Korean Job Discussion Forums

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

Since everyone here is expected to have three-syllable names, it's always interesting to see Koreans who have freak names. Today the girl serving me at McDonald's was named 매아리 (family name taken out for anonymity). I thought maybe it was an English name of some kind, but doesn't look like it.

I've met a few other four-syllable-named Koreans. One of my former students had the family name 재갈. When my wife's grandmother was born, her parents were furious that she was a girl and refused to name her (this was 1910). Eventually they were forced to for legal reasons, so they named her after the closest thing at hand: 술노미. Apparently that's an archaic Korean word for "spoon," before they got the Konglish word.

Also I've met a lot of two-syllable-named Koreans. My wife's given name is 정, and her brother and sister are 민 and 진. Whenever she introduces herself to people, they look like they're thinking "Yeah, and..?" as if they're waiting for the third syllable.

What about the rest of you?

normalcyispasse · Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 11:54 pm Post subject:

I work with a two-syllable gyopo. In class I have a couple two-syllable kids and one four-syllable girl: (family name)한누리.

Flash Ipanema · Joined: 29 Sep 2006 Location: Seoul

Couldn't it be Mary?

paquebot · Joined: 20 Jun 2007 Location: Northern Gyeonggi-do

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

crazy_arcade · Joined: 05 Nov 2006

I've got a couple for the first time this year:

Kim Esther in 4 syllables and Lee Davinchi in 4 syllables.

A good friend of mine has the surname CHI. It's not a Korean surname, it's a Chinese surname (his Korean family history is still traced back several hundreds of years). Whenever he meets new people they usually take a step back and give a quick shocked look before continuing.

Roch · Joined: 24 Apr 2003 Location: Seoul

I'm named after my father's relative, Robert Frost.

His name makes me weird in the U.S.: All sorts of Boston Irish grown-ups who think that a male not in possession of a given name like Michael Brian, Robert James, Sean Francis, or John Paul is a total fairy.

Being of mainly East Anglia roots in Beantown was not fun, eh, and it was, come to think of it, even worse in P.E.I. and Nova Scotia, Canada.

Forkin' rednecks sork...

Binch Lover · Joined: 25 Jul 2005

ed · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

4 years ago I met a man named mr. Lee. I asked him his first name and he told me it was "Good Luck".

I didn't believe him and asked for I.D.

sure enough, all of his cards read "Lee, Good Luck"

Rapacious Mr. Batstove · Joined: 26 Jan 2007 Location: Central Areola

I have a few, here's a 2,3,4 combo.

Kang Won

Pi Oh Na

Kim Sa Mu El

Buff · Joined: 07 Apr 2004

I know a Nurinara. Five syllables.

normalcyispasse · Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 8:12 pm Post subject:

kiwiduncan · Joined: 18 Jun 2007 Location: New Zealand

I kid you not, I had a student with the traditional Korean name 부비. Understandably, she prefered to call herself Jasmine

Hyeon Een · Joined: 24 Jun 2005

I've had a few four and two syllable named students but they weren't particularly interesting. However here are a couple of nice names:

김로마 (Kim, Roma) This girl's name was the Korean (And Italian) for Rome, which I thought was very nice. Her brother had a 'proper' Korean name but she just had a foreign name. Her parents were real Western-philes (Err I'm sure there's a word for it, but I don't know it. I was going to say Anglophiles but they apparantely like Italy too so it doesn't work..)

진달래 (Jin, Dallae) This was a hot university chick I taught who was a semi-pro dancer. Anyway her name means azalea (the flower). It's an interesting name and other Korean people were always impressed when she introduced herself.

리우하우통 (ri oohaootong??) I never really got how to say this girls name. Anyway she was Chinese. When I'd been examining my attendance list before the class started I thought she was Brazilian or something. I was kind of disappointed when she turned out to be Chinese. I imagine her name was just messed up in the Hangulization, it's probably only four syllables.

김지운 (Kim, Ji-oon) I didn't think this name was special or interesting at all when I first saw it until another student started asking him about Christianity to a more than normal extent. It turns out that 지운 is the hangulized version of "Zion". So he was called Zion Kim which is a semi-interesting name. It turned out that although his parents were hardcore Christians he was an ardent atheist.

Lizara · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Location: Seoul

I taught a kid whose Korean name was Kwak An-duh-re. I guess they were going for "Andre".