We start with the family name
In Korea the family name comes first, and unlike given names it is not freely invented — you inherit it. So we only suggest surnames that Korean people actually have. Our default pool is the 20 most common surnames, which together cover roughly 80% of the population.
If your own surname happens to line up with a real Korean one by sound — Wang with 왕, Ye with 예 — we put that one first. Keeping a thread back to your original name is worth more than a surname chosen at random.
You can pick a surname yourself or let us recommend one. Either way it will be a surname that exists.
Easy to say, easy to write
This is a name people in Korea will actually call you by, so the first thing we check is whether a Korean can hear it once and write it down. A name that needs spelling out every time is a burden you carry, not us.
Meaning matters too. Korean given names usually carry one, so we tell you what the name reads as and why we picked it — not just the name itself.
We ask what the name is for
A name for university paperwork is not the same as a name friends will shout across a room, or a handle you will use online. We ask how you plan to use it and take that into account.