The Meaning and Structure of Mongolian and Korean Names

1 Introduction

A person’s name is a historical phenomenon that is constantly changing and is closely related to the real features of social development. Researching people’s names is useful for understanding the unique mindset of the people of a country. Therefore, in this article, the meaning and structural features of Mongolian and Korean names have been discussed in detail.

2 Research on Mongolian and Korean Names

Mongolian names reflect Mongolian customs, worldview, and lifestyle. Among the foreign scientists, A.M. Pozdneev, Y.N. Roerich and many Eastern researchers have mentioned the origin and characteristics of Mongolian names in their writings. Among the Mongolian scientists, researchers J. Serjee, D. Enkhbat et al.

A person’s name is an important study of the history, language, and culture of the Mongolian nation. For example, in addition to Buriad, Halimag, Tuva, Buriad and Oirad who live in regions inhabited by Mongols in China, some Evenks have Mongolian names. For example: Bair, Saiyan, Tuyanaa, etc. Among the Mongol tribes, the name of a person of Sanskrit origin is the same. For example: Bazar, Dorje, Ochir, Radna, Erdene, etc.

In Korea, many researchers have conducted research on the names of Korean people. Thus, although a lot of research has been done on the names of people in both countries, it is rare to compare the names of Mongolians and Koreans. Recently, researchers Kim Man-Tae, Park Hwang-Yong, Lee Boog-Gyu, and Ahn So-Hyun conducted a comparative study on the meaning and structure of Korean names.

Korean people’s custom of calling a person by name has developed in its own unique way. Korean official writing uses Chinese characters a lot. Fifty-three percent of the total vocabulary is occupied by figurative language. In Korean, there is a rule of pronouncing one syllable of a Chinese character with one sound. There is a native word for name, but documents use the Chinese character for a person’s surname and first name, 성명 (姓 名-song myeon).

Currently, there are 286 families and 4179 root trees (本) that are widely used in South Korea. In April 1991, the number of characters for Korean surnames and first names was limited, and according to the Supreme Court of the Republic of Korea, the 5761 characters for a person’s surname in 1990 were increased to 8142 by 8 amendments starting from 2015. In terms of the number of clans, compared to the Chinese with more than 4000 clans and the Japanese with more than 100,000 clans, Koreans have relatively few clans. As of 2015, according to the census of the Republic of Korea, there are 5582 clans including clans that have migrated from abroad. There are 858 ethnic groups per 1000 people, which is 97.8 % of the population (News of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Korea. “Surname and first name of a Korean person”. Hanja.naver. Last modified March 10, 2018. http://hanja.naver.com/category/name/).^[1]

The 10 major ethnic groups in Korea are: 김해 김씨 (金海金氏) – Kim clan of Kimhae, 데양 박씨 (密陽朴氏) – Park clan of Miryan, 전주 이씨 (全州李氏) – Yi clan of Jeongju, Gyeongju 김씨 (慶州金氏) – Kim clan of Gyeongju region 이씨 (慶州李氏) – Yi clan of Gyeongju region 최씨 (慶州崔氏) – Chue clan of Gyeongju region, 진주 강씨 (晉州姜氏) – Kang clan of Jinju region, 광산 김씨 (光山金氏) – Kim clan of Gwangsan, 판평 윤씨 (坡平尹氏) – Yun clan of Papyeong, 청주 한씨 (淸州韓氏) – Han clan of Jeonju.

3 About Surnames and Names of Mongolian and Korean People

Dorjpurev Soronzon, a researcher about the Mongolian people’s surnames… Kinds are people who have branched out from one ancestor, and this will further become a tribe. Clan is very important, during the organization of human society, matriarchy and patriarchy arose as clan. Due to the right of the mother, the right of the father was established. Human beings first had two needs: naming and calling people. That’s why he started naming people around him. But it is one thing to name people and another thing to call them. It is said that in case of conflict between two clans, the other side is divided into clans and has internal types (Soronzon 2022. Special lecture on the meaning and usage of personal pronouns in the Mongolian language).^[2]

The genealogical knowledge of the Mongolian tribe was not only for determining the names, but also determined the bloodline, talent, character, physique, and strength of the tribe. For example: The great writer Dachdorji Natsagdorj said he was from the Borjigon tribe, but Tsend Damdinsuren was from the Khatgin tribe, from the Bуamba Rinchen Enshebu tribe. Mongolians are proud of their clan and strive to preserve their clan.

