Editing Korean name (section)

==Romanization and pronunciation==
{{See also|Romanization of Korean}}
Many modern Koreans romanize their names in an ''ad hoc'' manner that often attempts to approximate conventions in [[English orthography]]. This produces many Latin-spelling variations for a single name. For example, the surname {{lang|ko|이}} (李) is variously romanized as ''Lee'', ''Yi'', ''I'', or ''Rhee''.

Some Koreans avoid certain spellings because of their similarity to English words with negative connotations. For example, "Gang", "Bang", "Sin", and "Gun".{{sfnp|Lee|2011|p=94}}

Although the current official romanization system in South Korea is the [[Revised Romanization of Korean]], South Korean nationals are not required to follow this when they apply for their [[South Korean passport|passports]]; people are allowed to register their romanized names freely as long as the romanized name can be pronounced like the Hangul name.<ref>{{harvtxt|Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea|2014}}: "{{lang|ko|한글 성명대로 발음되면 로마자 표기법에 따른 표기가 아니어도 사용할 수 있습니다. 예: '인'에 대해 사용할 수 있는 로마자 표기}} IN, INN, IHN, YIN" (Even if [your romanized name] is not in accordance with the Revised Romanization of Korean, you are allowed to use it [on your passport] as long as it can be pronounced like your Hangul name. For example, ''IN'', ''INN'', ''IHN'', and ''YIN'' are permitted for {{lang|ko|인}}.)</ref> Even a single surname within a single family can be romanized differently on passports. For example, within a single {{lang|ko|심}} family, the father's surname can be "Shim" while his son's can be "Sim".<ref>{{cite news |author=김용 |script-title=ko:아버지 성은 'SHIM', 아들은 'SIM'...'헤라클래스' 부자에 무슨 사연이? |trans-title=Father's surname is Shim, son's is Sim... What is the story behind the "Hercules" father and son? |url=https://sports.news.naver.com/news.nhn?oid=076&aid=0004030620 |publisher=[[Sports Chosun]] |date=2023-07-12 |quote=심정수는 이주 과정에서 여권 신청서를 작성할 때 실수로 아들들의 성을 'SIM'으로 적었다고 한다. 뒤늦게 실수를 알았지만, 다시 이름을 바꾸기는 어려웠다. |trans-quote=When [[Shim Jeong-soo]] was applying for his sons' passports to go abroad, he mistakenly wrote their surname as "SIM". He later realized his mistake, but it was too late to change. |language=ko |access-date=2023-09-13 |archive-date=2023-10-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022061414/https://sports.news.naver.com/news.nhn?oid=076&aid=0004030620 |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to a 2007 examination of 63,000 passports, the most common romanizations for various common surnames were:<ref>{{cite web|author=National Institute of Korean Language |author-link=National Institute of Korean Language |script-title=ko:성씨 로마자 표기 방안 마련을 위한 토론회 |url=https://korean.go.kr/common/download.do?file_path=etcData&c_file_name=80f65ee3-98ee-4e75-8f76-ebe941ba1597.pdf&o_file_name=%ED%86%A0%EB%A1%A0%ED%9A%8C-%EC%9D%B8%EC%87%84%EC%B5%9C%EC%A2%85.pdf |pages=57, 58, 60, 61 |date=2009-06-25 |language=ko}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
!Surname<br />(Hangul)!!Spelling 1!!Spelling 2!!Spelling 3
|-
|{{lang|ko|김}}||Kim (99.3%)||Gim (0.6%)||Ghim (0.01%)
|-
|{{lang|ko|이}}||Lee (98.5%)||Yi (1%)||Rhee (0.2%)
|-
|{{lang|ko|박}}||Park (95.9%)||Bak (1.8%)||Pak (1.7%)
|-
|{{lang|ko|최}}||Choi (93.1%)||Choe (6.5%)||Choy (0.09%)
|-
|{{lang|ko|정}}||Jung (48.6%)||Jeong (37%)||Chung (9.2%)
|}

