Korean Names

The full Korean name consists of a surname and a given name. This order does not always hold true in western publications. Also, western transcriptions will usually break up the given name and either write the syllables separately or hyphenate them. For example the spelling Kim Dae Jung or Kim Dae-jung is much more frequent than Kim Daejung.

Traditional Korean given names are similar to Chinese given names in that they are usually composed of two Hanja (Chinese characters, though the characters are pronounced differently in Korean). Some modern parents however give names composed of pure Korean elements.

On this site

List of Korean names and meanings