Korean Girl Names: a comprehensive guide
Most Korean names consist of three syllables. Contrary to English names, the surname comes before the given name. Most surnames are one syllable, and the given names are usually composed of two syllables.
Therefore, if your Korean friend’s name is ‘Park Yu Min (박유민)’, the first letter, ‘Park (박)’, is the surname, and ‘Yu Min (유민)’ should be the given name.
Of course, there are names that do not follow the common structure: two-syllable surnames exist, as do given names with one or more-than-three syllables.
- Park Yu Min (박유민) = 박 ( Surname ) + 유민 ( Given name )
- Yi Jin (이진) = 이 ( Surname ) + 진 ( Given name )
- Nam Gung Min (남궁민) = 남궁 ( Surname ) + 민 ( Given name )
- Kim Ye Da Um (김예다움) = 김 ( Surname ) + 예다움 ( Given name )
- Dok Go Yeong Jae (독고영재) = 독고 ( Surname ) + 영재 ( Given name )
So, what names are popular in Korea? What names are regarded as unique and special? What kind of meaning do those names have? In this article, we will learn about them by focusing on girls’ names.
Popular Korean girl names
Like in all other cultures, there have been some changes in terms of popular names in Korea.
Here are examples of common Korean female names among each generation:
- Women in their teens and 20s: Yeon A (연아), Hyeon A (현아), Hyo Bin (효빈), Ye Won (예원)
- Women in their 30s and 40s: Eun Jeong (은정), Seon Yeong (선영), Ji Hyeon (지현), Ji Hye (지혜)
- Women in their 50s and 60s: Mi Jeong (미정), Gyeong Suk (경숙), Su Gyeong (수경), Yeong Ran (영란)
- Women in their 70s and 80s: Ok Sun (옥순), Mi Ok (미옥), Sun Ja (순자), Gyeong Ja (경자)
What are the popular names for girls who were recently born in Korea? The names in the table below are based on information from the official website of the Supreme Court of Korea.[1]
| Rank | Korean girl name | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seo A (서아) | 8.81 |
| 2 | Yi Seo (이서) | 8.47 |
| 3 | Ha Yun (하윤) | 6.39 |
| 4 | Ji A (지아) | 6.34 |
| 5 | Ji An (지안) | 6.33 |
| 6 | A Yun (아윤) | 5.94 |
| 7 | Shi A (시아) | 5.72 |
| 8 | A Rin (아린) | 5.40 |
| 9 | Seo Yun (서윤) | 4.98 |
| 10 | Ji Woo (지우) | 4.50 |
| 11 | Ha Rin (하린) | 4.50 |
| 12 | Ji Yu (지유) | 4.28 |
| 13 | Ha Eun (하은) | 4.17 |
| 14 | Yu Ju (유주) | 3.59 |
| 15 | Chae A (채아) | 3.53 |
| 16 | Na Eun (나은) | 3.51 |
| 17 | Yu Na (유나) | 3.46 |
| 18 | Tae Ri (태리) | 3.42 |
| 19 | Su A (수아) | 3.37 |
| 20 | Seo Yeon (서연) | 3.29 |
| Others | Others | 76.91 |
As you can see from the table, the top three popular names for girls born in 2022 are Seo A (서아), Yi Seo (이서), and Ha Yun (하윤).
In addition, we can easily notice that a lot of other popular names include letters such as Seo (서), A (아), Yun (윤), Rin (린), or Ha (하).
Below are some of the noteworthy features of recent girls’ names.
- Parents try to include a letter that has rarely been used for names before. They want to give uniqueness to their girl’s name.
- How a name sounds comes before its meaning. People prefer names that give a soft and lyrical impression when pronounced.
When it comes to the meaning of a name, parents consider the sound first, and then they pick appropriate Chinese characters to create a desired meaning.
There are a myriad of characters in Chinese, but just a few of them are designated especially for people’s names.
Different combinations can draw out a lot of other diverse meanings and listed below are the examples of the meanings of the top five popular girls’ names.
| Top 5 Korean girl names (2022) | Chinese characters | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Seo A (서아) | 舒雅 | To spread clarity |
| 舒娥 | To spread beauty | |
| 曙芽 | Prospects for good | |
| Yi Seo (이서) | 梨瑞 | Full of happiness |
| 利舒 | To spread good | |
| 怡舒 | To spread happiness | |
| Ha Yun (하윤) | 賀允 | Real blessings |
| 河潤 | Affluence throughout life | |
| 荷贇 | Add beauty | |
| Ji A (지아) | 智娥 | To be wise and beautiful |
| 智雅 | To be wise and pure | |
| 至峨 | To be successful | |
| Ji An (지안) | 至安 | Peaceful life |
| 智案 | To be wise and intelligent | |
| 沚安 | Affluent and peaceful life |
Unique Korean girl names
Another big trend of Korean girl names recently is that people use either English names or the ones that can sound like English names.
