koreans.

Since World War II, Japanese characters have been added to these. This is due to the fact that at that time various campaigns were carried out to combine the cultures of Japan and Korea. Now the country is divided into two warring parts, but despite this, male names in South and North Korea are the same.

How to choose for a boy?

Unlike the same Chinese or Japanese, The list of Korean names is sadly short. When choosing a name for a boy, parents are guided by three parameters:

sound - the name should be harmonious and go well with the surname;
spelling - the hieroglyphs in the name must be harmoniously combined;
meaning of the name.

For Koreans, a son is a continuator of the family and a guardian for parents in old age. Therefore, a name is chosen that will endow the boy with the qualities that his parents want to see in him. In military families, boys are given names associated with soldiers. Also, very often babies are given names after the names of animals. The most popular of them is “tiger”.

Reference. Very often, Koreans combine two unambiguous names. In this way they receive new unusual names, which they give to their sons.

List of all the beautiful ones in Russian and their meaning

Despite the fact that the list of Korean names is very meager, among them there are a number of beautiful male names.

Bao- means “protection”. Often makes sacrifices for other people. He tends to idealize people and has a strong character.
Beach– translated into Russian means “jade”.
Binh- "world". Capable of decisive action. Has a strong, strong-willed character. He is particularly resourceful.
Vien- “completion”. Sociable, well developed logical thinking. Achieves set goals.
Wang- "cloud". He is distinguished by courage and independence. Shows leadership qualities. Decisive, responsible, resourceful. Has a quick reaction.
Vinh– translation “bay”. Characterized by courage and independence from others, self-willed. As a child, he shows extreme curiosity.
Dinh- “top”. Prone to adventure. He is not afraid of difficulties. Likes to be in first place in everything.
Gin- “golden”. A sociable, sociable, curious child. He makes new acquaintances easily, which is why he has many friends.
Jung– means “love” or “chaste.” Not afraid of difficulties. He always strives to be ahead in everything. Strives to earn public authority.
Duk- "wish". They easily find contact with people, are sociable and cheerful, and value friendship. Always makes decisions independently.
Dung- “brave”. Attachment and amorous, inclined to idealize people. In rare cases, has excessive demands on others.
Duong- “courageous.” He is characterized by insight, well-developed intuition, activity, ambition, justice and determination.
Yong– translated from Korean as “peace”.
Isyul- “dew”. Easily makes contact with other people. Sociable, active, sociable, kind boy.
Yong- means “brave”. Sociability, determination, courage, and curiosity are evident in a child with this name.
Jung- “eternal” or “prosperous”. Able to make a sacrifice for the benefit of others. It is difficult for him to make an independent decision; he is dependent on other people’s opinions.
Quan- "soldier". It is reliable and inspires trust in others. He has enjoyed authority since childhood.
Kim– the meaning of the name “golden”. Has idealistic inclinations, affectionate, amorous. Strives to achieve set goals.
Kui– This name means “precious”.
Kuen- "bird". He is demanding of himself and those around him, achieves his goals with all his might, is purposeful and decisive.
Lan– translation “peaceful”. Sociable, cheerful, sociable boy. Easily makes new acquaintances and has many friends.
Lien- “lotus”. He strives to achieve his goals with all his might. Characterized by perseverance, purposefulness, stubbornness.
Lin- "beautiful". It is not a problem for a child to make new acquaintances. Since childhood, he has been an active, cheerful, sociable and open child.
Monkut- "crown". Persistence, pride, determination, and touchiness accompany a boy with that name throughout life. Reacts sharply to comments addressed to him.
Min– translated as “mole”. The boy is endowed with creative abilities and talents. Loves to express himself, active, never sits still.
May– means “bright” or “flower”. Sociable, friendly, peaceful, open, sociable. Easily makes new acquaintances.
Ngai– translated “grass”. Since childhood, he shows signs of giftedness. Strives to gain new knowledge. He has creative abilities that he always seeks to use.
Ngoc- “precious stone”. They are distinguished by sociability, openness to everything new, cheerfulness, activity, kindness and ambition. He will always come to the aid of those in need.
Nguyen- "Start". Endowed with a deep inner world, peace-loving, always strives to gain new knowledge, kind and honest.
Nung- means “velvet”. He is characterized by courage and determination, resourcefulness, impulsiveness, and leadership qualities.
Pakpao- "paper kite". Has a quick reaction, well-developed intuition and high intelligence. Kind, fair, honest and open.
Puong- “Phoenix”. Independent, proud, stubborn, fair, determined. Does not accept help from others.
Sunan- “a good word.” He has a strong, strong-willed and disruptive character, which helps him achieve any goals he sets.
Tien– means “spirit”. Kind, secretive, calm, vulnerable, can make sacrifices for the good loved one.
Trey– translation of the name “oyster”. He has been distinguished by curiosity since childhood. He often becomes a team leader due to his determination and responsibility.
That- “star”. Active, mobile, sociable and optimistic boy. Needs constant movement, does not like to sit still.
Tuan- "bright". The child is endowed with creative abilities, which he seeks to use. Loves to be the center of attention. Strive to win public love and authority.
Tuen- "Ray". Wants to always be in first place. Considers himself better than others. Self-confidence, selfishness, and stubbornness prevail.
Thai- “friendly”. He is characterized by decisiveness, speed of reaction, responsibility, reliability, and determination.
Thu- "autumn". The boy is characterized by courage and determination, bravery and masculinity. Since childhood, he has been extremely curious.
Thuan- “tamed.” He has a need to dominate others. Likes to be the center of attention, considers himself better than others. Stubborn, selfish and mercantile.
Hanyul- “heavenly”. Capable of making any sacrifice for the sake of a loved one. Hidden, complex, closed. It's difficult to make new acquaintances.
Hyun- means “wise.” Independent, courageous, honest, responsible, resourceful, reliable.
Hung- “brave”. The baby is characterized by a strong, punchy character and increased demands on those around him. At the same time, he is very amorous and quickly becomes attached to people.
Hoa- "flower". Reliable, responsible, honest, enjoys public authority. Always gets things done.
Huong- "pink". Secretive, uncommunicative, withdrawn, complex child. It is difficult for him to make new acquaintances. Loves home gatherings.
Juan- “given by God.” Capable of sacrificing a lot for the benefit of others. A kind, open, cheerful child. Loves nature.
Hong- "rose". Distinctive feature character – reliability. You can always rely on him. Fair, honest, kind.
Chow– interpreted as “pearl”. The owner of the name is cheerful, optimistic, sociable and sociable. Always on the move.
Chi- “energetic.” Considers himself better than others, always wants to be in first place. Often takes part in conflicts. But it solves them just as easily.
Shin– translated as “trust” or “faith.” May make a sacrifice to achieve some goal. He puts other people's happiness above his own.
Yuong- “bravery”. Reliability is the most important feature of such boys. They enjoy authority among others, which they strive to maintain at any cost.

The Korean name book reflects the unique national traditions of naming children. The Korean diaspora in Kazakhstan is one of the most numerous; representatives of this nationality are regularly integrated into Kazakh society. Therefore, it would be a good idea to find out what Korean names are.

Koreans have two-part names for boys, as well as for girls: they consist of two hieroglyphs that create a sonorous name.

Let's figure out what beautiful names for male children offers a Korean name card:

If you decide to choose a sonorous name for your son starting with “A”, then pay attention to Amen - a child’s name, An - ‘peace’.
“B” in the list presents such beautiful names of boys: Bao - “protection”, “precious”, “treasure”, Bigwen - “well-mannered and brilliant man”, Bo - “towering wave”, Bojing - “victorious”, “admiring victories', Bay - 'snow-white', Bokin - 'respectful'.
“B” presents names for boys, which emphasize the majesty, nobility and significance of the owner: Wei, Weizh, Weiyuan, Wenyang, Wei.
On "G" the choice of names is quite large. Names that emphasize external advantages and impressive abilities predominate here, personal qualities: Gang - ‘wealth’, ‘prosperity’, Guang - ‘light’, Gengis - ‘real’, Guangli - ‘bright’, Guren - ‘worthy’, Gui - ‘noble’.

