Dictionary Update: Korean Names Added

We’ve expanded our database with an extensive set of Korean names. This update brings in 10,800 given names and 1,400 family names, all available in both the Korean script and their Latin forms.

Korean Language and Cultural Context

Korean is a language spoken by about 81 million people worldwide, mainly in South and North Korea and among Korean communities abroad. It is written using Hangul, a writing system created in the 15th century. Hangul is a unique writing system because its letters are designed to reflect the shape of the mouth and tongue when making sounds. The consonants are based on how the speech organs are used, and the vowels are built using simple patterns that represent related sounds.

Korean Naming Conventions

In Korean culture, names are more than just identifiers — they are believed to carry deep influence over a person’s life. It is widely thought that a well-chosen name can bring good fortune, while an unsuitable one might invite bad luck. As a result, many Korean parents take great care in selecting names that convey positive meanings and sounds, often aiming for names that suggest prosperity, virtue, or strength. A modern Korean name typically consists of two parts: a one-syllable family name followed by a given name, which most commonly has two syllables. While most surnames are one syllable long — like Kim, Lee, or Park — some rare surnames have two syllables, such as Namgung or Seonwoo. Given names are usually made up of two syllables, though one-syllable or three-syllable given names are also possible. Traditionally, many families used generation names, where siblings or cousins of the same generation share one syllable in their given names, though this practice is less common today.

Examples of Korean Name Handling

With the latest updates, our software can now analyze, match, and identify the gender of the following instances, as shown below:

• The Name Parser can now analyze names like "Yumi Pang", where Yumiis the given name and Pangis the family name, and "Dong-soo Kan", where Dong-soois the given name and Kanis the family name.

• The Name Genderizer can now identify names such as "Soon-ja Chin" (female) and "Hee-chul Chu" (male).

• The Name Matcher can now identify a match between "Miss Gyeong" and "Ji-hyun Gyeong".