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

Korean girl names get their meaning from hanja (한자 漢字, Chinese characters), not from their sound. Seo-yeon, the most common girls’ name in South Korea for much of the 2010s, is usually 瑞妍: “auspicious” plus “lovely.” Below are 50 Korean girl names that are actually in use, each with one common hanja spelling, what the characters mean, and the five-element energy the characters carry by their radicals, the way Korean namers read them.

One thing to know before the table. Each name sound can be written with several different hanja, and the spelling here is one common choice, not the only one. Two girls named Ji-yun may carry completely different characters. If you’re choosing a name, the hanja is the part you get to decide.

How to read the table

• Name is the Hangul with Revised Romanization. The hyphen just separates syllables; Koreans write Seoyeon or Seo-yeon interchangeably.
• Hanja is one widely used spelling. Others exist.
• Meaning reads each character on its own. Korean names are wishes, not sentences, so “auspicious + lovely” is the right way to hear it.
• Elements come from each character’s radical, the system called jawon ohaeng (자원오행 字源五行). Wood for tree and grass radicals, fire for sun, fire and heart, earth for earth, mountain and woman, metal for metal, jade and speech, water for water and rain. Schools of naming differ on a few characters; this follows the convention SajuBunny uses.

50 Korean girl names with hanja and meanings

Most of names 1 to 27 have appeared high in South Korea’s newborn-name rankings over the past fifteen years. Names 28 to 50 are everyday names you’ll meet in any classroom or office, some a little older in feel (Hye-jin, Su-jin, Eun-ji were big in the 1980s and 90s).

Patterns you can see in the list

A few syllables do most of the work. 서 seo, 지 ji, 윤 yun, 은 eun, 아 a and 연 yeon appear over and over. Korean naming goes through fashions the way any naming culture does, and these are the current ones. Put two of them together and you have a name that sounds like a child born this decade.

Girls’ names lean toward fire and water characters. Count the elements and you’ll see a lot of fire (智 wisdom, 恩 grace, 雅 elegant, 彩 brilliance) and water (潤 enriching, 雨 rain, 潾 clear water). That isn’t a rule. It happens because the fashionable characters have sun, heart and water radicals. Namers who work with saju will still pick a wood or metal character when the chart asks for it.

Meanings are gentle, not grand. Lovely, gentle, grace, clear water, art. Boys’ names in the same era lean on “talented,” “vast sky” and “universe.” Modern parents are blurring this, and several names above (지우 Ji-u, 지민 Ji-min, 수빈 Su-bin, 시우 Si-u) are given to both girls and boys.

The same sound, different character, different name. 연 yeon is 妍 “lovely” in Seo-yeon and 蓮 “lotus” in Su-yeon. 수 su is 秀 “outstanding” in all the names above, but it could just as well be 琇 “jade-like stone” or 洙 “riverside.” If you adopt a name from this list, you’re adopting a sound; the hanja is still your choice.

Choosing one for yourself

If you’re picking a Korean name as a keepsake, a pen name or for a language class:

1. Pick for meaning first. Find two characters whose meanings you’d be glad to carry.
2. Check the element if you know your saju. Many Korean families choose characters for the elements a child’s chart has less of. If your chart is short on water, 潤 yun or 雨 u is a traditional choice; short on wood, 秀 su or 藝 ye.
3. Say it with a surname. Kim Seo-yeon, Lee Ha-eun, Park Ji-yu. The surname goes first.
4. Ask whether it sounds like a person. A Korean friend can tell you in one second whether a combination is a real name, a grandmother’s name or an accident.

Names that already appear in the list have passed the “real name” test. Mixing syllables from different rows can work too; Seo-eun, Ha-yeon and Yun-ji are all real names you’d hear in Seoul.

FAQ

What is the most popular Korean girl name?

Seo-yeon (서연) was the most common name given to newborn girls in South Korea for several years in the 2010s, and Seo-yun, Ji-yu, Ha-yun and Ha-eun have each topped or nearly topped the annual list since. Rankings shift every year, so “most popular” depends on the year you check. All of them are in the table above.

Do Korean girl names have different hanja from boy names?

Mostly in fashion rather than rule. Characters like 妍 “lovely,” 媛 “beautiful lady” and 娜 “graceful” carry the woman radical 女 and are used almost only for girls. Many others, such as 智 “wisdom,” 瑞 “auspicious” and 潤 “enriching,” are used for both. Some names are fully unisex today, including Ji-u, Ji-min, Su-bin and Si-u.

Can I use one of these names if I’m not Korean?

Yes. Korean teachers give students names like these all the time, and taking a Korean name is a normal thing to do for language study, a pen name or a trip. The only courtesy is to treat it as a real name: choose the hanja so it has a meaning, say it with a surname in Korean order, and don’t claim it on any document where it isn’t yours.

How do the elements in a name relate to saju?

In Korean naming tradition, a child’s saju chart is checked for which of the five elements it has less of, and the name’s hanja are chosen to carry those elements through their radicals. It’s a symbolic balance and a way of expressing a wish. A name doesn’t change a chart or anyone’s future; SajuBunny treats it as a meaningful keepsake, not a remedy.

Try it with the Moon Rabbit

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