Hi, celestriakle! Actually, Korean naming conventions have a lot in common with Chinese naming conventions because that’s where we got many of them :) In this case, Google really is your friend~ Try “Korean naming conventions” and see what research you can do. To give you a start, Ask A Korean has a great series of posts on naming conventions!
Wikipedia even has a list of common Korean given names. As well as a good, basic introduction to Korean naming conventions.
But because this is my first post, I’m gonna give you a freebie :) Here’s some basic info for you! There are two basic types of names in Korean: names that are based on hanja (which are sometimes called Sino-Korean names) and names that are purely native Korean.
It is most common to have a two-syllable name, but one-syllable names definitely exist (quite a few of my cousins have one-syllable names). I have never heard a three-syllable Korean given name, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. There might be legal restrictions on that in Korea, though.
Sino-Korean names have a hanja for each syllable, and the meaning of the name comes from the hanja. There’s actually a government document of a table of hanja that are allowed for personal names. There used to be a limited number you could use legally (before the 90’s, I believe), but now there’s over 5,000 hanja that one could potentially use to create a name!
Purely Korean/native Korean names are often words in Korean or derived from words in Korean, like Jin-Ju (pearl), Jang-Mi (rose), Ha-Neul (sky/heaven), Han-Mi (derived from hanguk and miguk, usually meaning Korean American). Hanja-derived names are most common, but I hear more Koreans are choosing pure Korean names, partially because they’re a little more unique. And partially because many Koreans have a lot of pride in their heritage and some choose to express that through a name that has no relation to hanja.
The important thing to remember about Korean names is that they each have meaning, and it’s the meaning (rather than the sound) that makes them a “real” name.
It’s absolutely possible to have the name Ji-Bae (although it would be uncommon), but the question you have to be able to answer is what does Ji-Bae mean? Bae is usually associated with the family/surname, but not always. It isn’t a pure/native Korean name, so which hanja characters did you use to create the name? Is one of the syllables (usually the first, so in this case, Ji) a generation name? If so, it’s likely that other people in the family (siblings, usually) will share that name. Ji-Bae would probably be a boy’s name, I think. Also, it could be a homonym for the phrase “at home”, which sounds a little awkward.
To clarify! I don’t know what Ji-Bae means because there are over 14 different hanja associated with the “Ji” morpheme alone. So I can’t tell you what it means unless you tell me which hanja were used for the name.
If you’re going to give a character a Korean name, please be sure you know what it means, how it’s written in Korean, and if it’s Sino-Korean, which hanja were used to create the name! I would absolutely suggest looking through websites of Korean names rather than “inventing” one, because it’s simply impossible to “make up” a Korean name. Real Korean names have meaning, and you don’t get meaning by putting random syllables together. (Wikipedia’s list of given names, linked above, can give you a good start!!)
Any Korean followers want to chime in on this one?