There are many names starting with “D” and with the initial letter “J” in the Korean name book. Therefore, it is important for parents not to get confused, but to accurately choose a name that reflects their wishes and hopes for their son.

If the child is especially dear, then choose a name that has the meaning 'golden': Jingjing or Jinhei. Nobility and solidity, authority and wisdom are the main qualities inherent in men who bear the names: Yes, Deming, Janji, Jingguo, Dingxiang, Dui. Military leaders and statesmen are named Jianjun, Jianyu or Jianguo.

“Zh” presents names in which the baby’s profession is predicted: Zhon - ‘na military service', Zhu - 'loves learning', Zhou - 'helps'.
Under the letter “Z” are collected the names of boys, which emphasize their peaceful disposition, virtue, and belonging to a certain territory: Zengguang - ‘emitting light’, Zian - ‘peace-loving’, Zihao - ‘hero son’, Zengzhong - ‘loyal’.
The letter “I” gave names that encoded the boy’s heroism and success: Yongnian, Yingji, Yongrui, Yi and Yongliang.
If you decide to choose a name starting with “K”, then pay attention to those that emphasize luck and wealth, masculinity, intelligence and virtue of a person: Kang - “prosperity”, Kiang - “masculinity”, Kikiang - “smart”, Xan - “swift” ', Xiaobo - 'little fighter', Xu - 'diligent'.

In names starting with “K”, Koreans also coded the boy’s significance for the family, the time of his birth, and correlated his birth with a certain natural phenomenon, the time of year: Kingshan - “a holiday of perfection”, Ki - “unprecedented”, Kiu - “autumn”, Xiaauen - 'filial duty', Xin - 'new', Xiaosheng - 'born small', Kuan - 'spring', Kun - 'mountain range'.

The names starting with “L” reflect the mythological ideas of the Koreans, their beliefs, the relationship between the appearance or behavior of the child and natural phenomena: Lei - “thunder”, Lin - “jade”, Longwei - “majestic like a dragon”, Lee - “black”, 'strong', Liu - 'water current'.

If you choose names starting with “M”, then pay attention to the following: Minj - ‘reasonable’, ‘wise’, ‘subtly sensitive’, Mingli - ‘appropriate’, Min - ‘pure’.
The beautiful names on “N” are Nianzu and Nin, meaning ‘remembering the ancestors’ and ‘peace’.
Boys’ names starting with “P” reflect the conquest of the elements of the sky: Pengfey - ‘bird in flight’, Peng - ‘legendary bird Roc’. The name Ping means 'steadfast' and Ping means 'peaceful'.
Names starting with “R” emphasize restraint and restraint: Rong - ‘in military service’, Renshu - ‘temperate’.
Popular beautiful names starting with “C” mean: Xiangjiang - ‘airy’, San - ‘third born’, Xiyu - ‘peace-loving’.

If you want to give your newborn baby some exotic name, then turning to the Korean list will be the right decision. It sounds beautiful, resonant and unusual. But if you are of Korean descent, you should be more thoughtful in choosing a name for your baby. Like all other peoples, the name of a child encodes not only his family affiliation, but also his destiny. At least the one his parents want for him. In this article, we will list beautiful Korean names and describe their meanings so that you can make your choice.

Namesakes and namesakes

In all countries it is much more common to meet a person with the same name than with the same surname. In Korea, it's the other way around. There are not even two hundred and ninety names in the entire country. And there are three most common ones: Kim, Lee and Park. So meeting a person with the same last name in Korea is not an oddity, but a pattern. However, this person will not necessarily be your relative. Twenty million people in the southern part of the country alone have five common surnames. But meeting a namesake among these people is quite difficult. Korean names are very numerous. Moreover, very often they do not know sexual differentiation. That is, both a man and a woman can have the same name. But a person’s own, unique designation is written in one or two hieroglyphs. To them is added tollimcha - a syllable common to the entire generation of a given family. Therefore, the names of brothers, sisters and even cousins sound very similar.

Writing

How do they come up with names in Korea?

Korean names are:

Korean names Korean name

Korean name consists of a surname followed by a personal name.

In most cases, the surname consists of one syllable and the given name consists of two syllables. Both first and last names are often written using hanja, Chinese characters that reflect Korean pronunciation. Hanja are no longer used in North Korea, and their use for names in South Korea has been reduced to 5,038 characters. When using European languages, some Koreans maintain the traditional spelling order, while others change it according to Western patterns. In Korea, when a woman gets married, she usually keeps her maiden name.

There are only about 250 surnames in use in Korea. The most common of them are Kim, Lee and Park. However, most namesakes are not close relatives. The origin of Korean surnames is closely related to Korean history and geography. There are many clans, each associated with a specific place, such as the Kims of Gimhae. In most cases, each clan traces its ancestry back to a common ancestor in the male line.

The use of names has varied throughout Korean history. Ancient names in Korean were found during the Three Kingdoms period (57 BC - 668 AD), but over time, with the adoption of Chinese writing, they were replaced by names written in Chinese characters. During the periods of Mongol and Manchu influence, the ruling elite supplemented their Korean names with Mongol and Manchu names. Additionally, during the period of Japanese occupation in the early 20th century, Koreans were forcibly given Japanese names.

45 percent of Koreans have the surname Kim, Lee and Park

Review

Surnames

Five most common surnames Hangeul Hanja New romanization Kontsevich system Transcription options


김	金	Gim	Kim
리 (C) 이 (South)	李	Ri (C) I (South)	Lee (S) I (Yuzh)	Lee, Ree
박	朴	Bak	Pack
정	鄭丁	Jeong	Chon	Chon, Jeong
최	崔	Choe	Choi	Choi, Choi, Choi

There are about 250 surnames in use in Korea. Each surname can be carried by several clans ( Pongwanov), identified geographically. For example, the most numerous clan is the Gimhae Kim, that is, the Kim clan from the city of Gimhae. At the end of the 20th century, there were more than 3 thousand clans in Korea, the largest of which had hundreds of thousands and millions of people, such as the Kims from Gimhae, the Lees from Jeonju and Gyeongju, and the Parks from Miryang. As in other East Asian cultures, Korean women usually keep their surname after marriage, but children take their father's surname. According to tradition, each clan must publish its family tree (Chokpo) every 30 years.

The origin of Korean surnames was greatly influenced by Chinese tradition. Most Korean surnames consist of one character, hanja, and thus one syllable. There are about a dozen two-syllable surnames (Namgoong and Hwangpo are the most common), but they are all outside the top hundred on the list of most common. Most of them use non-trivial compounds Chinese names. The five most common surnames are shared by more than 20 million people in South Korea. There are a great many personal names in Korea and they are practically not divided by gender, that is, they can belong to both men and women.

Names

Both the top and bottom lines are the spelling of the Korean name Hong Gil Dong. The top line is written in Hangul, the bottom line in Hanja. In both cases the surname Hon highlighted in yellow.

Traditionally, boys' names are determined by the name of the generation, a tradition that comes from China. One or two characters in a Korean's name are unique, while others are common to all family members of the same generation. Therefore, cousins' names usually have the same syllable ( tollimcha) at a certain place. In North Korea, generational names are the same for closer relatives - brothers and sisters.

The name consists of Hanja characters, but is usually written in Hangul. In North Korea, hanja is practically not used, but the meanings of the hieroglyphs remain. For example, the syllable chul(Korean 철, 鐵), used in boys' names, means "iron". In South Korea, paragraph 37 of the Family Registry Law Family Registry Law) requires that the khanchcha in names be selected from a predetermined list. If the hanja for a name is not chosen from the list, it is recorded in the family registry in Hangul. In March 1991, the Supreme Court of South Korea published the List of Hanja Characters for Use in Names, which allows a total of 2,854 different characters (and 61 alternate forms) to be used for names. In 1994, 1997, 2001 and 2005, this list was expanded and now consists of 5,038 permitted characters.

