Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Fredbob]

OK, I should have thought of this before, my K wife are having our first baby this Friday, I was working under the assumption that she could have 2 names, I figured that in Korea she could keep my father in-laws family name, he has no sons and I would give her the first name Chon Sa, then, for her passport and American SS# her name would be my last name and Angel/Angela (roughly a translation of Chon Sa). We do intend to immigrate to the US, or at least spend half our time in the US and half in Korea over the years.

I've thought over the having 2 names thing psychologically, just want to know if doing it the way i've outlined it is possible.

ANYBODY?

[bluelake]

From experience, my son (now a Ph.D. student in Seoul) had both legal Korean and American names. He had dual-citizenship up to his eighteenth year, and carried both Korean and American passports. For his Korean citizenship, he used his Korean name (mother's family name) and on his US passport used his American name.

[jennzy]

when i was born i was given two names
sun young and jenny

the reason my parents did this was because they knew we were going to immigrate to canada but the korean gov't won't allow me to have an english name so my parents renamed me to sun young and when we immigrated to canada we legally changed my name so its jenny sun young kim

but that was 21 yrs ago... i dont know what the rule is now

[Cheonmunka]

Interesting question ...
Does she have to use 천사 rather than 엔젤(sp)?

[Landros]

my son has my family name in Korea but it would have been better I think if he had an all Korean name. he goes to Korean elementary school and is registered with my name. his classmates think it sounds weird so he just uses his korean one even though he is registered with his foreign one. I'd recommend usin a full Korean name so your kids fit in.

My daughter just uses her mother's family name and it makes things easier.

[Whistleblower]

My son was born in the UK and we decided to name him; "Elliott Jee Ho (Surname)"

In Korea he is known as Jee Ho and in the UK Elliott. Also on the health insurance card or other documentation (immigration, etc) his Korean name is given or used.

No problems with using two names.

[rocketdolphin]

Is there a law that a child has to have a traditional Korean name, or can you just call her Angel and write Anh-gel out in Korean? Then she could take your father-in-law's surname. Unless of course Angel translates to something weird.

[RACETRAITOR]

[T-J]

[kprrok]

My daughter has my family name and a Korean given name. No problems whatsoever with either country when doing the passports.

[Fredbob]

앤젤, the first part mean lover, don't think that will go over well on the playground

천사 is the translation for Angel and I am COMPLETELY against the whole Haguelizatoin (word?) of English, so there's no way I'm doing that to my child's name.


so, the US Embassy says,
As an American citizen, the child�s legal name is what�s on the US passport. If the child is dual nationality and has different names, it may cause problems later because of inconsistency. As an American, a person cannot have two names. We do not recognize dual citizenship-dual names.

Having two names may not cause problems in a legal matter, but it may be hard for you later in the future to prove that they are the same person.



Sincerely,
American Citizen Services
U.S. Embassy Seoul
32 Sejong-no, Jongno-gu
Seoul, Korea 110-710
Address for U.S. military or U.S. postage:
American Citizen Services
U.S. Embassy Seoul
Unit 15550
APO AP 96205-5550

Tel: 82-2-397-4114 DSN: 721-4114
Fax: 82-2-397-4101 DSN: 721-4101
For information about passports, registration, and other services for U.S. citizens, please check our websites www.asktheconsul.org or http://seoul.usembassy.gov/american_citizen_services.html.

no problem, still have like 48 hours to decide this, cheers

[sineface]

[RACETRAITOR]

[kprrok]

[RACETRAITOR]