Korean Name Equivalents? Or Choosing a Korean Name.

[lightwindrosekoreanclass1]

안녕하세요!

This is my first time posting here, so I hope I'm not breaking any rules by asking this or asking something monotonous.

I've recently started learning Korean, with the help of this site and numerous other resources, and I'm finding myself falling more and more in love with the Korean language and culture. I think I may be driving my parents a little mad, what with constantly using what Korean I've learned so far and starting to cook a lot of Korean-influenced dishes at home. However, there's one step I hadn't taken until now, and would like to do so.

Essentially, I'm trying to find/ create a Korean name for myself. Unfortunately, though, I know noone in real life who is Korean or has Korean heritage, so I haven't been able to really get any advice or input. All I know is a few component translations (ie meanings of things like 'Min' and 'Sun' etc), but not enough to really help. I don't really want a direct translation of my name in terms of a soundalike, I'm more looking for something either with a similar meaning or a name that has meaning for me, but my name doesn't seem to have a Korean equivalent.

My English name is Nicola (pronounced 'NI-Kuh-la' for those unfamiliar with the name)and comes from a Greek name meaning 'Victory of the people'. This doesn't seem to be a popular name meaning for girls in Korea, which I can understand since victory tends to be more a male concept, so I'm a little stuck. I don't mind names that don't really have a connection to my English name, since I've never really found it to suit me anyway, but if anyone can help me choose one, or create one, I'd be extremely grateful.

[trutherous]

Hi --welcome to Koreanclass101

I am a fellow student here but I will attempt to give you a Korean girls name with similar meaning to your own name, my suggestion would be

승희 Seung-hee with the Hanja meaning 勝姬 (victory girl)



hope to see you around

[stevejjd4649]

Hello,

What does the name "Seul" mean?

[trutherous]

Steve,

It would have been better to start a new thread for this question. Based on the information you have provided (Seul) it is nearly impossible to ascertain the meaning. In Korean there are many possible root meanings for a given word or name.

Furthermore, Korean names usually consist of two characters (but not always) and knowing both characters can sometimes provide a hint at the meaning. Korean names also do not usually follow the western "first-middle-last" naming convention. For example the name "Joo Hee Park" does not mean that "Joo" is her first name, and "Hee" is her middle name, the name would be both characters "Joohee." And while the family name "Park" (pronounced 'pak' in Korean) is the last name in this example, Koreans will almost always put the family name first (e.g. Pak Joohee) unless introducing themselves in western style. So both characters of the name would be essential to understanding its meaning (I suspect you have only provided half of the name).

Now comes the even more confusing part - two people may have the same name, spelled exactly the same way in Hangul (the Korean alphabet) but their parents may have chosen different Chinese root characters to represent different meanings of each name, and so long as those root characters are pronounced the same the phonetic representation of each name will also be the same. So the best thing to do is just to ask the girl what her name means.

[stevejjd4649]

WOW thats amazing! Korean culture is so cool and complex. The full name is Seul Lee

Thank you so much for you in-depth explanation, I'm very surprised.

[trutherous]

Hi again.. is "Lee" the family name or did you mean that the full name is "Seulli"? I'm guessing "Lee" is the family name, so is "Seul" pronounced in two syllables like "Se-ul" (Say-ool)? or as a single syllable "Sul"? Or I wonder if she just gave you the first part of her name to make it easy on you.. Anyway, tell her that from now on you are gong give her the nickname "Seulgi" ("gi" like guitar, not 'gee' as in George) "seulgi" (슬기) means "wisdom" or "wits." A cool nick name I think - you could affectionately call out to her "Seulgi ya."

nickname = "ae-ching"

Hey Seul, from now on I'm gonna call you 'Seulgi' ok? because you're so smart. "Seulgi-ya!"

[stevejjd4649]

Thanks so much for your comments
Her first name is Seul (Say-ool) and the last name Lee. (She is extremely cute if that helps)

That nickname is really cool. Western culture is so boring; my name is Stephen and my nickname is Steve - it has no meaning,,,,how friggen boring?

Hey maybe I could give myself a Korean name!! Like....Jin Dong Kim or Dong Geom Jin haha. Or Seul can call me white boy in Korean.

Oh I'm also half Dutch; there is a saying in Dutch that you give to very affectionate people, I can't spell it but it means "Clinging Sock" - is there a Korean equivalent?

YAY Korea!!!

[trutherous]

Stephen or Steven - masculine first name, derived from the Greek name Στέφανος (Stephanos) meaning "crown, garland", The New Testament records that a gifted speaker/evangelist named Stephen was a was stoned to death, and he is regarded as the first Christian martyr, hence the popularization of the name throughout Christendom and western Europe.

As for your girl's name, there are just too many possible meanings. You would have to know the hanja (the Chinese characters behind the name).

[bobamilktea18_231768]

HI, what does the name seul-bi (슬비) and sol-bi(솔비) mean?

[community.korean]

Hello,

Thank you for posting. Unfortunately, we cannot provide you with the meaning of the two names unless you know the Chinese characters of the names.
Sorry we could not be of more help.

Best,
Lyn
Team KoreanClass101.com