How Korean Names Work: Read This Before You Make Another Korean Friend

Have you ever wondered how Korean names work?
You might have noticed that most Koreans seem to have names with three syllables — and that a surprising number share the same last names, like Kim, Lee, or Park. It may seem simple at first glance, but Korean names are deeply rooted in tradition, culture, and even philosophy. In this post, I’ll walk you through how Korean names work — from their basic structure to the hidden meanings behind each syllable.

What’s in a Korean Name?

At first glance, Korean names usually have three syllables, such as Hong Gildong or Lee Minho. This typically breaks down into one family name followed by a two-syllable given name.

The family name (last name) comes first when the full name is written in Korean. For example, Hong is the family name in Hong Gildong. There are over 5,500 Korean surnames recorded as of 2015, but only about 250 of them have historical roots going back before the founding of modern Korea. The remaining thousands of surnames were mostly created by naturalized citizens of foreign origin, often transliterated into Hangul from their native languages.

Most traditional Korean surnames are one syllable long, such as Kim (김), Lee (이), and Park (박), and a small handful of them dominate the population. In fact, just five surnames — Kim, Lee, Park, Choi, and Jung — are shared by more than half of South Korea’s population. That’s why you’ll often meet many people with the same family name, even if they’re not related. This remarkable concentration even gave rise to the local saying “finding Mr. Kim in Seoul,” meaning something like finding a needle in a haystack​.

The complicated history behind the Korean family name

Despite so many people having the same few last names, it doesn’t mean they’re all related. Each Korean surname is divided into clans by a concept called bon-gwan (본관), which is the clan’s ancestral hometown or origin. For example, someone named Kim could be from the Gimhae Kim clan or the Andong Kim clan, indicating that their distant ancestors originally came from Gimhae or Andong​. Two people with the last name Lee might have completely separate family trees if one is from the Jeonju Lee clan and the other from the Gyeongju Lee clan. They share the surname Lee, but their clan origins and lineages are different, so they’re considered different families​Essentially, the surname alone doesn’t tell the whole story without the clan context.

Historically, surnames in Korea were a privilege reserved for the royals and upper-class families. Ordinary people — farmers, laborers, and commoners — often didn’t have surnames at all. The elites, on the other hand, kept detailed genealogical records called jokbo (족보) to trace their family lines and prove noble ancestry. However, by the late 19th century, toward the end of the Joseon dynasty, these records began to lose their integrity. As the class system weakened, wealthy commoners started buying their way into prestigious family trees by forging or purchasing jokbo entries.

This is one of the reasons why, even today, so many Koreans share the same few surnames. Of course, nowadays every Korean has a family name, regardless of background, but the legacy of this complex history still persists in the surnames we see today.

How Korean Names Work

1. Family Name (Surname): This is the first part of the name, passed down from one’s father (for example, Kim, Lee, Park). It’s usually one syllable​ and it represents your family or clan. There are a few rare two-syllable surnames (like Namgung), but most are one syllable. Also in Korean culture, Korean women do not change their last name when they marry – both spouses keep their own family names, and children inherit their father’s surname. So if Ms. Choi marries Mr. Kim, she stays Ms. Choi, and their kids will be Kim. Something that differs from the typical western culture.
2. Generational Name (돌림자, dollimja): The second syllable of a traditional Korean given name is often a generation name​. This means siblings or cousins of the same generation in a family might share this syllable in their names. For instance, if one sister is named Min-ji, another might be Min-a, and a brother could be Min-su – all sharing “Min”. These days, this rule is not strictly followed by the modern Korean people.
3. Individual Given Name: The final part (third syllable) is the person’s unique given name, which differentiates them from their siblings. This is chosen by the parents (or sometimes by a naming specialist or a grandparent in more traditional families) to reflect a desirable meaning or virtue.

The Hidden Meaning in Korean Names

Korean names often are based on Hanja – Chinese characters that carry specific meanings. Even though Koreans today write their names using the Hangul alphabet, most given names have an underlying Hanja form. When parents name their baby, they usually choose Hanja characters for each syllable of the given name.

Take my name, Huido, for example. The first syllable ‘Hui’ is written as ‘煕’ in Chinese Characters and means ‘bright’ or ‘to shine’. The second syllable ‘Do’ is written as ‘濤’ and is the Chinese character for a wave in the water. So all together, my name literally means ‘Shining Wave’. This name was given by a father who hoped his child would have a bright influence on others.

Korean naming practices have evolved over time, especially in the last few decades. Modern Korean parents have much more freedom and variety in choosing names, while some old conventions are less strictly followed. It is not hard to find a Korean person whose name is not based on any Chinese characters. For example, names like Haneul (하늘) meaning “sky,” Areum (아름) meaning “beauty,” are based on native Korean vocabulary​. These names carry meaning in Korean itself, rather than via Chinese characters. According to South Korean government data, as of 2015 about 7.7% of people had names written entirely in Hangul (no Chinese characters)​.

Try a Korean Name Yourself

Want to have a little fun with it and maybe see what your name might look like in Korean? Try my Korean name generator, with more 300+ Korean names in the DB. Type in you English name, select you gender and generate a Korean name that sounds similar to you original name.

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Korean names may be short in length but rich in history and significance. Understanding how Korean names work gives you a window into Korean culture itself. Honestly, even as I was writing this post, I discovered new things about Korean names that I hadn’t thought about before and if you’ve made it this far, chances are you now know more about Korean names than the average Korean!

If you’re curious and want to dive deeper, I highly recommend checking out the Wikipedia page for Korean name – it was a helpful resource while writing this post.