Korean Job Discussion Forums

crsandus · Joined: 05 Oct 2004

So my question is, how can you tell the gender of a person based on the name only? I have the problem of not being able to tell what is a girl's name vs. a guy's name. Is there some rule of thumb to follow or do I just pick it up from constant exposure? Thanks.

Woland · Joined: 10 May 2006 Location: Seoul

Mi and A are pretty much guaranteed to indicate a female bearer. Beyond that, I don't know.

the_beaver · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

Ginormousaurus · Joined: 27 Jul 2006 Location: 700 Ft. Pulpit

It definitely takes exposure. Actually, one of my feelings of accomplishment in learning Korean came when I realized I could usually tell the sex based on the name.

xtchr · Joined: 23 Nov 2004

Just to complicate things; I've had quite a few female students with boys' names. It seems their Grandfather named them, and as Grandad wanted a boy...

ajgeddes · Joined: 28 Apr 2004 Location: Yongsan

Just like in English there are also unisex names.

Also, just as 미 and 아 usually go in girls names, 우 is usually indicative of boys names.

winterwawa · Joined: 06 May 2007

If it makes you feel any better, Koreans have the same problem with English names, at least in the beginning.

pest2 · Joined: 01 Jun 2005 Location: Vancouver, Canada

The title of this should be, "the gender of Korean names."

RACETRAITOR · Joined: 24 Oct 2005 Location: Seoul, South Korea

You start to learn it through exposure after a while.

Here's a test: male or female?

Jihna
Keunwoo
Kiseok
Donghyun
Gyungbin
Yujung
Dockho
Kyuho
Chulmin
Eunyung
Hunyung

Ginormousaurus · Joined: 27 Jul 2006 Location: 700 Ft. Pulpit

RACETRAITOR · Joined: 24 Oct 2005 Location: Seoul, South Korea

All those names are people I know. You made two mistakes only. Kiseok is a boy, and Hunyung is one of the many names of my father-in-law.

I think it is possible for a name to be unisex, like Chris or Pat. I have a student named Chiwon, which is also the name of some pseudo-important dude from Korea's distant past.

Ginormousaurus · Joined: 27 Jul 2006 Location: 700 Ft. Pulpit

9 out of 11 is good enough for me.

Cool

crsandus · Joined: 05 Oct 2004

jvalmer · Joined: 06 Jun 2003

Here are some more names if anyone else would like to try:

Sangchul -> boy
Hyejin -> girl
Taehyun -> boy??
Jonghyuk -> boy
Dawoon -> boy
Minchae -> boy
Dogook -> boy
Hyukmin -> boy
Yukyung -> girl
Yubin -> girl/boy
Gyungsook -> girl
Insu -> girl
Nayun -> girl

And just to be mean, guess on these odd names (all from my wife's family):
Jung -> boy
Jin -> girl
Min -> girl
Soolnomi -> loves to drink probably a girl (insulting name) also probably the name of someones grandmother

ajgeddes · Joined: 28 Apr 2004 Location: Yongsan