Although the tradition is still strong, since the late 1970s, some parents have given their children personal names, which are originally Korean words, usually consisting of two syllables. Popular names, consisting of Korean words are Haneul (하늘; "sky"), Areum (아름; "beauty"), Kippeum (기쁨; "joy") and Iseul (이슬; "purity", lit. "dew"). Despite the trend away from traditional practice, people's names are still written down in official documents, family genealogies, etc. in both Hangul and Hanja (if possible).

Names usually consist of two syllables, in rare cases - of one or three, such as, for example, the names of politicians Kim Gu, Ko Kun and Yong Kaesomun. Koreans with two-syllable last names usually have a one-syllable first name, such as singer Somun Tak.

Transcription

Romanization

In English-speaking countries, the three most common surnames are spelled "Kim" (김), "Lee" or "Rhee" (리, 이), and "Park" (박). Despite the official romanization of the Korean language, used to translate geographical and other names into Latin, in both North and South Korea, the romanization of Korean names is carried out according to phonetic transcription. That is, the surname "Lee" can be written in Latin as "I", "Yi", "Rhee" and "Rhie". The pronunciation used in North Korea is 리 ( ri), and in the South - the pronunciation 이 ( And). The same goes for several other names.

Cyrillization

For the Cyrillization of the Korean language in general and names in particular, the Kontsevich system is most widely used, which separately stipulates the rules and recommendations for the transliteration of Korean names. In Russian, a Korean name is usually written in three (or two) separate words, each of which consists of one syllable. The surname comes first, followed by the name given at birth, for example Lee Seung Man, Kim Dae Jung. Despite this, Kontsevich recommends writing two-syllable names and surnames together, for example Kang Gamchang, Lee Gyubo. Traditionally, in Russian-language literature, the spelling of Korean names was preserved based on the North Korean version, for example, Choi instead of Choi, but this tradition is now breaking, however, it is recommended to preserve the spelling of such surnames as Lee (and not I), Liu (and not Yu), Lim (and not Im ).

Among Koreans living in the countries former USSR, surnames like Khegai, Yugai, Ogai are often found. These are modified (by adding the suffix -guy) short surnames Yu (Liu), He, O and the like.

Usage

The use of given names and naming by name has strict rules and restrictions in traditional Korean society. In Korean culture, it is considered rude to call someone by their personal name, except to your closest friends. This is especially important when addressing an older person. This rule is often a source of difficulty for Korean language learners.

There are many words to complement a person's real name. Among adults of the same social status, it is considered the norm to address each other by adding a suffix to the full name ssi(씨氏). However, it is impolite to address a person by their last name only, even using this suffix. If the person to whom the address is addressed has an official status, he is usually addressed by the name of this status (for example, “manager” or “boss”), often with a respectful suffix him(님). In such cases, a personal name may be added, although this usually indicates that the person making the address is of higher status.

In Korean society, teknonymy is common - the custom of calling married man(married woman) after the name of his or her child. It is quite common to call a mother by the name of her eldest son, for example, “Chul Soo's mom” (철수 엄마). However, teknonymy can have as its objects any of the parents and any of the children in the family, depending on the context.

Among children and close friends, calling each other by name is not disrespectful. Nicknames are also often used.

Story

Korean names have changed over time. The first names to appear in the chronicles date back to the early Three Kingdoms period, when the Korean Peninsula was heavily influenced by Chinese culture, as China eventually became the dominant power in the region. Changes continued during the following periods of Korean history - the Unified Silla State, the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties. For aristocracy of yangban rank, a complex system of alternative names was used, which originated in the Joseon era. This system, including court names, posthumous names, birth names, and pen names, grew out of the Confucian tradition. The court name system is based on Book of Ceremonies, one of the five key books of Confucianism. This system first entered Korea during time of three states, however, very few aristocrats of that time are known to have had a court name (among them was, for example, Sol Cheon 설총 薛聰). This tradition became widespread only during the late Goryeo Dynasty, when the influence of Confucianism in the country began to seriously increase.

According to the chronicle Samguk Sagi, the first surnames were bestowed upon the people by the Vanir. For example, in 33 AD. e.. Wang Yuri gave the six nobles of the state the names Lee (이), Bae (배), Choi (최), Jeong (정), Song (손) and Sol (설). However, this theory is not widely accepted among modern historians, who believe that sinicized names came into use approximately five hundred years after the events described in Samguk Sagi.

Ancient Korean names

Before the spread of the Chinese-style naming system, Koreans had their own naming system. With the exception of the aristocracy, most Koreans in ancient times did not have surnames. Personal names sometimes consisted of three syllables, for example Misahung (미사흔; 未斯欣) or Sadaham (사다함; 斯多含). Under the influence of Chinese culture in the first millennium AD, surnames became widespread among Koreans. First they appeared among the Vanir, then spread among the aristocracy and finally reached the common people, but this happened quite late - until the 19th century, most common people did not have surnames.

In the ancient Korean states of Goguryeo and Baekje, non-Chinese surnames were common, often consisting of two syllables, and it is believed that most of them were place names. According to Japanese chronicles, some of the characters used to write surnames were pronounced not in Chinese, but in Korean. For example, the governor from Goguryeo Yong Kaesomun (연개소문; 淵蓋蘇文) in the Japanese chronicle Nihon Shoki referred to under the name Iri Kasumi (伊梨柯須弥). The word "iri" may have meant "fountain" in Goguryeo. Early Silla names are also believed to be ancient Korean words, for example the name Park Hyokkose (朴赫居世) was pronounced roughly like "Palgonuri" (발거누리), which translates to "bright world".

Mongol influence

During the brief period of Mongol occupation during the Goryeo dynasty, the Korean vans and aristocracy had both Mongolian and Sino-Korean names. For example, Wang Kongming had the Mongolian name Bayan Temur and the Sino-Korean name Wang Gi (王祺) (later Wang Jong, 王顓).

Japanese influence

Main article: Sosi-kaimei

During the period of Japanese occupation of Korea (1910-1945), Koreans were forced to adopt Japanese names. In 1939, as part of the policy of cultural assimilation (Japanese: 同化政策 do:ka seisaku?), carried out by Governor General of Korea Jiro Minami, Decree No. 20 (known as the "Names Decree", 창씨개명) was issued into law in April 1940. He allowed (in practice forced) Koreans to take Japanese surnames and names. Although coercion was officially prohibited by the Japanese colonial government, local officials forced Koreans to Japaneseize their names, resulting in about 84% of the Korean population having Japanese surnames by 1944. However, many Koreans close to the ruling elite (among them the most famous is Hong Sa Ik, a general in the Army of the Japanese Empire), withstood this pressure and retained their national names.

After the liberation of Korea, on October 23, 1946, the American military command in Korea issued the Name Restoration Order (조선 성명 복구령; 朝鮮姓名復舊令), allowing all Koreans south of the 38th parallel to regain their national names.

Notes

1 2 The Republic of Korea. National Bureau of Statistics (English). Detailed statistics are not available for North Korea, but the figures do not vary significantly. A list of the 22 most common surnames and the approximate spread for both parts of Korea can be found here:
U.S. Library of Congress, Traditional Family Life.(English)
Nahm, pp. 33-34.
South Korea, Family Registry Law
National Academy of the Korean Language (1991)
Areum (아름) in the first meaning is “beauty”, in the second – one girth of a tree or an armful of flowers.
Although romanization in the form of "I" is rare, it is the only correct romanization within the official system of translating Korean into Roman script. It is used, for example, by the Yonhap news agency.
The Northern Forum (2006), p. 29.
1 2 Ri 2005, p. 182.
Hwang (1991), p. 9.
Naver Encyclopedia, Nickname (별명別名).
Lee, Hong-jik (1983), p. 1134.
Seol Cheon's court name, Cheongji (총지聰智), is mentioned in Samguk Sagi.
Do (1999).
Do (1999), sec. 2.
Do (1999), sec. 3.
Lee, Hong-jik (1983), p. 117.
U.S. Library of Congress, Korea Under Japanese Rule.
1 2 Nahm (1996), p. 223. See also Empas, “창씨개명.”
“...84% of the Korean population had Japanese surnames” formally, that is, according to their passport. In practice, the vast majority of Koreans used Korean names in everyday communication.

