50 Korean Boy Names With Hanja Meanings (and Their Elements)

Korean boy names mean what their hanja (한자 漢字, Chinese characters) mean, not what they sound like. Seo-jun, the most common boys’ name in South Korea for much of the 2010s, is usually 瑞俊: “auspicious” plus “talented.” Here are 50 Korean boy names that are genuinely in use, each with one common hanja spelling, the meaning of each character, and the five-element energy the characters carry by their radicals, which is how Korean namers read them.

Before the table, the one rule of Korean names: the sound is shared, the hanja is personal. 준 jun alone can be 俊 “talented,” 峻 “lofty,” 濬 “deep” or 晙 “early light.” The spelling below is one common choice for each name. If you’re choosing a name for yourself, the hanja is yours to decide.

How to read the table

• Name gives the Hangul and Revised Romanization. The hyphen separates syllables; Koreans write Seojun or Seo-jun, both fine.
• Hanja is one widely used spelling among several.
• Meaning reads each character on its own. Think “wish,” not “sentence.”
• Elements come from each character’s radical, called jawon ohaeng (자원오행 字源五行): wood for tree and grass radicals, fire for sun, fire, heart and person, earth for earth, mountain and walking, metal for metal, jade and speech, water for water and rain. A few characters are assigned differently by different schools; this follows the convention SajuBunny uses.

50 Korean boy names with hanja and meanings

Most of names 1 to 26 have sat high in South Korea’s annual newborn-name rankings over the past fifteen years. Names 27 to 50 are everyday names from classrooms, offices and K-pop lineups, a few with a slightly older feel (Dong-hyeon, Seong-min, Ji-seong, Jun-hyeok were big in the 1990s and 2000s).

Patterns you can see in the list

Three syllables carry half the names. 준 jun, 우 u and 현 hyeon show up again and again, with 민 min, 서 seo, 지 ji and 도 do close behind. If you want a name that sounds like a boy born in Seoul this decade, two of those syllables will do it.

Boys’ names reach for the sky. 宇 “universe,” 昊 “vast sky,” 旻 “autumn sky,” 浩 “vast water,” 泰 “great.” Where girls’ names of the same era favor “lovely” and “clear water,” boys’ names favor scale. Parents are loosening this, and 지우 Ji-u, 지민 Ji-min, 수빈 Su-bin, 시우 Si-u and 연우 Yeon-u are now given to girls as well.

Fire and wood characters dominate. 俊 “talented” (person radical, fire), 智 “wisdom” (sun radical, fire), 宇 “universe” (roof radical, wood) are in a third of the table. That’s fashion, not a rule. A namer working from a saju chart will reach for a metal character like 賢 “wise” or a water character like 潤 “enriching” when the chart asks for it, which is exactly how Do-yun (道潤) and Tae-yun (泰潤) came to be so common.

One sound, several names. 현 hyeon is 賢 “wise” throughout this table, but 炫 “dazzling,” 玹 “lustrous jade” and 鉉 “pillar of the state” are all real alternatives. 우 u is 宇 “universe” here, but 佑 “divine help,” 雨 “rain” and 瑀 “jade pendant” are common too. Take the sound from the list; choose the character yourself.

Choosing one for yourself

For a keepsake name, a pen name, a game handle or a language class:

1. Meaning first. Pick two characters whose meanings you’d be happy to answer for when someone asks.
2. Then the element, if you know your saju. Korean families often choose characters for the elements a child’s chart has less of. Short on water, try 潤 yun, 浩 ho or 源 won; short on metal, 賢 hyeon, 瑞 seo or 誠 seong; short on earth, 道 do, 允 yun or 在 jae.
3. Say it with a surname, surname first. Kim Ha-jun, Lee Do-yun, Park Seo-jun. Some combinations stumble; others sing.
4. Run it past a Korean speaker. They’ll tell you instantly if it sounds like a boy, a grandfather or a construction company.

Recombining syllables from the list usually works too: Min-u, Jun-ho, Seo-u, Do-jun and Tae-min are all names you’d actually hear.

FAQ

What is the most popular Korean boy name?

Seo-jun (서준) topped South Korea’s newborn-boy rankings for several years in the 2010s, and Ha-jun, Do-yun, Eun-u and I-jun have each led or nearly led the list since. The order changes every year. All of them are in the table above with one common hanja spelling each.

Are Korean boy names and girl names written with different hanja?

Partly. Characters with the woman radical 女, like 妍 “lovely,” are used almost only for girls, while 俊 “talented” and 勳 “merit” lean strongly male. Many characters are shared: 智 “wisdom,” 瑞 “auspicious,” 潤 “enriching” and 宇 “universe” appear in both lists. A growing number of names, such as Ji-u and Si-u, are fully unisex.

How do Korean parents choose the hanja for a boy’s name?

Common routes are a family’s generation syllable (dollimja), a meaning the parents want the child to carry, and, still very often, a saju-based choice: the child’s birth chart is checked for which five elements it has less of, and characters with those elements’ radicals are chosen. Many families use a professional namer for this; others ask a grandparent. The name is a wish, not a mechanism.

Can a non-Korean use one of these names?

Yes. Korean language classes hand out names like these on the first day, and a Korean name is a normal keepsake for fans, students and travelers. Treat it as a real name: pick the hanja so it carries a meaning, put a surname in front of it, and keep it off documents where it isn’t your legal name.

Try it with the Moon Rabbit

Enter your birthday on the Korean name page and the Moon Rabbit suggests a boy’s, girl’s or unisex name whose hanja carry the elements your chart has less of, with meanings and pronunciation. The first name is free.