When reading the Mongolian secret books written in the 13th century, the first clans of almost 30 provinces are known: sages, Thais, and Mangs. According to the Secret Bureau of Mongolia, in many cases, people’s names were followed by nicknames and titles. For example: Duva the blind, Dobu the sage, Wang Khan, Ambagai Setsen Khan, etc. Nicknames were often given to ordinary people, and titles were used for noblemen, but some facts of Mongolian history prove that there were cases when titles became names. For example, in Khalkh Tsogt, the title of Hun Taiji “tsokhur” became the nickname “tsookhor” Hun Taiji.

Until the beginning of the 20th century, Mongolian names consisted of three parts: surname, family name, and personal name. During socialism, the use of generic surnames was prohibited, and only patronymics and personal names were used. Since 2000, the surname has been used again in Mongolia. But it may be due to the fact that the surname was forgotten, people did not always take the surname that their ancestors had before the revolution. Therefore, Borjigon (Borjgon) is the most common surname of Mongolians today.

In ancient times, there was a Borjigon tribe’s taylga called “Thirteen Ataa Sky Taylga” (Aryasuren and Nyambuu 1991. Dictionary of Mongolian customs. 164).^[3] Mongolians are very against the breaking up of clans and the dilution of clans. It is a festival for the entire tribe. However, marriage was forbidden within the tribe because of “closeness of blood”.

Seers try to prove that a person’s destiny is written in the heavens before birth. Therefore, a person’s name not only contains the characteristics of the year, month, season, planet, and star of the time, but also symbolizes age, spirit, virtues, deeds, and the goodness of life. A person whose name is suitable for him will be lucky, his virtues will be enriched, and his life will be auspicious. However, in cases where the name does not fit or the name is offensive, it is common for the person to become ill, so the custom of changing one’s name has arisen. It is a religious practice. Even in modern times, it is believed that the meaning of life lies in a person’s name.

The name of a Mongolian person is given to a person at birth according to the traditions and customs of the people, and it is confirmed by international and national laws and is an expression of distinguishing him from others. The fact that a citizen’s name is guaranteed by law is one of the conditions for his participation in legal relations. A citizen enjoys rights and obligations under his name. A citizen has the right to use a fictitious name or change his name on the basis of the law. In this regard, the Law on Copyright and related rights states that “the author has the right to make his work available to the public under his own name or with or without a pseudonym.” However, in the Civil Registration Law, a citizen of Mongolia can change his name once. In this case, people with hard-to-pronounce names often change their names. Because when a child is born in an unstable family, it is common to give a boy a girl’s name, as well as avoid names such as Baast, Beltreg, Gogolgoo, Orgodol, Oudos, Muunokhoi, Nehiit, Haltar, Khukhnohoi, Shaaluu, Shaazan, etc. Therefore, when he grows up, he changes his name at his own request. Also, if the child is sick, the name is changed to make him live longer. Even if there is a loss in life, there are cases where the name is changed to get rid of evil.

The origin of the Korean clan is closely related to the history, geography, and ethnic origins of Korea. The symbol of Korean surname 姓 (son) is a combination of female and formation meaning, and it is an indication of the strong maternal rights where a woman was born and connected by blood. Also written as 姓名 (son myung) in Chinese. 名 (myeon), which is a character for a person’s name, is a combination of the words night and mouth, and it means that he calls out when the night is late. Over time, the surname of a Korean person changed to a patriarchal system, and now the name of a Korean person has the structure of the root, blood relationship of brothers, and his own name. In Korea, when a woman marries, she usually takes her father’s surname, not her husband’s, and her children take their father’s surname. This Korean custom is similar to Mongolian, that even if a woman gets married, her father’s surname does not change.

The root tree of a Korean person’s surname is called (本-bun). It is a sign that determines the origin of Koreans. With this sign, it is possible to distinguish the origin of people with the same last name. There are many Korean surnames such as Kim, Park, Yi, but the roots are different. For example, although the two Korean presidents have the same last name and different roots, Dae-jung calls the president DJ in English in order to avoid confusion.

The most common Korean surnames are Kim – 김(金), Lee – 이 (李), Park – 박(朴), Choi – 최(崔), John (Jung) – 정(鄭), Kang (Kang) – 강(姜), Jo (Cho, Jo) – 조(趙), Yun (Yun) – 윤(尹), Jang (Jang) – 장(張), Lim (Lim) is 임(林). When looking at the above clans, some clans have combined the Gaili because the procedure of transliteration of foreign words has been updated.