Literature

자 (Cha, court name) // 새國史事典 (Se kuksa sajŏn, Encyclopedia of Korean History / Lee, Hong-jik (이홍직). - Seoul: Kyohaksa, 1983. - P. 117, 1134. - ISBN ISBN 89- 09-00506-8
A new history of Korea (rev. ed., tr. by Edward W. Wagner and Edward J. Shultz. - Seoul: Ilchokak, 1984. - ISBN ISBN 89-337-0204-0
Korea: Tradition and Transformation - A History of the Korean People. - Elizabeth, NJ: Hollym International, 1988. - ISBN ISBN 0-930878-56-6
The Northern Forum (2006), The Northern Forum Protocol Manual. Retrieved August 23, 2006.
올바른 우리말 사용법 (Olbaryn ural sayonbŏp, Speak Korean correctly). - 2005. - ISBN ISBN 89-5913-118-0
U.S. Library of Congress. Korea Under Japanese Rule & Traditional Family Life Country Studies/Area Handbook Series. Retrieved August 10, 2006.
Korea Annual 2004. - Seoul: Author, 2004. - ISBN ISBN 89-7433-070-9

Links

Lankov Andrey. Korean surnames and given names
How to write Korean names in Russian?
Lankov Andrey. What are the names of Koreans?
Korean names and surnames
Korean bons (poi). From the book Korean customs and traditions / Comp. CHOI Yong Geun, YANG Won Sik. Almaty, 2007

Names National Noble Religious See also


Full name and forms of address: first name last name middle name middle name title nickname nickname
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Throne Title
Biblical Buddhist Catholic Muslim Orthodox Sacred Theophoric Temple
List of eponyms Namesake Identifier

Help me come up with a first and last name for a Korean girl and guy

Sergey k$a

Popular Korean girl names and their meanings:
Scourge. Interpreted as "jade".
Bao. Translated into Russian - “protection”.
Wang. Means "cloud".
Dung. Translated as "brave".
Jin-Ho. The meaning of the name is "precious lake".
Jung. Interpreted as "love".
Jung. It has two meanings: “eternal” and “prosperous”.
Kui. It has the translation “precious”.
Kim. Means "golden".
Lan. Means "peaceful".
Lien. In Russian it means “lotus”.
May. Meaning "flower".
Moncut. Means "crown".
Nguyet. Interpreted as "moon".
Puong. The semantic meaning of the word "phoenix".
That. This is what Koreans call a “star”.
Trey. Translated as "oyster".
Tien. Meaning "spirit" or "fairy".
Thai. Translated as "Friendly".
Thuan. Means "tamed."
Hyun. Interpreted as “wise”.
Hong. The semantic meaning is "rose".
Chow. In Russian it is “pearl”.
Yuong. "Courage" is implied.
Male Korean names
Korean names for boys have individual meanings. They express the parents' hopes for their son. The following characters are often used to compose Korean male names:
Binh. Interpreted as "peace".
Vien. Means "completion".
Vinh. Translated as "bay".
Dinh. In Russian it means “vertex”.
Jin-Ho. The semantic meaning is “leader” or “angry hero”.
Duong. Interpreted as "courageous".
En. Translated as "peace".
Yong. Means "brave".
Quan. In Russian "soldier".
Kuang. Interpreted as “pure”.
Lan. The meaning is "peaceful".
Nguyen. Translated as "beginning".
Nung. It means "velvet".
Pakpao. Translated: "paper kite".
Juice. Translated as "stone".
Sunan. Means "good word".
Thai. The meaning is "friendly".
Tut. Koreans call it “white snow”.
Thu. In Russian it means “autumn”.
Hanyul. Interpreted as "heavenly"
Ho. Means tiger.
He - “honors parents.”
There are many popular Korean male names in Korea today that are very easy to pronounce in English, such as Jaein – Jean.

