One of the common problems Korean language learners face is – how to determine the gender of a Korean name. How to tell if a person is male or female if you just have the name of the person.
There are no scientific rules to determine the male and female names in Korean but definitely there are certain rules of thumb or hints that can help you know the gender.
Most Korean names consist of Hanja characters. Korean government has a list of approx 2800 Hanja characters that can be used legally for names.
Generally there the Hanja characters used in a male name show masculinity, strength and power while the characters in female name show beauty, kindness, virtue etc. For example the character 용 (yong – dragon) or 철 (Cheol – iron) are used in male names while characters like 미 (mi – beauty) and 지 (ji – wisdom) are commonly used in female names.
Recently there has been a trend to have pure Korean names instead of using hanja. So it’s very common to come across names like 하늘 (Haneul – Heaven or Sky), 아름 (Areum – Beauty), 이슬 (Iseul – Dew) and 슬기 (Seulgi – Wisdom). Sometimes names have a mix of a hanja character and a pure Korean word.
So if you know the some commonly used Hanja characters in Korean male and female names, you can guess the gender of a name pretty accurately.
In this post we are giving a list of 50 most common Hanja characters that appear in male and female names.
The first column shows the original Hanja character, the second column its meaning. You have to look at the third column as it shows the characters or sounds that you will see in Korean names.
Note that there are some names that are commonly used for both men and women..
Below I have also given a list 10 most common male and female names in Korea.
Most Common Characters in Korean Male Names
| 한자 (Hanja) | 뜻 (Meaning) | 음 (Sound) | |
| 成 | 이룰 | 성 | Seong |
| 賢 | 어질 | 현 | Hyeon |
| 東 | 동녘 | 동 | Dong |
| 俊 | 준걸 | 준 | Jun |
| 相 | 서로 | 상 | Sang |
| 在 | 있을 | 재 | Jae |
| 泰 | 클 | 태 | Tae |
| 炫 | 빛날 | 현 | Hyeon/Hyon |
| 永 | 길 | 영 | Yeong |
| 智 | 지혜 | 지 | Ji |
| 秀 | 빼어날 | 수 | Su |
| 珉 | 옥돌 | 민 | Min |
| 承 | 이을 | 승 | Seung |
| 熙 | 빛날 | 희 | Hee/Hui |
| 赫 | 빛날 | 혁 | Hyeok |
| 佑 | 도울 | 우 | U/Woo |
| 鉉 | 솥귀 | 현 | Hyeon/Hyon |
| 洙 | 강이름 | 수 | Su |
| 煥 | 빛날 | 환 | Hwan |
| 錫 | 주석 | 석 | Seok |
| 元 | 으뜸 | 원 | Won |
| 基 | 터 | 기 | Gi |
| 潤 | 윤택할 | 윤 | Yun |
| 正 | 바를 | 정 | Jeong |
| 鎬 | 호경 | 호 | Ho |
| 大 | 큰 | 대 | Dae |
| 榮 | 영화 | 영 | Yeong |
| 民 | 백성 | 민 | Min |
| 旻 | 하늘 | 민 | Min |
| 奎 | 별 | 규 | Gyu |
| 宰 | 재상 | 재 | Jae |
| 鐘 | 쇠북 | 종 | Jong |
| 志 | 뜻 | 지 | Ji |
| 太 | 클 | 태 | Tae |
| 浩 | 클 | 호 | Ho |
| 根 | 뿌리 | 근 | Geun |
| 珍 | 보배 | 진 | Jin |
| 勳 | 공 | 훈 | Hun |
| 鎭 | 진정할 | 진 | Jin |
| 龍 | 용 | 용 | Yong |
| 仁 | 어질 | 인 | In |
| 敏 | 민첩할 | 민 | Min |
| 泫 | 빛날 | 현 | Hyeon/Hyon |
| 旼 | 온화할 | 민 | Min |
| 燦 | 빛날 | 찬 | Chan |
| 圭 | 홀 | 규 | Gyu |
| 植 | 심을 | 식 | Sik/Shik |
| 善 | 착할 | 선 | Seon |
| 明 | 밝을 | 명 | Myeong |
| 英 | 꽃부리 | 영 | Yeong |
Source: erumi.com
Most Common Characters in Korean Female Names
| 한자 (Hanja) | 뜻 (Meaning) | 음 (Sound) | |
| 恩 | 은혜 | 은 | Eun |
| 美 | 아름다울 | 미 | Mi |
| 智 | 지혜 | 지 | Ji |
| 英 | 꽃부리 | 영 | Yeong |
| 賢 | 어질 | 현 | Hyeun/Hyun |
| 貞 | 곧을 | 정 | Jeong |
| 秀 | 빼어날 | 수 | Su |
| 惠 | 은혜 | 혜 | Hye |
| 善 | 착할 | 선 | Seon |
| 淑 | 맑을 | 숙 | Suk |
| 熙 | 빛날 | 희 | Hee |
| 珍 | 보배 | 진 | Jin |
| 多 | 많을 | 다 | Da |
| 志 | 뜻 | 지 | Ji |
| 姬 | 계집 | 희 | Hee/Hui |
| 珠 | 구슬 | 주 | Ju |
| 慧 | 지혜 | 혜 | Hye |
| 娥 | 예쁠 | 아 | A |
| 知 | 알 | 지 | Ji |
| 銀 | 은 | 은 | Eun |
| 眞 | 참 | 진 | Jin |
| 娜 | 아리따울 | 나 | Na |
| 允 | 진실로 | 윤 | Yun |
| 潤 | 윤택할 | 윤 | Yun |
| 炫 | 빛날 | 현 | Hyeon/Hyon |
| 姸 | 고울 | 연 | Yeon |
| 珉 | 옥돌 | 민 | Min |
| 京 | 서울 | 경 | Gyeong |