The culture of Korean names has developed according to the characteristics of a person’s birth time (dream, time, space, sequence), parents’ wishes, feelings, appearance, talent, etc. in any country. Koreans try to include all the characteristics of human beings when naming their children, such as disease-free, long life, prosperity, and the desire to perpetuate their fame. Most Koreans believe that the names given by parents are very meaningful and meaningful, and they are powerful and magical that lead the person’s destiny. But recently, there have been a lot of cases in Korea of people changing their names when their careers go astray and fail, unpleasant things happen in their lives, or if they don’t like the name given to them by their parents. According to the 2009 report of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Korea, the number of people who took a different name increased to 844,615 in 10 years, which is one in 60 of the total population.

4 The Meaning and Structure of Mongolian and Korean Names

For Mongolians, a person’s good or bad fate is not directly related to the name, but when naming their child from early on, they chose words that predicted good things such as good life, optimistic good deeds, and sharp intelligence.

Jantsan Bat- Ireedui … The characteristic of the assigned name is that it is a reserve language unit of the vocabulary, which does not translate from one language to another, has additional symbolic and intuitive content, can be any of verbs, adjectives, nouns, and can also have suffixes (Bat-Ireedui 2013. Nomenclature of the Mongolian language. 2).^[4]

During the 13th and 16th and 17th centuries, when Zoroastrianism spread among Mongolians, there are many names made by adding the words -maa “mother”, -jav “salvation” and “suren” from the Central language to the name. For example: Magsarjav, Gombojav, Tsevegjav, Badamjav, Yadamsuren, Khansuren, Lhamsuren, etc. In some cases, these words are added after the name of a Mongolian person’s birth planet, which is related to his religion. For example: Davaamaa, Purevjav, Byambasuren, etc. It means entrusting to the lord of the birth planet. In Tibetan, it is called Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, in ancient Indian Sanskrit it is adya, sumya, Mars, Buddha, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, and in Mongolian it is sun, moon, red-eyed, big, stake, tolmon, and hodog. The name was given by looking at the date of birth and the time of the day of birth. Also, in some cases, a woman gives her last child the name Otgon to avoid having another child. Parents also give the name Sol if they wish to have a child of the other gender if only girls or boys are born to their family.

In one of his works on Mongolian history and culture, Kim Gi-song, a Korean Mongolian scholar, said, “In the 1960s and 1970s, due to the fact that children died due to diseases, and due to the belief that male children were more important, there was a custom of concealing the real name of a child and giving it a bad name.” In Korea, children were given names like this. For example, in Korea, if a boy was born, they would call him “dog’s head” or “the head of a dog”, and if a girl was born, they would give names like “the last girl”, “youngest”, “son of the next” to predict the birth of a boy. It is said that names that ward off evil and wish for happiness are similar in Korean and Mongolian names (Mongolian Center of Seoul City University 2014. Korean name (김해경) 1910–1937, famous Korean writer. 70).^[5]

Today’s Korean surnames originate from the Three Kingdoms period (Goguryeo, Paegje, and Shilla) and became established during the Koryo (also known as the Brass Country) period. From the time when the kings of the United Silla State adopted Chinese-style surnames, social relations deepened, and as the population grew, blood ties and ethnic roots became more important. Many kings and princes were born, and new clans reached more than 500, which increased pride in the clan. But in Korea, until the 19th century, only the nobles had surnames, and the common people had only names without surnames. Therefore, in order to get a surname, there was a practice of falsifying documents among ordinary people. At that time, the surnames of the khat people were written according to the surname of their owners, and the name was given according to the characteristics of the person’s body and special talents. Therefore, if we translate the facts of the surnames of the people of that time into meaning, the one with a tall back is Tall Pak, the one with a small back is Small Pak, the one who looks like a fast colt is called Unaga Kim, the one with the face like a puppy is Kang Sabsari, the one with forward eyes is Yi Owl, the cane A slender person was called Shin Ji Peng, a tall person was called Yi Hugbul, a fat clumsy person was called Park Munturi, a short-legged person was called Joo Jagy Noomi, a fair person was called Park Song Noomi, a hardworking person was called Park Geet, etc. If the surname is not known, it will be named by age. Kim Shu-eun Doonie (50 years old), Park Shi Wol-sue (10 months), etc.

In the names of people of inferior origin, there were a lot of names like Kim and Iron, and because iron is used to beat money and coins, it means to earn a lot of money and live a good life.