Korean names and surnames

Plays in the speakers - Epik High - 우산 (feat. 윤하)
One of the most common questions that anyone dealing with Korea and Koreans has to face is the question of Korean first and last names. Indeed, ignorance of many features of Korean surnames and names often leads to misunderstandings and funny situations. I hope that this article will help our readers avoid such situations.
Korean surnames are usually monosyllabic, and they are always written before the name. There are several two-syllable surnames (the most common of them are Namgun and Hwanpo), but they are extremely rare: bearers of all two-syllable surnames combined make up less than 0.1% of all Koreans. Korean names, on the contrary, usually consist of two syllables, although they can also be monosyllabic (monosyllabic names are approximately 10-15%).
Thus, a typical Korean name has three syllables. The first is the surname, and the second and third are the given name. For example, in the case of current South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun (노무현), "No" is the surname and "Moo-hyun" is the given name. His predecessor's name was Kim Tae-jung (김대중), and readers can easily guess that "Tae-jung" was the personal name of this venerable politician, who bears the surname Kim, the most common in Korea.
In this regard, one cannot help but regret that, according to the established tradition in Russia, Korean names, as a rule, are written “in three words”: Syngman Rhee, Kim Il Sung, etc. This entry is largely misleading, hiding the structure of the Korean name. Much preferable is the tradition that has developed in the Russian transmission of Chinese names. In their structure, Chinese names are very close to Korean ones. However, in Russian the current Chinese leader is rendered as Jiang Tse-min or Jiang Zemin: the surname is separate, the name is combined or hyphenated. Korean scholars in special articles also prefer to write both syllables of a Korean name together, but in Russian newspapers Such a system somehow does not take root.
Almost all Korean names have Chinese origin. They are written in hieroglyphs (according to the principle of “one hieroglyph - one syllable”), and their pronunciation goes back to ancient Chinese. The situation with surnames is somewhat more complicated: they are also written in hieroglyphs, but very often a certain Korean word is hidden behind one or another sinicized form.
Unlike Russia, in Korea there are few surnames - and a great variety of names. Strictly speaking, there are simply no fixed names in our understanding in Korea. The Korean name is a combination of two characters with the appropriate meaning. Fortune tellers who usually select names follow certain rules, but in general hieroglyphs can be combined with each other quite freely. The most suitable for names, of course, are those hieroglyphs that express various kinds positive qualities - wisdom (“hyung” 현/賢), beauty (“mi” 미/美), respect for parents (“hyo” 효/孝), honesty (“jeon”), etc. Chinese names of all kinds of animals, plants and objects of the material world in general are used in names - for example, tiger (“ho” 호/虎), flower (“hwa” 화/花), stone (“juice” 석/石), fire ( "hwa" 화/火). However, a Korean name can include almost any of the 70 thousand Chinese characters - it all depends on the circumstances and parental imagination.
If we take the names of current Korean leaders as an example, then South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun's name includes the characters "mu" (무/武 warlike, brave in battle) and "hyung" 현/鉉 (support). His North Korean counterpart is known to be called Kim Jong Il, although, at least from a South Korean point of view, his name should be transcribed as Kim Jong Il. The name of the North Korean Grand Leader consists of two characters - "jeon" (정/正 honest, honesty, truth) and "il" (일/日 sun), and can be translated as "true sun".
The number of even the most common “nominal hieroglyphs” is measured in the hundreds. It is clear that many thousands of pairs of such hieroglyphs are possible, and it is not surprising that there are very few namesakes, people with the same names, in Korea. Even in cases where the personal names of two Koreans sound the same, they are usually written with different characters (many characters that are read differently in China are pronounced the same in Korea). Sometimes this leads to funny things. For example, the Korean fleet includes the submarine Yi Sun Sin. Its name seems quite logical - who (of those who have been to Korea - editor's note) has not heard of the great Korean naval commander? Only those few who have seen the name of this warship in hieroglyphic (rather than phonetic) notation know that it was not named after “that same” Lee Sun-sin! The boat bears the name of the “other” Lee Sun Sin - also an admiral, who also lived in the 16th century, and also became famous in battles with the Japanese. The names of the two naval commanders, who, by the way, were colleagues and friends, are pronounced the same in Korean, 이순신, but they are written in different characters (李純信 and 李舜臣). Therefore, you can translate a Korean name with complete confidence only if you know how it is written “in Chinese” (more precisely, in Chinese characters).
There are no male or female names as such in Korea, although sometimes you can guess whether a given name belongs to a man or a woman - especially if it is written not in the Korean alphabet, but in hieroglyphics. For example, the name "Meng Ho" ("brave tiger") is most likely a man, but the name "Mi Suk" ("beautiful and chaste") is almost certainly a woman. However, most Korean names do not carry any “gender characteristics” and can belong to either a man or a woman.
Another rule is connected with the formation of names - one of the hieroglyphs of the name of brothers often coincides - and this applies not only to relatives or, say, cousins, but to all representatives of one generation of the clan (we will talk about Korean clans further). Thus, if you come across references in the Korean press to entrepreneur Roh Yong-hyun or sociologist Roh Jung-hyun, you can be sure that they are relatives of the current president. All members of the "presidential generation" of the Noh clan have the second character of their name - "hyung".
We must remember that in Korea it is not customary to address each other only by name. Such treatment has always been considered extremely familiar, and in many situations - simply offensive. Childhood friends can call each other by name, parents call their children by name - that’s probably all. In recent years, spouses and lovers have sometimes begun to talk to each other this way, apparently under the influence of Western traditions. In most cases, however, Koreans refer to each other by their last name or last name and first name.
On the other hand, there are few surnames in Korea. The 1985 census, the last for which I have data, recorded 298 surnames in South Korea. Yes - only 298 names in the whole country! Then, out of 44 million 420 thousand Koreans, 8 million 785 thousand bore the surname Kim, Lee - 5 million 985 thousand, Park - 3 million 436 thousand, Choi (in Russia written as Tsoi) - 1 million 913 thousand. and Chon – 1 million 781 thousand people. This means that every fifth Korean had the surname Kim, and every eighth had the surname Lee. Other common surnames include Kang, Cho, Yun, Chan, Lim, Han, Sim, Oh, So (the number of bearers of each of these surnames in 1985 exceeded 600 thousand people). Bearers of all these 13 surnames taken together make up 60% of the country's population! There is no doubt that these data apply not only to South Koreans, but to Koreans in general.
In addition to the surname (성/姓 "son") and given name (명/名 "myeon"), in the old days, any educated Korean also had a pseudonym (호/號 "ho"). He chose this pseudonym on his own, upon reaching adulthood, and used it very widely. According to tradition, the pseudonym was written before the name. Usually it consisted of two hieroglyphs, although there were also four-syllable pseudonyms. For example, an outstanding philosopher and publicist of the first half of the 19th century was called, if you write his name in full, as it is listed in historical reference books, “Tasan Chong Yak Yong” 다산 정약용. Here, "tasan" (다산/茶山 lit. "tea mountain", "mountain covered with tea bushes") is his nickname, Jeong is his surname, and Yak-yong is his given name. It is curious that in many modern texts he is called Chong Ta San (or Chong Da San): the pseudonym has replaced the name.
Nowadays, pseudonyms are relatively rare, although even now they are used by some cultural figures - especially among South Korean country writers and other fans of the lost harmony of the old Korean life.
The Korean system of given names and surnames acquired its current form quite recently, at the end of the 19th century. Before this, the situation was much different. Firstly, historically, commoners in Korea (like most other countries) did not have surnames. The surname was the privilege of the nobles, and men were called only by their first names. In addition, the names of common people were, as a rule, not of Chinese, but of Korean origin, and because of this they could not be properly written down in official papers, which were compiled in hieroglyphs in ancient Chinese. Only from the 15th-16th centuries did peasants begin to use Chinese-type surnames and given names. At the same time, at first surnames were distributed only among free peasants, while numerous serfs (nobi) remained “surnameless” until the final abolition of serfdom in 1894.
Secondly, in old Korea, women - even in noble families - did not have official (that is, hieroglyphic, Chinese) names. They were called by their last name - often with the addition of a generic indicator, "pona". In official documents, the woman always appeared as “the daughter of so-and-so” or “the wife of so-and-so.” In the family, as a rule, she was called by the name of the child - “so-and-so’s mother.” Only in 1909 did a law come into force that required that any Korean - regardless of gender and age - must have a first and last name.
In addition to the family itself, any Korean has long been a member of an extensive clan group, which includes all people who have the same surname and the same “pon” - a geographical name that indicates the area from which the real or mythical ancestor of a given clan originated. Bearers of the same surname may have different “pon” and belong to different clans. For example, there are clans of Kims from Gimhae, Kims from Gyeongju, Kims from Gwangsan, Kims from Gimnyong, Kims from Andong - and so on. There are a total of 285 clans whose members bear the surname Kim. The second most common Korean surname is Lee, represented by 241 clans. There are 128 clans among the Pak, each of which has its own "pon" (or, as it is often called, "pongwan").
Of course, this does not mean that today all or even any significant number of representatives of a given clan live in the area after which the clan is named. Members of the same clan are considered relatives and are expected to actively support each other. Marriages between members of the same clan, that is, between people with the same surnames and the same pon, were officially prohibited until 1995, and even now they remain rare. During the Li Dynasty, marriages of namesakes were also prohibited, although people with different pons were never considered relatives.
Most clans trace their roots back to very distant times - almost to the 10th century. BC e. However, these claims should not be taken seriously: in their current form, clans appeared quite late, only in the 16th-17th centuries. At the same time, the current system of pons was formed. Clans have always been very numerous entities, and in any clan one could meet both a noble nobleman and a poor peasant.
In 1995, there were 3,349 clans in Korea. They can vary greatly in size - some clans include millions of members, while others number in the hundreds. In 1985, five clans had more than a million members: the Kims of Gimhae, the Parks of Miryang, the Lees of Jeongju, the Kims of Gyeongju, and the Lees of Gyeongju. In total, there were 28 clans, the number of which exceeded a quarter of a million people.
At the head of each clan is a council (jeongjinhwe), which directs the joint performance of ceremonies dedicated to the souls of ancestors and leads the education of its members in the spirit of clan traditions. It must be said that all-Korean clan councils, for all their ostentatious and carefully cultivated archaism, are in fact very new institutions: the first such council appeared only in 1967. Before that, the activities of the clans were coordinated at the local level.
The main activities of the clan council, in addition to performing ancestor worship rituals, are, firstly, the cultivation of clan solidarity, and, secondly, the editing and publication of Chokpo genealogical books. It must be said that a Korean (at least from an educated and wealthy family) often knows his ancestry at a level that would, perhaps, do honor to a European nobleman of the 18th century, and this is not a matter of any special interest in “his roots”, but in the fact that studying the pedigree and history of one’s clan in many families is simply mandatory.
True, most genealogies in the last century have been radically falsified. Suffice it to say that almost all Koreans are now confident that they are descendants of noble families in the direct male line. Considering that before early XIX century, the nobility made up only 3-5% of the country's population, it is impossible not to wonder where the direct descendants of peasants, artisans, fishermen and other smerds went. The point here is that already at the end of the 18th century the state began to trade noble privileges. An even more common occurrence was the sale of these rights by an impoverished noble family privately - through fictitious adoption. Finally, already in the 20th century, when the authorities stopped monitoring the compilation of genealogies, their direct falsification began: the grandchildren of the Smerds began to include themselves in the genealogies of noble families. By the 1960s, this process reached its logical conclusion: all Koreans proclaimed themselves nobles!
And, in conclusion, a few words about the names and surnames of Koreans of the former USSR - “Koryo saram”. The resettlement of Koreans to Russia took place mainly at the end of the 19th century, that is, at a time when in Korea itself the current system of names and surnames was already fully formed. Therefore, Koreans of the former USSR have quite ordinary Korean surnames - Kim, Park, Lee, etc. The only specific feature is the surnames with the suffix -gai: Tyagai, Ogai, Khegai and others. This suffix was added to monosyllabic surnames ending in a vowel: O became Ogai, Li became Ligai, etc.
With names the situation was more complicated. At the end of the 19th century, the majority of Korean immigrants sought to convert to Orthodoxy - not so much because of religious fervor, but because of the desire to obtain Russian citizenship as soon as possible. At baptism they were given Russian names. As a rule, they were taken from the calendar, so Koreans born before 1920-25 often bore extremely archaic Russian names - Akulina, Juvenaly, Praskovya, Methodius. In the 1920s they were replaced by names of the usual Russian-Soviet type.
However, in the 1930s. the situation has changed. Since that time, Koreans of the USSR began to widely use names unusual for Russia of the “Western European model” - Edward, Angela, Herman, Mary. The reason for this is simple: the small repertoire of traditional Russian names coincided with the small repertoire of Korean surnames. As a result, a huge number of full namesakes appeared, who had the same first and last names. If we consider that approximately 15% of Koreans have the surname Kim, and 15% of Russian men are called Sergei, then it is easy to calculate that in a Korean village with a population of two thousand people, on average there should be 20-25 people with the name “Sergei Kim”. Transition to " exotic names" largely solved this problem - and became national tradition"koryo saram". August 28, 2016, 00:24