In English-speaking nations, the three most common surnames are often written and pronounced as ''Kim'' ({{Korean|hangul=김|labels=no}}), ''Lee''/''Ri'' ({{Korean|hangul=이/리|labels=no}}), and ''Park'' ({{Korean|hangul=박|labels=no}}).
* The initial sound in ''Kim'' shares features with both the English ''k'' (in initial position, an aspirated voiceless velar stop) and "hard ''g''" (an unaspirated voiced velar stop). When pronounced initially, Kim starts with an unaspirated voiceless [[velar stop]] sound; it is voiceless like {{IPA|[k]}}, but also unaspirated like {{IPA|[ɡ]}}. As aspiration is a distinctive feature in Korean but voicing is not, ''Gim'' is more likely to be understood correctly. However, ''Kim'' is usually used as the romanized form in both North and South Koreas.{{sfnp|Yonhap|2004|pp=484–536, 793–800, ''passim''}}
* The surname ''Lee'' is originally {{Korean|hangul=리|labels=no}} (''Ri'') in North Korea and {{Korean|hangul=이|labels=no}} (''I'') in South Korea. In the former case, the initial sound is a [[liquid consonant]]. There is no distinction between the alveolar liquids {{IPA|[l]}} and {{IPA|[r]}}, which is why ''Lee'' and ''Ri'' are both common spellings. In South Korea, the pronunciation of the name is simply the English vowel sound for a "long ''e''", as in ''see''. This pronunciation is also often spelled as ''Yi''; the Northern pronunciation is commonly romanized as ''Ri''.{{sfnp|Yonhap|2004|pp=561–608, 807–810, ''passim''}}
* In Korean, the name that is usually romanized as ''Park'' actually has no ''r'' sound, unlike in [[American English]], since the romanization was based on [[English English]], which has [[r-dropping]]. Its initial sound is an unaspirated voiceless [[bilabial stop]] {{IPA|[p]}}. The vowel is {{IPA|[a]}}, similar to the ''a'' in ''father'', so the name is also often transcribed ''Pak'', ''Bak'' and ''Bahk''.{{sfnp|Yonhap|2004|pp=438–457}}

In romanized Korean names, there are three common ways to spell the given name:

* A two-syllable given name is spelled as a joined word (Hong ''Gildong'')
* Separated by a hyphen (Hong ''{{nowrap|Gil-dong}}'')
* Separated by a space (Hong ''{{nowrap|Gil Dong}}'')

In other words, ''Gildong'', ''Gil-dong'', and ''Gil Dong'' are all the same given name. Even with a space, ''Gil Dong'' is still a single first name, not first and middle names. South Korea's [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (South Korea)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]], the government agency issuing passports to its nationals, formally advised its nationals not to put a space in their given names because having a space in a given name can be misunderstood as having first and middle names;<ref>{{harvtxt|Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea|2014}}: "{{lang|ko|이름의 글자를 띄어 쓰면 외국에서 중간 이름으로 인식되므로 될 수 있으면 붙여서 사용하시기 바랍니다.}}" (If there is a space between each syllable of your given name, [the second syllable] will be perceived as a middle name outside Korea. Therefore, we recommend concatenating syllables.)</ref> the Ministry also gives a chance to remove the space when one already has a space in one's given name.<ref>{{harvtxt|Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea|2014}}: "Q: {{lang|ko|이름을 한 글자씩 띄어서 로마자로 표기했더니 해외에서는 중간 이름(미들네임)으로 인식되어 불편합니다. 붙여 쓰기로 변경할 수 있나요?}} / A: {{lang|ko|1회에 한해 붙여 쓰도록 변경할 수 있습니다.}}" (Question: My given name [on my passport] has a space between each syllable. This is inconvenient because [the second syllable] is perceived as a middle name outside Korea. Can I have the space removed? / Answer: You can have the space removed only once.)</ref>

It is not always possible to unambiguously determine the original Hangul name from a romanized Korean name. For example, the ''jung'' in [[Kim Dae-jung]] and in [[Youn Yuh-jung]] is actually different in Hangul ({{lang|ko|중}} and {{lang|ko|정}} respectively).{{efn|Even if the Revised Romanization of Korean (RR) were strictly applied to all names, such an ambiguity is not fully resolved. For example, given names {{lang|ko|빛나}} and {{lang|ko|샛별}} are romanized as {{Transliteration|ko|rr|Bitna}} and {{Transliteration|ko|rr|Saetbyeol}} respectively according to RR – syllable-final consonants {{lang|ko|ㅊ}} and {{lang|ko|ㅅ}} both become ''t''.}}

