Korean name generator

Authentic Korean names for characters, babies, K-drama fan fiction and language learners. Each comes with the family name first, a romanized spelling and what the name means.

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90+ Korean name ideas

  • Seo-yeon
  • Ji-woo
  • Ha-yoon
  • Seo-ah
  • Ji-an

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Korean names built the way Koreans build them

A Korean name is usually three syllables: a one-syllable family name followed by a two-syllable given name, written family name first. Kim Min-jun is Mr. Kim, not Mr. Min-jun. About half of all Koreans share just three family names, Kim, Lee and Park, so the given name does most of the work of telling people apart, and parents choose it for its meaning as much as its sound.

Tell the generator who the name is for: a detective in a Seoul thriller, a baby girl whose name should mean bright, a scholar in a Joseon-era drama, a trainee in an idol group. You get full names in the right order with the meaning behind each syllable, so you are not left guessing whether a name sounds like a real person or a brand of noodles.

  • Meaning in every syllable

    Most given names are built from two Sino-Korean syllables, each with its own meaning: Ji for wisdom, Min for clever, Seo for auspicious. Suggestions come with the meaning spelled out.

  • Family name first

    Results follow Korean order and pair given names with real family names such as Kim, Lee, Park, Choi, Jung, Kang and Yoon, with the less common ones mixed in so a cast does not end up all Kims.

  • Right for the era

    Names go in and out of fashion. Young-ja and Sun-ja belong to grandmothers, Ji-hye and Min-su to people born around 1980, Seo-yeon and Do-yun to today's children. Ask for the generation you need.

5 tips for choosing a Korean name

  1. Put the family name first

    In Korean the family name comes before the given name, and the given name is not split into first and middle parts. Park Seo-jun has the family name Park and the given name Seo-jun. Using only one of the two given-name syllables reads as a mistake.

  2. Match the name to the birth year

    A twenty-year-old called Mal-soon would be as odd as an American student called Mildred. For anyone born after 2010 look at names such as Seo-yeon, Ha-yoon, Ji-woo, Do-yun, Si-woo and Ha-jun. For a character born in the 1950s, names ending in -ja, -sook and -ho fit better.

  3. Choose the meaning on purpose

    The same sound can be written with different hanja and carry different meanings, so families decide what a name means when they register it. Pick the sense first, such as clear, bright or steadfast, then find the syllables that carry it.

  4. Consider a pure Korean name

    Not every name uses hanja. Native Korean words make popular names: Haneul means sky, Bom means spring, Seul-gi means wisdom, Areum means beauty and Na-rae means wings. They sound modern and need no character lookup.

  5. Keep romanization consistent

    The same family name appears as Lee, Yi and Rhee, and Park is also written Bak. Pick one spelling per character and keep it. The official Revised Romanization system is the safest default, with a hyphen between the two given-name syllables.

Want names made for yours? Describe what you're naming and Nomi finds names that fit.

Frequently asked questions

Most Korean names have three syllables. The first is the family name, inherited from the father in most families, and the next two form the given name. There is no middle name. In Korean the full name is written without spaces between the parts, and in English it is usually written as Kim Min-jun or Kim Minjun.

Family names were once limited to royalty and aristocrats. When commoners took surnames, mostly from the late Joseon period onward, many adopted the names of prestigious clans. Today Kim accounts for roughly one in five South Koreans, and Kim, Lee and Park together cover close to half the population. Families with the same surname are further divided by clan origin, such as Gimhae Kim or Gyeongju Kim.

In recent years the names registered most often for girls have included Seo-yeon, Seo-ah, Ha-yoon, Ji-woo and Ji-an, and for boys Min-jun, Seo-jun, Do-yun, Si-woo and Ha-jun. Soft sounds and syllables such as Seo, Ha, Ji and Yun dominate the current lists.

Yes. Most given names are written with two hanja, Chinese characters used in Korean, and each character has a meaning chosen by the family. Ji-hye combines wisdom and grace; Min-jun is often written with characters for clever and talented. Because one sound can match several characters, two people with the same spoken name can have names that mean different things.

No. Korean women keep their own family name after marriage, and children normally take the father's family name. A drama character called Mrs. Kim whose husband is Mr. Park is following the usual custom.

Yes to both. The names are real Korean given names and family names, not invented ones. For a baby, check the meaning and the hanja with a Korean-speaking relative or a naming reference before you register it. For fiction, match the name to the character's birth decade so it reads as natural to Korean readers.

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