The post can be considered entertaining, informative and educational; there is no strictly scientific background in it. The author was interested, the author is having fun, so he digs here and there. There are different sources - about 10 (Google almighty will help us all). Naturally, those interested, at least in dramas, will not discover anything new for themselves, but nevertheless - repetition is the mother of teaching :))

Perhaps one of the very first questions that any person dealing with Korea and Koreans faces concerns Korean names and surnames.

Korean names have changed over time. The first names to appear in the chronicles date back to the early Three Kingdoms period, when the Korean Peninsula was heavily influenced by Chinese culture, as China eventually became the dominant power in the region. Changes continued during the following periods of Korean history - the Unified Silla State, the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties. For aristocracy of yangban rank, a complex system of alternative names was used, which originated in the Joseon era. This system, including court names, posthumous names, birth names, and pen names, grew out of the Confucian tradition. The court name system is based on Book of Ceremonies, one of the five key books of Confucianism. This system first entered Korea during the Three Kingdoms, but very few aristocrats of that time are known to have had a court name (among them was Seol Cheon 설총 薛聰). This tradition became widespread only during the late Goryeo Dynasty, when the influence of Confucianism in the country began to seriously increase.

According to the chronicle Samguk Sagi, the first surnames were bestowed upon the people by the Vanirs (rulers). For example, in 33 AD. e.. Wang Yuri gave the six nobles of the state the names Lee (이), Bae (배), Choi (최), Jeong (정), Song (손) and Sol (설). However, this theory is not widely accepted among modern historians, who believe that sinicized names came into use approximately five hundred years after the events described in Samguk Sagi.

Later, Manchu and Mongol names were added to the list of Korean names. This happened due to the invasion of these states into Korean territory. The ruling elite of that time tried to please the conquerors and therefore, at their suggestion, they began to call Korean children Manchurian and Mongolian names. During the brief period of Mongol occupation during the Goryeo dynasty, the Korean vans and aristocracy had both Mongolian and Sino-Korean names. For example, Wang Kongming had the Mongolian name Bayan Temur and the Sino-Korean name Wang Gi (王祺) (later Wang Jong, 王顓). The list of Korean male names has expanded significantly. Korean female names have received a new interpretation.

During the period of Japanese occupation of Korea (1910-1945), Koreans were forced to adopt Japanese names. In 1939, as part of the policy of cultural assimilation (Japanese: 同化政策 do:ka seisaku?), carried out by Governor General of Korea Jiro Minami, Decree No. 20 (known as the "Names Decree", 창씨개명) was issued into law in April 1940. He allowed (in practice forced) Koreans to adopt Japanese surnames and given names. Although coercion was officially prohibited by the Japanese colonial government, local officials forced Koreans to Japaneseize their names; as a result, by 1944, about 84% of the Korean population had Japanese surnames (“... 84% of the Korean population had Japanese surnames” formally, that is, according to their passports). In practice, the vast majority of Koreans used Korean names in everyday communication). However, many Koreans close to the ruling elite (among them the most famous is Hong Sa Ik, a general in the Army of the Japanese Empire), withstood this pressure and retained their national names.

Korean surnames (성) are overwhelmingly monosyllabic and, unlike Western tradition, are always written before the personal name. When using English, French or another European language, many Koreans maintain word order when translating. In Korea, it is not customary to address strangers by their personal name. This is a gross violation. Most personal names in Korea have two spellings: alphabetic and hieroglyphic.

Thus, a typical Korean name consists of three syllables: the first syllable is the surname, and the second and third are the given name. An example is the name of a famous Korean actor Bae Yong-joon (배용준), in which "Bae" is his surname and "Yong-joon" is his given name.

In English, his name is written as Yong Joon Bae, that is, the first goes the name (first name), and then the family name. Europeans and Americans, looking at this name, may think that “Joon” is the middle name of the actor. However, in Korea it is not customary to give a child two names, and the established tradition of writing two-syllable names in two separate words does not reflect the true structure of the name and can mislead people.

According to Korean government statistics, about 10.5 million people in Korea have a surname that is Hangul (the phonemic script of the Korean language, characteristic feature which is that letters are combined into groups roughly corresponding to syllables; this type of writing was developed in the mid-15th century and is the main one in South Korea and the only one in North Korea) is written as 김 and is usually Russified as Kim. This is 21.5% of the population.

Despite the fact that the population of South Korea is 51 million people, there are only about 300 surnames (in sources there is information that there are only 250). According to government data as of the mid-2000s, 54% of the population has one of five surnames: Kim (김), Lee (or Yi) (이), Park (박), Choi (최), or Chung (정). Rounding out the top ten most common surnames are Kang (or Kang) (강), Cho (조), Yun (or Yun) (윤), Cheng (or Chan) (장), and Lim (or Im) (임).

A story from the topic: in one of the episodes of the popular Korean entertainment show “Running Man,” each of the 12 participants had to independently find a person with different surnames in one of the Seoul universities. The assignment was accepted if all 12 students found had a different last name. This task shocked almost all participants. They, of course, managed it and even met it within a certain time, but when the task was announced, everyone had almost the same reaction: “This is impossible! We will fail!” Also, in one recently watched episode of the same “Running Man” there was also a similar task, but the participants drew surnames using a lottery method, the owners of which they needed to find in one of the universities. There were surnames Kan, Jin, Ryu, Chan. Since they were not limited by time, but there were not very many students at that time either, they completed the task only after an hour and a half. They spent a lot of time fiddling with the surname Ryu. Almost all the students who were asked as they passed by had the surnames Lee, Park or Kim.

There are also about twelve double surnames, consisting of two syllables and two Chinese characters. The most common of them are Hwangbo (황보), Jegal (제갈), Sakong (사공), Namgoong (남궁), Sunwoo (선우) and others. These surnames can be confusing for foreigners visiting Korea for the first time because they typically expect Koreans to have a two-syllable first name and a one-syllable last name, which is not always the case. For some surnames, there are many pronunciation options, since the romanization system may not always be applicable, because some sounds simply cannot be conveyed in Latin writing.

Many surnames sound and are written in Hangul the same, but differ only in hieroglyphic spelling. For example, the surname "Li" can be written in three different characters: 李, 異, 伊. Accordingly, these are three different surnames, but they are pronounced and written in Hangeul exactly the same - 이. Nowadays hieroglyphic inscriptions are used less frequently, usually either to designate something more briefly, or vice versa for complex concepts.
With names it’s about the same: you can distinguish one Min Jae from another in writing only by the hieroglyphs. Well, and besides, each sign (hieroglyphic) has its own meaning, thus the personal name acquires a special meaning.

