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“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.” – William Shakespeare
Generally, Koreans have three names (the family name, a name identifiying the generation, and the given name) that are placed in that order. My Korean name was Ahn Gi Mi (so my family name was Ahn, my generation name was Gi and my given name was Mi). I did say that Koreans generally have three names. My son only had two. His name was Bae Moses (Bae was the family name and Moses his given name).
Funny Story: Right before I came, my parents hosted Vietnamese families who had escaped Vietnam before the fall of Saigon. The family of eight stayed in my parents house until they found a house of their own. When they came, my mother did not know that the family name was first. So, as my mother introduced them, she was using the father’s first name as everyone’s last name. The rumor is that the father thought this was hilarious and never bothered to correct her.
In Korea, there are several very common last names (just like the American Smith and Jones). Many families have last names like Kim, Lee, Park, Ahn, Cho, Chung and Choi… Because occasionally, someone in Korea may write the names the American way (family name last), it’s helpful to know the common ones to avoid confusion.
Here’s another tidbit about Korean names. Generally, women in Korea do not change their names when they get married. Many people have asked me if that’s why I didn’t change my name when I got married. It would make a good story if I said “yes”, but the truth is I decided that I wasn’t going to change my name when I was ten. It wasn’t because of a cultural lesson of any kind, it was because my mother’s younger sister got married and didn’t change her name. Up to that point, I didn’t know it was possible and (quite frankly) I thought it was cool.
A little off the point, but for some interesting reading, check out The Grace Lee Project (http://www.gracelee.net/index.cgi). Grace Lee is a Korean American filmmaker who is trying to find the answer to the question “What’s in a name?” as she interviews Asian women named Grace Lee. I haven’t seen it, but it looks pretty interesting and it has a whole bunch of really interesting links.