Most Korean given names are made up of two syllables, so people also look for English names that can be transliterated into two Korean syllables.
When naming like this, they also consider whether the English names can be written with Hangul characters that people can normally find in people’s names.
This way, they avoid giving too much of an exotic feeling to those who say or hear the name while they still use them as an English name.
Below you can find a variety of such names that are getting more and more popular in Korea.
| Korean girl names | Equivalent English names |
|---|---|
| 제니 | Jenny |
| 제이 or 재이 | Jay |
| 리아 | Leah |
| 리안 | Lianne |
| 라엘 | Rael |
| 루아 | Lua |
| 루나 | Luna |
| 리나 | Lina |
| 제인 | Jane |
| 하니 | Honey |
| 조이 | Joy |
| 엘라 | Ella |
While more and more names are derived from the English language, there are also a growing number of names that are in pure Korean words.
Unlike other names that have equivalent Chinese characters or English words, the meanings are considered before thinking of how that might sound for the names in pure Korean words.
Some of the example names and their meanings are listed below.
- Ga Ram (가람) : To have ambitions and aspirations like a wide river
- Ga On (가온) : To become the center of the world. The literal meaning is ‘the center.’
- Na Rae (나래) : To live doing whatever one wants. The literal meaning is ‘the wing(s).’
- Na Bom (나봄) : A person born in Spring
- Nu Ri (누리) : To become well-known all over the world. The literal meaning is ‘the whole world.’
- Na Saem (나샘) : To become pure and clear like a clean well.
- Na Bit (나빛) : A person that shines brightly
- Na Ye (나예) : A pretty person like a small butterfly
- Da Seul (다슬) : To live tackling everything with wisdom
- Ru Ri (루리) : A word that is part of a phrase meaning ‘to achieve.’
- Sae Na (새나) : To live a free life like a flying bird
One-syllable given names can also give a unique impression. As mentioned above, most Korean given names have two syllables, but some people use only one syllable for their given names.
One-syllable names can have a special feeling according to its sound as well as its meaning. Below you can find some popular Korean girl names with one syllable.
| One-syllable girl names | Chinese characters | Meanings |
|---|---|---|
| Yul (율) | 栗 | A person who manages to accomplish what she wants. The literal meaning is ‘to ripen.’ |
| 律 | A person with principles in life. | |
| Sol (솔) | 率 | To have control over whatever she does in life. |
| Seol (설) | 雪 | A girl with a pure mind like snow. |
| Byeol (별) | - | A girl that shines like a star. |
| Yun (윤) | 贇 | To become pretty and beautiful. |
| 潤 | To have an affluent life. | |
| 侖 | To have a good relationship with others throughout life. | |
| Som (솜) | - | A girl with a pure mind like cotton. The literal meaning is ‘cotton.’ |
| Lin (린) | 潾 | A girl with a pure mind. |
| 璘 | A pretty girl like jade. | |
| Eun (은) | 銀 | A precious girl like silver. |
| To have an affluent life. | ||
| Jin (진) | 眞 | To become an honest person, always says what is true. |
| 珍 | A precious girl like gems | |
| Min (민) | 慜 | To be clever and wise |
| 珉 | To become precious and pretty |
Beautiful Korean girl names
The recent trend in naming Korean girls is to have a feminine and softer impression by way of the sound and its meaning.
The example names mentioned above are all such things. Below you can see some typical Hangul characters that are considered pretty for a girl’s name.
If you can make a combination that has at least one character below, the name would be regarded as a beautiful girl name.
| Lin (린) | Ye (예) | A (아) | Ha (하) |
| Na (나) | Li (리) | Yeon (연) | Yul (율) |
| Bin (빈) | Ji (지) | Yu (유) | Hye (혜) |
Apart from the example characters above, lots of other Hangul letters with final consonants such as ㄴ, ㄹ, and ㅁ are used to make a beautiful girl name.
The vowels such as ㅏ, ㅣ, ㅠ, ㅕ, andㅖ are preferred. Some examples of the combinations are as below.
| Examples of beautiful Korean girl names | Possible Chinese characters | Possible meanings |
|---|---|---|
| Ha Rin (하린) | 河潾 | Pure like crystal clear water in the river |
| Li A (리아) | 利芽 | Full of potential for the future |
| Ye Na (예나) | 藝娜 | A talent with both beauty and intelligence |
| Ha Yul (하율) | 河栗 | Abundance in accomplishments and rewards |
| A Bin (아빈) | 婀賓 | A beautiful and precious person |
| Yeon A (연아) | 娫娥 | A girl with beauty and fame |
| A Rin (아린) | 娥璘 | A beautiful and precious girl |
| Na Yul (나율) | 羅栗 | A person that brings the good to many people |
| Na Yeon (나연) | 羅軟 | To spread the softness and beauty |
| Ye Rin (예린) | 藝璘 | A talent with both beauty and intelligence |
| Ji Yu (지유) | 智柔 | A person with wisdom and softness |
| Hye Ri (혜리) | 惠利 | A person with wisdom and goodness |
Powerful Korean girl names
Although it is a big trend to give a feminine and soft-sounding name to a girl, it is also prevalent to give androgynous names to girls. Therefore, it is sometimes confusing to guess the gender after only listening to the name.