But remember that not all Kims are the same. Surnames are divided into regional clans (bons) depending on the territorial center of the clan or origin. Therefore, there are Kims from Gimhae, Kims from Gyeongju, Kims from Gwangsan and Kims from Gimnaeong. Similarly with the surname Li et al. For a long time On the territory of Korea, there was a law banning the marriage of people from the same clan, but at this time it is no longer in force.
All Korean surnames are written using Chinese characters, because although Korea historically had its own naming system, in the 5th century the Korean aristocracy adopted the Confucian naming system from neighboring China. Since then, Chinese surnames have spread throughout the nation and become completely Korean.
Surnames in North and South Korea are the same, although there are some differences in pronunciation. Unlike European countries, a woman does not receive her husband's surname upon marriage; only her children inherit the surname.

The uniqueness of Korean anthroponymy is the presence of a toponymic name - bona ("root", "base", "origin"). Bon is the name of the area where the ancestors of a given person originate. Each surname has a certain number of bonds. For example, the surname Kim had about several hundred bons, of which 72 are currently the most common; for the surname Li - the most common are about 90. Some surnames, such as Han, have only one bon. Although the toponymic name is not included in official documents, almost all adult Koreans know their bon, since people who have the same bon are considered close relatives, and marriages between them were prohibited until the 90s.
At the turn of the last and present centuries, Koreans in the Russian Far East developed new surnames, created by adding the suffix - to the surname ending with a vowel sound - guy, the origin of which has not been definitively clarified.
The most common version: since Korean surnames are much shorter than Russian ones, Russian officials in the Far East began to add a suffix to monosyllabic surnames when filling out documents.
In Kazakhstan, for example, the following surnames of this type are found: Degai, Digai, Dyugai, Egai, Kigai, Lagai, Ligai, Lyugai, Migai, Nigai, Nogai, Ogai, Pegai, Pyagai, Tigai, Tyugai, Tyagai, Ugai, Khegai, Chagai , Shegai, Shigai, Yugai, etc. Neither on the Korean Peninsula, nor among overseas Koreans in China, Japan, the USA and other countries, such a phenomenon is not observed.

As you know, in Korea today the use of its own alphabet, Hangul, is widespread. However, almost all Korean names are of hieroglyphic origin and Chinese characters are used to write them. In fact, there are no established names in Korea, and each name is a combination of two characters with a suitable meaning. Thus, looking at this or that Korean name, you can find out what meaning and what hopes the parents invested in giving their child this name. Of course, the most suitable for a name are the hieroglyphs that mean certain positive qualities and properties - sincerity ("chon" - 정), beauty ("mi" - 미), reverence for parents ("hyo" - 효), etc. Also To compose a name, hieroglyphs can be used, which are the names of animals or any objects of the material world. For example, names often contain syllables such as "ho" (호, meaning "tiger"), "sap" (석, meaning "stone"), or "hwa" (화, meaning "flower"). The number of such hieroglyphs is measured in hundreds, or even thousands, and therefore it is not surprising that in Korea it is very difficult to meet namesakes, that is, people who bear the same name.

Koreans sincerely believe that the name given to a child at birth can influence his destiny. For this reason, parents take very seriously the issue of choosing a name suitable for their child, which would protect him from all kinds of misfortunes and bring good luck throughout his entire life. life path. So Koreans come up with names “in two directions at once.” On the one hand, it is necessary that the name be euphonious and go well with the surname, on the other hand, hieroglyphs with a beautiful meaning are selected for it.

Of course, all parents, without exception, want their child to be healthy, happy and successful. In this regard, they take a very responsible approach to the issue of choosing for him a suitable name, which in itself is a very difficult task. Indeed, in order to choose the right name, it is necessary to take into account such important concepts of Eastern philosophy as the teaching " sazhu"(year, month, day and hour of birth, which determines the future fate of a person) and the theory of "yin-yang" (the continuous interaction of two opposite principles - the female "yin" and the male "yang") and the five primary elements "wu-xing" ( wood, fire, earth, metal, water). Therefore, there are very frequent cases when parents turn to specialized centers “Jakmyeongso” (작명소), where a professional fortuneteller selects a name for the child that best matches all important factors.
Fortune tellers involved in choosing names say: " It is impossible to change fate, but a correctly chosen name can attract additional luck and happiness to a person". Recently, the number of people who consider choosing a name in accordance with the fundamentals of Eastern natural philosophy, relics of the past, has increased. However, the number of married couples turning to Jakmyeonseo centers for help does not decrease and the fortune tellers working there are not sitting idle. It is noteworthy that that in bookstores today you can see many printed publications that reveal the “secrets” of choosing a suitable name for a child, and parents often resort to their help to independently solve this pressing problem.

Married couples who contact Jakmyeonseo “name” centers often offer several options for the names they like, from which a professional fortuneteller selects the most suitable name for the child. Everything can happen the other way around: the fortuneteller himself will offer a list of names that will meet all the necessary criteria, and the parents, in turn, will make their choice in favor of one option or another.
Typically, the cost of such a service ranges from 100 thousand to 1 million won. Far advanced technical progress has allowed numerous "name" centers to provide their name matching services online, further increasing the popularity of the practice.

Fashion trends can be relevant not only when choosing clothes or shoes, but also when choosing a name. IN different years In Korea, certain names were popular. For example, in the 1940s and 1950s, many boys were named Yongsu (영수), Yongho (영호) and Yeoncheol (영철), and girls were named Sunja (순자), Yeongja (영자), Yonghee (영희) and others. . In particular, the female names "Sunja" and "Yongzha" have Japanese roots, and today it is almost impossible to meet a young girl with that name.
Currently, the tradition of giving a child a name based on native Korean words is becoming increasingly popular. For example, today you can often hear such “Korean” names as “Haneul” (하늘, that is, “sky”), “Areum” (아름, that is, “beauty”), “Iseul” (이슬, that is, “purity”, literally means “dew”), “Ojin” (어진, that is, “kind and wise person”) That is, euphonious Korean words are used as the name, which carry a positive and deep meaning.

At the same time, in modern Korea the number of “Americanized” names is growing, which is associated with the process of globalization of Korean society and the growing popularity of foreign, especially American, culture. Many Koreans have started using names that are not difficult to pronounce in English and can also be written in Chinese characters with good meaning. Examples of such “two-in-one” names are “Suji” (수지, or Susie), “Jein” (제인, or Jane), Yujin (유진, or Eugene) and other “English” names, which are preferred by more and more families today steam.

Since the name is selected from two hieroglyphs, this leads to the fact that a fixed onomasticon simply does not exist in Korea. Korean names can be a wide variety of variations of two syllables. Plus, almost any name can be included in the name Chinese character, of which there are about seventy thousand in total. Although, of course, there are those that are used more often than others.

Another feature of the Korean onomasticon is that Korean male and female names are written and pronounced the same. In other words, they are simply not divided into male and female, which is somewhat unusual for the European consciousness. The only way to determine the gender of a person by name is to understand the meaning. For example, it is unlikely that a girl will be named Meng Huo, which means “brave tiger.” But, as one should assume, such a system of gender identification does not always work and the results are only speculative.

There are many words to complement a person's real name. Among adults of the same social status, it is considered the norm to address each other by adding a suffix to the full name ssi(sometimes in oral speech can be heard as shi)(씨氏). However, it is impolite to address a person by their last name only, even using this suffix. If the person to whom the address is addressed has an official status, he is usually addressed by the name of this status (for example, “manager” or “boss”), often with a respectful suffix him(님). In such cases, a personal name may be added, although this usually indicates that the person making the address is of higher status.

In Korean society, teknonymy is common - the custom of calling a married person (married woman) by the name of his or her child. It is quite common to call a mother by the name of her eldest son, for example, “Chul Soo's mom” (철수 엄마). However, teknonymy can have as its objects any of the parents and any of the children in the family, depending on the context.

Among children and close friends, calling each other by name is not disrespectful. Nicknames are also often used.

