What makes Korean names special?

Though Korean names might typically only contain three syllables, or more specifically three characters, every part of the name traditionally contains significant meaning.

In this episode, we break down the three parts of a Korea name:
the 성 (family name) and 이름 (given name).

We talk about the most popular and least common surnames in Korea, how some ‘Korean’ last names in the West actually don’t exist in Korea in the same way, the transformation of Korea names amongst Koryo Saram in post-Soviet Union countries, why there are Korean names used in Japan, and more.

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