Naming names

Finally, I now have passable, authentic Korean and Japanese names (aside from the Chinese name I have chosen). I made it a point to choose names that are similar to how my given name is read and spelled. 

Korean name: 민재룡 / Min Jae-Ryong

I don’t really know what the surname means or connotes, but, considering that Koreans have a very limited pool of surnames, I guess I don’t have that much of a choice.

My sister helped me choose the name Jae-Ryong. My first choices were actually Jung-Hwa and Jung-Hee (probably the same as Chung-hee of General Park Chung-hee) but I didn’t really like them. My sister has heard of many Korean television characters with the name Jae so she thought I might like it. I added the Ryong part as the equivalent of the second syllable of my given name. Jae means “respect” while Ryong means “dragon”. In Korea, dragons are considered benevolent beings connected with water. That suits me well since, as I have found out through dozens of online tests and my own “face reading”, I’m a water-person.

My name has a hanja equivalent, but I like my name in hangul better.

Japanese name: 湊峙朗 / Minatoya Jirou

My first choice for a surname was Minami or “south”. However, two of my friends thought that Minami sounded like an appliance or candy brand. Only three other Japanese surnames I know have “Mina” in them: Minabuchi, Minamoto and Minatoya. I don’t like the sound of Minabuchi and I find Minamoto too historical. The Kanji symbol for Minatoya means “port” or “harbor.” Water is still there!

Jirou is fairly common boy’s name in Japan. It usually means “second eldest son”; it is a relative of the name Tarou (eldest son) and Saburou (third eldest son.) But Jirou can be spelled in many ways, and there lies the name’s varied meanings. For my name I chose the characters 峙朗 – the ji [峙] means “soaring” while the rou [朗] means “bright.” There is the aspiration that I will soar high towards brightness or light. Cool, don’t you think?

I have the choice of just transliterating my name to Mina Jiriku (in katakana) (ミナジリク) but I fear the Japanese might mistake my Mina with their word for “the name of God” or “everyone”.

***

It’s fun giving yourself a well-thought of name, even if only informal. My parents weren’t that intelligent to have given me a more meaningful one.