People followed the practice in the past, because of the idea that giving girls those sorts of names can bring a prosperous life to them.
However, modern people do not subscribe to this idea at all, and nearly all the androgynous names that are given are just according to the parents’ decisions.
Those kinds of names can give a sophisticated and intellectual impression. Some examples of powerful Korean girl names are provided in the table below:
| Examples of powerful Korean girl names | Possible Chinese character | Meanings |
|---|---|---|
| Seo Ha (서하) | 舒河 | Prosperous life like a wide river |
| Yeon Woo (연우) | 娫優 | A beautiful person with hospitality |
| Seo Woo (서우) | 胥佑 | A person that helps each other |
| Ji Min (지민) | 智慜 | A person with wisdom and intelligence |
| Yi Hyeon (이현) | 利炫 | Abundant and prestigious life |
| Ha On (하온) | 賀溫 | Life full of happiness |
| Min Ha (민하) | 珉賀 | A beautiful girl full of happiness |
| Han Gyeol (한결) | - | Constant happiness and joy throughout life |
| Ji Woo (지우) | 智佑 | A person who spread the wisdom for the benefit of others |
| Ji Yul (지율) | 智律 | A person with wisdom and self-control |
Easy Korean girl names
A lot of young parents have recently been considering names that can be compatible with English names as well as written with easy Hangul characters.
For example, vowels like ㅓ, ㅕ, ㅚ, ㅢ, or ㅡ, and also double consonants such as ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, or ㅉ are among those that many English speakers find hard to pronounce, so Korean parents try to avoid including them.
You can see some examples of Easy Korean girl names in the table below:
| Examples of Easy Korean girl names | Possible Chinese character | Meanings |
|---|---|---|
| Ji A (지아) | 智娥 | To be wise and beautiful |
| A Yun (아윤) | 雅潤 | To live justly and with a pure mind |
| A Rin (아린) | 娥璘 | A beautiful and precious girl |
| Su A (수아) | 秀芽 | A girl with excellence and full of potential |
| Ye Rin (예린) | 藝璘 | A talent with both beauty and intelligence |
| Da In (다인) | 多仁 | A person with kindness and tolerance |
| So Yi (소이) | 昭怡 | Life full of happiness and joy |
| Ju A (주아) | 珠娥 | A beautiful girl like a pearl |
| Ha Na (하나) | - | One and only. Sounds like ‘Hannah’ in English. |
| Min A (민아) | 珉娥 | A beautiful girl like gems |
Rare Korean girl names
There is an obvious tendency that parents try to give a special impression to their girls’ names in many ways.
One of them is by using the characters that were not usually used for a person’s name. Or some people make given names with more than three syllables for their daughters.
The list of the popular girls’ names is just the collection of different combinations of some beautifully-sounding letters, so no matter how unique you try to make a given name, it should sound like another version of similar names.
In order to avoid any confusion in terms of how a name can sound, people get creative as much as they can. The following names are some of the examples.
- Yi Eum (이음) : To have a good relationship with others and be creative in one’s work.
- Hae Deun (해든) : To live a pleasant and bright life. The literal meaning is to bring sunshine.
- Sae Ron (새론) : New and fresh.
- Ji Eum (지음) : To achieve something meaningful in life. The literal meaning is to make or build.
- Teu In (트인) : Wide open. It implies the kid hopefully has a bright future.
- Sae Mi Na (새미나) : To have an abundance in life just like a well that spouts water endlessly.
- Bit Go Eun (빛고은) : To have a comfortable and meaningful life. The literal meaning is lovely light.
- Seul Hye Eum (슬혜음) : To harmonize the world with wisdom and intelligence.
- Sae Na Rae (새나래) : To achieve whatever one wants like the open wings of a bird.
- Nu Ri Yi Seul (누리이슬) : To benefit the whole world like morning dewdrops do.
- A Reum Song Yi (아름송이) : To be a pretty girl enjoying abundance.
- Bit Ga Ram (빛가람) : To harmonize the whole world like bright light.
- Bom So Ri (봄소리) : To give happiness to others throughout life
- Bit Nae Ri (빛내리) : To be famous and successful in whatever one does
- Sae Nan Seul (새난슬) : To have wisdom that never dries up
We have learned about what names are popular for girls recently, what their meaning could be, and what factors should be taken into account when naming girls, etc.
This article will hopefully be a good guide for you to get the hang of the recent girl names in Korea. We have published another article which covers Korean boy names.
- [1] https://stfamily.scourt.go.kr/st/StFrrStatcsView.do?pgmId=090000000025
