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Korean Job Discussion Forums "The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
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itchy
Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Busan
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Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2003 10:33 am Post subject: Re: Korean given names - masculine, feminine or unisex? |
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mokpochica wrote: |
andrew wrote: |
In the West, such names as Lee, Shawn and Brook can be unisex. Are there unisex names in Korea? If so, what are they?
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To go back to the original poster's question...
There are some 'unisex' names in Korea. Some that I have seen are:
Seul Gi
Hyun Soo (a female friend of mine is named this, but some people seem to think it has a masculine sound)
Han Sol
Ha Neul
Soo Young
Some names that I've only seen used for girls are:
Mi-hwa (Can mean beautiful flower--or something else depending on the Chinese character it's based on).
Ji-eon
BoA
HeA
Joo Eun (silver pearl)
Shin Hye
Some names that seem to be just for boys are:
Joo Chan
Yong Jin (I think Yong can mean dragon or brave)
Kwan Young (Kwan--strong)
Gi Hun (gi--brave) |
Mokpochica is right. It is more to do with what the name means than with how it sounds, and some are unisex while some are only given to boys and some only given to girls. I would add that the first syllable in the given name is often a family oriented name that traces the ancestry of the child, and the second syllable is the true given name that only that child has. The parents (and relatives) in choosing the name of the child try to find a given name that, when combined with the family oriented name, creates a nice meaning, like "nu ri" (new world) for a girl. If you know Korean you usually can tell if the name is a girl's name or a boy's name because a girl would never be called something like "strong dragon" and a boy would never be called "sweet flower". |
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