My new name.
Since in Korea, I've been Ryan, Lyan, Lion, Sa-ja (lion in Korean), Tony (a joke when I shaved my beard), Stony (I don't even know why), Moon Tae Bawm (my joke Korean name), and about a hundred other mispronunciations, jokes, and tomfollery.
I decided recently, though, that I want a real Korean name instead of one that sounds like my name or that's just some joke. I wanted a name that an actual Korean would have. So after many days of deliberation, asking suggestions, and having Koreans tell me something sounded bad in Korean (or me telling them it sounded bad in English), I finally decided on a name.
I'm Bak Jae Min. (Bak rhymes with "rock," Jae like "Blue Jay," and Min as in not very nice).
It doesn't really mean anything (aside from "Jae Min" sounding like "Jae mi" which means interesting), but it sounds good and it's a real name that a Korean would have.
So next time we have a conversation in Korean, remember to call me Jae Min.
R
posted by RPShep @ 2:02 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Thanks about the blog!
Most Koreans just have three-syllable long names. The first syllable is the family name and is left off among friends. The other two are the given name. There's really no rhyme or reason why there's two. There are occasionally people with single-syllable or three-syllable given names. They're rare, though.
Ryan
One Saturday morning, I was looking through Google search to find the Chungnam National University Music Department, where I received my first bachelor’s degree, for curiosity’s sake and for reminders of lots of Daejeon, and I found your website.
Well…
Having a Korean name sounds great, but why do you want to change your family name to “Bak” from “Shepherd”?
I have been living in America, going to college and working, for almost seven years. I was thinking about changing my first name to something more familiar to the ones that Americans use, especially since my name “Hyo Sun” is mispronounced by all of my professors, friends, and co-workers; however, I changed my mind!!! Now, I used “Sunny” as my nickname, but I still keep my Korean name too. Also, I would never ever consider changing my family name just to be accepted by a different country’s society or for any other reason, unless I get married in America someday. :)
Sunny
I'm not actually changing my name, I'm just using the name Bak Jae Min in Korea. See, my name doesn't work well for Koreans "Ryan Shepherd" is long, hard for them to remember, and hard to pronounce. Bak Jae Min is a lot easier to say and remember. I'll still use Ryan Shepherd with English speaking friends, but I have a lot of friends that DON'T speak English well, with them, I'm Jae Min...
Plus, Shepherd Jae Min sounds silly :).
R
Since Shepherd, Jae Min sound silly; then, how about using Jae Min alone? Just like a pen name, which writer’s often use, or some of the Korean entertainers usually use.
Sunny.
Well, it's mostly because I want a "real" Korean name. I've been called "La-ee-awn" and "Sa-ja" in Korean for a while, so I wanted a name that a real Korean person would have. No one would be named just Jae Min, so I had to have a family name too. It's not like I'm getting rid of Shepherd--that's still my real family name.
R
Thanks Echo. I was curious what it meant. Is this the same Echo that used to go to IPFW, by the way?
R
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