{{ill|Eom Ik-sang|ko|엄익상}}, a South Korean professor of the Chinese language and literature at [[Hanyang University]], said the following with regard to the romanizations of Korean personal names and the adoption of South Korea's official romanization system in other countries:<ref>{{cite conference |url=https://www.korean.go.kr/common/download.do;front=C418D688FF0397643BC44229B5369EE8?file_path=etcData&c_file_name=8be7c78f-847f-4769-a06b-248f590cd4be.pdf&o_file_name=%EC%A0%9C2%ED%9A%8C_%EA%B5%AD%EC%96%B4_%EC%A0%95%EC%B1%85_%ED%86%A0%EB%A1%A0%ED%9A%8C_%EC%9E%90%EB%A3%8C%EC%A7%91.pdf |script-title=ko:로마자표기법: 국내표준과 국제표준 |trans-title=Romanization system [of Korean]: domestic and international standards |last=Eom |first=Ik-sang (엄익상) |date=2011-07-07 |conference=국어 정책 토론회 |publisher=[[National Institute of Korean Language]] |access-date=2023-08-28 |language=ko |page=8 |archive-date=2023-08-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828034248/https://www.korean.go.kr/common/download.do;front=C418D688FF0397643BC44229B5369EE8?file_path=etcData&c_file_name=8be7c78f-847f-4769-a06b-248f590cd4be.pdf&o_file_name=%EC%A0%9C2%ED%9A%8C_%EA%B5%AD%EC%96%B4_%EC%A0%95%EC%B1%85_%ED%86%A0%EB%A1%A0%ED%9A%8C_%EC%9E%90%EB%A3%8C%EC%A7%91.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>{{efn|Original: "{{lang|ko|중국어 로마자 표기법은 서구에서 100년 가까이 사용해오던}} Wade-Giles{{lang|ko|법을 밀어내고 최근에는 1958년 중국정부가 제정한 한어병음방법을 전 세계적으로 사용하고 있다. 미국의회도서관은 물론 해외 도서관에서 한어병음으로 중국의 인명과 서명을 검색할 수 있게 되었다. 그러나 13억이 넘는 인구가 50년이 넘는 세월 동안 일률적으로 사용해온 경우와 성명의 표기는 개인의 자유라며 일반 국민은 물론 대통령까지 거의 모두 자유롭게 표기해온 국가와 비교가 될 수 있을까? 자기 집 영문 주소는 물론 성까지도 식구마다 다르게 표기할 수 있는 곳이 한국이다. 우리 스스로도 잘 지키지 않고, 수시로 바뀌는 표기법을 외국에서 뭘 믿고 쓰겠는가?}}"}}

{{blockquote|In the case of the romanization of Chinese, the [[Pinyin|Hanyu Pinyin]] system established by the Chinese government in 1958 is being used worldwide today, displacing the [[Wade–Giles]] system that had been used in the West for nearly a hundred years. It is now possible to search Chinese personal names and book titles using Hanyu Pinyin in overseas libraries including the U.S. [[Library of Congress]]. However, is it fair to compare the country in which more than 1.3 billion people have been uniformly following [a single system] for more than 50 years to the country in which almost all citizens and presidents alike have been romanizing their names freely, asserting individual freedom? Korea is a place where one's home address as well as the surname of each family member [within a single family] can be romanized differently. Why would other countries trust and use [South Korea's official romanization] system that not only has been frequently changed but also we ourselves do not even consistently follow?}}

===Name order===
[[File:Ban Ki-Moon Davos 2011.jpg|thumb|[[Ban Ki-moon]] in [[Davos]], [[Switzerland]] – the usual presentation of Korean names in English, as shown here, is to put the surname first (Ban is the surname)]]
In English-language publications, including newspapers, Korean names are usually written in the original order, with the surname first and the given name last. However, Koreans living and working in Western countries usually adopt the Western order, with the given name first and the surname last. The usual presentation of Korean names in English is similar to those of [[Chinese name]]s and differs from those of [[Japanese name]]s, which, in English publications, are usually written in a reversed order with the surname last.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Power |first=John |date=June 2008 |title=Japanese names |url=http://www.theindexer.org/files/26-2/26-2-cp4_002.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=The Indexer |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=2–8 |doi=10.3828/indexer.2008.29 |issn=0019-4131 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130073413/http://theindexer.org/files/26-2/26-2-cp4_002.pdf |archive-date=2010-11-30}}</ref>