In a family, only the youngest are usually called by name, and the main form of address is the names of degrees of relationship in their polite form: father, mother, spouse, older brother/sister, big father (father's older brother), younger father, older sister's husband, mother-in-law/ father-in-law, matchmaker, godfather, etc., etc. In everyday life, people who are not literally relatives often call each other degrees of relationship.
Oppa (elder brother) - this is how girls and young women address older young people. There is a joke: “Oppa often becomes appa.”
Appa - appeal small child to my father. A young wife sometimes calls her husband the same way if they have Small child. This is similar to the phrase “our folder (daddy).”

Yobo (dear/darling) is what middle-aged and older spouses call each other. Young spouses, especially those with higher education and progressive views, address each other by name, as they called each other when they first met at university.

“Chagi” is almost the same as “ebo”, only it is also used between just a guy and a girl, not necessarily spouses.

By name, with the addition of the word “ssi,” not only spouses, but also friends, colleagues of equal status and age call each other, so the translation of the word “ ssi“as “Mr., Madam,” as dictionaries indicate, is not always entirely adequate. It is also a polite, friendly form. If it is used after the last name and first name, let's say. Park Yongchul-ssi, then this is already a completely official appeal.
"Ssi" immediately after a Korean surname (say, Kim-ssi) is considered rude as an address. It is used in relation to simple and uneducated people or when they want to hurt someone.

In the Korean language, there are quite specific addresses that are quite difficult to adequately translate, so translators often leave them as they are in film subtitles. In this case, it is best to explain in parentheses what it means when such an address first appears, and then use it without explanation.

Ajusshi - achzhossi (achzhoshi) - an appeal to a man who is much older in age. Sometimes it is translated, depending on the situation, as “master” or “uncle.”

Ajumma - achzhuma - an appeal to a woman who is much older in age. Similar to "ajossi", sometimes translated as "lady" or "aunt". Young girls can be insulted by calling them "achzhuma". Taking this into account, one should carefully use the traditional address to a married woman, adjumoni (literally: aunt, auntie), which is increasingly associated with the idea of an illiterate, middle-aged and unrespectable person or with the bad manners of the speaker. In meaning, it resembles our Russian “woman”, which does not evoke any pleasant associations.
The change in traditional relationships in society, when more and more women continue to work after getting married, when the number of women holding certain positions, holding scientific degrees, and participating in political and social activities is growing, has created a need for a new neutral and respectful form of address, like “Madame” among the French, “miss” among the British, “lady” among the Poles.

Agassi - agassi (agashi) - an appeal to young ladies who are not yet “aunts”. They are also often translated simply as “madam” or “girl”.

Hyung - hyung - "elder brother" - an address used only among men. It can be used both in relation to a sibling, and simply as a respectful and affectionate address to a close friend. It is often translated simply as “brother” or replaced by an address by name. Any guy older than you will be a "hyung" (with all the ensuing consequences).

Hyungnim - hyungnim - a more formal form of address "hyung". Can be used when addressing, for example, a son-in-law or the leader of a mafia-gangster group.

Noona - noona - this is how men and boys address older sisters or women and girls not much older than themselves in age, with whom they have close relationships. It is difficult to say what this “not much” equals. This is a nuance, apparently determined intuitively. This appeal is very touching and affectionate. The hand doesn’t rise to simply translate “sister” or “little sister”, because... There are many more meanings there, as in the case of “oppa”.

Oppa - oppa - the appeal of girls and women to older brothers or close male friends. In modern Korean, “oppa” is no longer just an older brother for a girl, it is any young man who is scarier than her, more or less close to her, a friend, acquaintance, co-worker, etc. It would also be completely wrong to translate this affectionate address simply as “brother” or “little brother.” Here, however, it is worth making a reservation. A girl will simply use the term “oppa” to call either her own older brother or her boyfriend. In all other cases, this address will be preceded by the person’s name (성우 오빠, for example (“Son Woo oppa”) - although this rule is still more applicable when the conversation is about this same “oppa” with a third person, when directly addressing it will still be just "oppa"). With this “oppa” (as with all other terms, which are discussed below), the most difficulties always arise when translating into Russian: there is no exact parallel in Russian and you have to constantly get out and look for words suitable for this particular situation. “Oppa” is not just a word, it is a whole layer of Korean culture, if you look at it more broadly. A girl will never call a boy "oppa" if she doesn't like him. She will call him by name or something else. Sometimes "oppa" is replaced when translated by calling people by name. “Oppa” will always help, you can (and should) rely on him, he is the source of all joys (as well as the root of all misfortunes), etc. and so on. This appeal contains the whole essence of Confucian society - the elder is always better, he is always right, especially if the elder is a guy in relation to a girl.

Sunbae - sunbae - an address to senior students or senior work colleagues. Something like an analogue of the Japanese "senpai".

Sunbae-nim - sunbae-nim - a more formal and strict "sunbae". Similar to "hyung" and "hyungnim".

Dongsaeng/dongsaeng - younger brother or sister. This word is not a direct address; no one [almost] ever calls a junior “dongsaeng” in direct contact, but in a conversation with a third person about this person they can refer to him with this very term. So, for example, they can characterize a young girl / guy in order to emphasize his belonging to something (without such a correlation, Korean culture simply cannot be imagined): 김연아, 국민 여동생 (“Kim Young Ah, the little sister of the whole nation”), kind of loving and proud at the same time.

Unni - unni - "elder sister" - this is how women and girls can address each other, again, there is no need to be related by blood, they can just be friends or work colleagues. This is what women call their friends, classmates and fellow students, acquaintances and random fellow travelers somewhat older than themselves in age.
Unnie - this is how you can address a pretty saleswoman at a market or in a store, and by this address she will immediately understand that you like her. However, at the same time, you yourself should not be too burdened with the burden of years. Otherwise, your interlocutor will think that you are hinting at her considerable age. Times are changing quickly, and today young (30-40 years old) Korean women react painfully to any hints and questions related to their age. The desire to stay young after marriage is a recent one, but is becoming more common.

“Unnie” also has one unique feature that distinguishes it from all other similar addresses, namely, this is how female waitresses in restaurants are called, and quite often even guys. A common mistake of Russian speakers in Korea is to call waitresses “아가씨” (“Agassi”, literally “girl”). However, this cannot be done, since the word “agassi” has a pronounced negative connotation; this is what girls of easy virtue are called; in rare cases, old men and women can call a young girl this way (which is justified etymologically; “agassi”, literally “little mistress girl”; this word acquired a negative meaning recently, during the lifetime of these same old men, hence their use of this word from old memory).

A person who teaches at a prestigious university is called seongsaeng-nim, which means “teacher.” A teacher can be called a person who knows something better than others.
Sometimes students may address teachers as kyosu-nim (respected professor). This is often said to those who have a scientific degree or a fairly high status among other professors.

At a market or in a store, a person is addressed as a sleepy person (guest, client).

Most Koreans, with age, achieve the desired goal and become the owners of their own business, which gives them the right to be called the word sajan-nim, which sounds euphonious to the Korean ear (that is, the respectable owner of the enterprise), and even if they do not become, it is still the best compliment for them, just as it pleases the soul of a lieutenant to be addressed as “Mr. Major.”

The suffixes are "-양" ("-yang") and "-군" ("-kun").
There is not much to say about these suffixes. "-yang" joins female name and, in fact, means “girl”, “girl”, “-kun”, respectively, to the masculine, and means “guy”, “young man”. In nine cases out of ten, these suffixes will only be used by elders in relation to younger ones, usually children and teenagers; in all other cases they are unacceptable. They can often be heard in the speech of teachers calling children by name in class, educators in hagwons (language schools), sometimes when addressing, for example, the head of a department in the office to a young trainee or intern, less often between friends, but this is more common in a joke and often in situations where the speaker wants to emphasize the gender of the listener.

Hence the conclusion of all the letters written above: the most important integral part politeness in Korean society is the correct choice of form of address to the interlocutor. This takes into account his age, social status, the degree of closeness of the relationship, and the environment in which communication takes place.

Did you read to the end? Thank you for your attention! And a sunny weekend!