| 仁 | 어질 | 인 | In |
| 雅 | 맑을 | 아 | A |
| 順 | 순할 | 순 | Sun |
| 希 | 바랄 | 희 | Hee/Hui |
| 昭 | 비출 | 조 | Jo |
| 娟 | 예쁠 | 연 | Yeon |
| 恵 | 은혜 | 혜 | Hye |
| 旼 | 온화할 | 민 | Min |
| 榮 | 영화 | 영 | Yeong |
| 愛 | 사랑 | 애 | Ae |
| 玉 | 옥 | 옥 | Ok |
| 正 | 바를 | 정 | Jeong |
| 周 | 두루 | 주 | Ju |
| 喜 | 기쁠 | 희 | Hee/Hui |
| 潾 | 맑을 | 인 | In |
| 誾 | 온화할 | 은 | Eun |
| 世 | 대 | 세 | Se |
| 永 | 길 | 영 | Yeong |
| 河 | 물 | 하 | Ha |
| 瑞 | 상서로울 | 서 | Seo |
| 玟 | 아름다운 | 돌 | Dol |
| 延 | 끌 | 연 | Yeon |
Source: erumi.com
10 Most Common Korean Female Names
(Source – Wikipedia)
| 순위 | 2005년 | 2008년 | 2009년 | 2013년 |
| 1 | 서연 | 서연 | 서연 | 서연 |
| 2 | 민서 | 민서 | 민서 | 서윤 |
| 3 | 서현 | 지민 | 서현 | 지우 |
| 4 | 수빈 | 서현 | 지우 | 서현 |
| 5 | 유진 | 서윤 | 서윤 | 민서 |
| 6 | 민지 | 예은 | 지민 | 윤서 |
| 7 | 서영 | 하은 | 수빈 | 채원 |
| 8 | 지원 | 지우 | 하은 | 하윤 |
| 9 | 수민 | 수빈 | 예은 | 지아 |
| 10 | 예원 | 윤서 | 윤서 | 은서 |
10 Most Common Korean Male Names
(Source – Wikipedia)
| 순위 | 2005년 | 2008년 | 2009년 | 2013년 |
| 1 | 민준 | 민준 | 민준 | 민준 |
| 2 | 현우 | 지훈 | 지후 | 서준 |
| 3 | 동현 | 현우 | 지훈 | 주원 |
| 4 | 준혁 | 준서 | 준서 | 예준 |
| 5 | 민재 | 우진 | 현우 | 시우 |
| 6 | 도현 | 건우 | 예준 | 준서 |
| 7 | 지훈 | 예준 | 건우 | 도윤 |
| 8 | 준영 | 현준 | 현준 | 현우 |
| 9 | 현준 | 도현 | 민재 | 건우 |
| 10 | 승민 | 동현 | 우진 | 지훈 |
Top 20 Most Family Names (Surnames) in South Korea
1. 김 (金; Kim, Gim)
2. 이 (李; Lee, Yi, I, Yee)
3. 박 (朴; Park, Pak, Bak)
4. 최 (崔; Choi, Choe)
5. 정 (鄭; Jeong, Chung)
6. 강 (姜; Kang, Gang)
7. 조 (曹; Cho, Jo, Joe)
8. 윤 (尹; Yoon, Youn, Yun)
9. 장 (張; Jang, Chang)
10. 신 (申; Shin, Sin)
11. 한 (韓; Han, Hahn)
12. 서 (徐; Seo,Suh)
13. 권 (權; Kwon)
14. 손 (孫; Son, Sohn)
15. 황 (黃; Hwang, Whang)
16. 송 (宋; Song,Soung)
17. 안 (安; Ahn, An)
18. 임 (林; Lim, Rim, Im)
19. 유 (柳; Yoo, Yu)
20. 홍 (洪; Hong)
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“玟 아름다운”의 발음은 [민 Min]이다. 旻, 旼과 같다.
Helping Korean language learners is truly an ardent task as the Korean Language itself has been in the midst of deteriorating for decades. Learners will encounter the strange phenomenon of having to relearn many English words as Koreans take pride in absorbing English words to replace their rich vocabularies. Koreans absorb English words but simply mangle their pronunciation and usage since the much lauded Korean alphabet – Hangul – lacks a significant number of vowels and consents necessary for good pronunciation of English and that adds to Koreans ignoring the import of syllables. In effect, modern Korean has morphed into a third, gibberish language that even many Koreans themselves do not comprehend, but insist on using while pretending they understand.
The word consents should be consonants (자음). Apologize for the misspelling error.
Is choi jisuk is male name or female mane?
Maybe male
Maybe female ig we will never knowww muhahahahahaa
is Xiaowei Geng a male or female name?
Is Kim Jae Min a female or male name
Excuse me, sir. It will be helpful if the meanings of the words are also listed side by side. Thanking you, sir.
I mean, in English.
신림노래방알바
love5060.com
The reason why music is so powerful is because it shapes deep connections with our emotions.
Is “Ikhyun” a male or female name? Maybe female b/c you listed “Hyun” in the female column?
Thank you
uhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm why did you make that statement if you already know the answer?????
At the same time perhaps, I’m wrong and “Ikhyun” is the male as the other name in the male/female parent relationship is “Ji Eun” and your wrote that “Ji” is knwon to be used for female attribute of (” wisdom”)
You spelt “known” as in “known” please fix your spellings.
Dear Dr. The name Gieh-soo, how could be defined?… Male or female. Tks for your kindly answer