Make Your Korean Name in 10 minutes with This Simple Guide! #bts #korean #learnkorean #seoul

Annyeong. J. Stacey, your Korean friend here. When I teach my students, on the first day, I ask them for their names. And they tell me their name, and they often ask me to suggest them a Korean name. And there are usually two reasons. One, since you're learning Korean, might as well have a Korean name. And it sounds pretty, right? And number two, sometimes your real name is a little hard to pronounce for Koreans. So, you want your Korean friends or co-workers to call you a little easily. So, you want to make a Korean name, right? And it was always fun making Korean names with my students. So, I thought I'd do the same with you guys today, and make your Korean names. So, I will guide you step by step. Step one, in Korean names, there are usually three syllables. And I'll use my Korean name as an example. My Korean name is quite easy. E-T-A. In Korean names, family name comes in the beginning. So, E is my family name. And usually, there are two syllables for the given name. So, Ji-ae is my given name. But not all Korean names have three syllables. Some names have just two syllables. One family name and one given name. Or two syllables for a family name. And one or two syllables for a given name. Or nowadays, some people have pure Korean names, which has more than two syllables of a given name. And I'll tell you a little more about pure Korean names later. And if you're familiar with Korean dramas or K-pop, and know some celebrities' names, not their stage names, but real names, you probably have noticed that most of the names have three syllables. So, we will make your name with three syllables, too. To start off, we will come up with your family name first. And this is the list of the 10 most common family names in Korea. And I'll read them to you quickly. And it's interesting to know that this list has not changed for over 30 years. So, Kim is still the most common last name in Korea. So, if you meet a group of Koreans, you will find at least one Kim. And if you think about BTS, there are seven members, right? And there are three Kims in that group, too. So, Kim is very common. So, Kim is probably the easiest way to go. But if you want to go with a little more unique family name, then I have this list here for you to choose from. And I'll read them through quickly, too. Seo. Shin. Hong. An. Song. Jeon. Yu. Min. Son. Bae. Yang. Have you picked your family name yet? If not, don't worry. Because sometimes it's easier to make your given name first and pick a family name that goes harmoniously with your given name. So, let's just move straight on to your given name. Usually, each Korean name has different meanings depending on the Chinese characters they use. But if we go into that, this video will just go endless. Because there are so many different meanings, even with the same syllable or same sound. So, I don't think it's a good idea to go into that. So, we will just pick a name that sounds nice to you. Okay. Or for those of you who want to have a pure Korean name with Korean meanings, I'll suggest you some pretty names later in this video. So, in the given name, usually there are two syllables, right? And I usually suggest people to pick the first syllable from their real name. So, for example, I'll use my English name as an example. My English name is Stacy. So, the first syllable is s, right? So, s in Korean. But in names, e sound is not very common. So, instead of s, I will choose su that sounds similar. So, my first syllable will be su. And for the second syllable, you can just choose whatever syllable you like. But if you're struggling what to use, think of your favorite actor, actress, or singer, or whoever, and let's take one syllable from their name and put it into your name. So, for example, I like Jimin of BTS. So, I will pick one syllable, ji, from his name and put it into my su. So, su-ji. Oh, there's a su-ji already. A famous singer slash actress. Su-ji. Or, I can use min, too, and say su-min. Su-min. Su-min sounds a little like unisex name, so you can use it as a girl or a boy. Okay. Or, there's no actually correct or incorrect way of putting the syllables together to make a name. So, you can reverse and say, instead of su-ji, I can be ji-su. Oh, we have ji-su from Blackpink, too. Or, instead of su-min, I can also be min-su. Min-su. So, you can play around with these syllables until you see the name that you like. If you're still not sure what syllables to use, you can refer to your Hangul worksheet and pick one from there. And if you don't have your Hangul worksheet yet, you can go down to the description box to get your worksheet. And just to help you, I'll just tell you some popular boys' and girls' names these days. I'll just read down the list quickly. Lee-jun, Do-yun, Ha-jun, Eun-woo, Seo-jun, Si-woo, Ji-ho, Yoo-jun, Do-hyun, Sun-woo, Lee-an, Ye-jun, Su-ho. And moving on to girls' names. Ah-rin, Ji-an, Ha-rin, Ji-woo, Yoon-a, Eun. So, I noticed that both boys' and girls' names have a lot of Ha, Jun, Ji, Ah, Yoon, and An, and Seo. So, if you're struggling what kind of syllables to use, maybe you can try using one of those in your names, too. And even though there's no correct or incorrect way of making your name, but you know, some names may sound a little awkward, or it may be a word that you don't know yet that has like a weird meaning that you don't want to say. So, when you come up with your name, please comment down below, and I will make sure to reply to all of you to tell you if it sounds natural and pretty, or if not, then I will suggest you some other Korean names. So, I'm looking forward to hearing your names. Please leave them down below. Or if you're still struggling to make your own name in Korean, please write down your real name and the pronunciation, and I will make a Korean name that sounds similar to your real name or that has nice meanings, and I'll also reply to you. Finally, I'll recommend you some pure Korean names and its meanings. Pure Korean name means that it doesn't have the Chinese characters. Usually, Korean names use the Chinese characters and its meanings, but pure Korean names only have the meanings in Korean, so you don't have to think about the Chinese characters and its meanings. So, it means that these are actually the words that we use in Korean. So, even if you don't use the pure Korean names in your name, you can practice the words, and I think they actually sound pretty, so you might want to consider them too. 가온. 가온 is an old Korean which means the center, so it means to be the center of the world. 가을 means fall, the season fall. 나라. Country. 노을. Sunset. 바다 means the ocean, so it means to have an enormous heart like the ocean. 봄. Spring. 별. Star. 빛나. 빛나 came from the verb 빛나다, which means to shine, but usually people just take out the 다 part and say 빛나. 우주. Universe. 이슬. Dew. 하나 means one, so it means like you're the one precious child. 하늘. Sky. I hope you have fun mixing the syllables and coming up with your name, and this is a good way to practice 한글, so when you're writing your name, please try writing it in 한글, so you can practice 한글 at the same time. And afterwards, please leave it down below in the comments. I'm very curious and looking forward to hearing what kind of names you guys come up with, and I will make sure to reply to all of you. And if you have a friend who's also interested in Korean culture or learning Korean, please share this video and your friend can make their name in Korean too. And if you haven't yet, please subscribe for more fun videos. Until next time, 다음 시간에 봐요. 안녕!