(Seoul City Hall News. “The origin of Korean surnames”. Namu.wiki. Last modified January 21, 2019. https://namu.wiki/).^[6]

Korean names have the following characteristics in addition to the general meaning of any name. It is characterized by the removal of pain and evil through dom spells, the balanced quality of the body, the imagination, the importance of numerology, being unique, and following today’s traditions. A good name that is loved by parents is a name that brings good to the person when it is called, so they try to give a name as symbolic as possible. Especially if he is the only son of the family who will inherit the dynasty, he will refrain from calling. For example: King Gujung of Joseon was called dog poop when he was young, and Hwang Hye, the former executioner who lived during King Sejong’s reign, was called pig when he was young (Online encyclopedia. “Characteristics of Korean surnames”. Wikipedia. Last modified May 15, 2019. https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/).^[7] etc.

We have people with nicknames like Guzee Bataa and Beltreg Dorje, but these are not their real surnames. But some names like Ulaanaa, Ukhnaa, Sharaa, Jarantav, etc. have a specific meaning. It is interesting that the names of common Korean people’s names are similar to Mongolian nicknames when they are arranged in Chinese characters.

Even if the child is cute, it is also common in Korean to call the child ugly and ugly. In Korea, the name of a male child has always been carefully drawn, but a female child has been ignored. This is an indication that until recently, male preference (남아선호사상 – Nam – a – sonhu – sasan) was strong, which is believed to have largely disappeared in modern times, as families usually have two children.

Even in Mongolia, there is still a custom of giving names to children in order to ward off such rumors and evil spirits, to protect children from evil things that threaten them, and to confuse them. For example: Adilbish, Bibish, Anonymous, Ogtbish, Terbish, Hunbish, Nobody, Don’t Know, Whomdeh, Esmedeh, Enebish. There have been cases where the kings of the past gave names like this to hide their children. Similarly, in order to deceive evil spirits, a small child is called “ugly” instead of “cute”.

A name should be not only easy to pronounce and catchy, but also meaningful. Mongolians usually give two-syllable names to boys that represent majesty, strength, and courage, and to girls, beauty and gentleness. For example: Batar, Bat, Zorigt, Badamtsetseg, Namuuntuya, etc.

There are several ways to find out the gender of a Korean name. In general, female children’s names are less common than male children’s names, due to the limited number of images and pronunciations that contain feminine characteristics. Female names have a lot of images with beauty or bright feminine meaning. Also, most of them end in a vowel or have a syllable with a supporting consonant with a soft vowel, such as n, but it sometimes occurs in male names, so it is difficult to distinguish.

There are Chinese, Mongolian, Manchurian, Uighur, Arabic, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Dutch surnames in the Korean language, and there are many Chinese surnames. This is mainly due to the fact that the foreigners who came and settled as ambassadors of history and culture were Chinese. Also, there is a lot of this phenomenon among immigrants who came and settled during the 1596 war with Japan, or whenever there is a change of government in China. This includes the Kim clan of Kimhae and the Kim clan of Hambag who came and settled during the unrest that started from Japan.

Korean surnames used to have many syllables in the past, but nowadays they usually have three syllables. For example, the structure of a Korean person’s name is surname + first name, last name + first name + first name. For example: Lee Young, Kim Chol, Moon Jae In, Park Jong Hye, etc.

5 Evolution and Change of Mongolian and Korean Names

A person’s name is a historical phenomenon that is constantly changing in connection with the real features of social development. Therefore, the name is always a reflection of the time.

In ancient times, the names derived from the names of ancestors’ clans, clans, ethnicity, and rank prevailed, while in the XIII-XY centuries, Baatar, Bat, Berkh, Bold, Mönh, Mergen, Oyun, Ulzii, Timur, Hüleg, Tsogt, which are symbols of strength, were used. The princes and nobles with the name etc. have left their names in history.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, Buddhism came to Mongolia indirectly from India through Khon and Khusund. Since the spread of Buddhism in Mongolia, it has become common for Mongolians to give their children Sanskrit and central names. Among these names, there are many names of gods and Buddhist scriptures. For example: Jamsran, Namsrai, Jadamba, Altangerel, etc.

In 1921, the people’s revolution won, Mongolia-Soviet friendship expanded, and in the era of worshiping one person and one party, the name of a Mongolian person changed with the times, and modern words and simple combinations of two words were commonly used. For example, names like Narantsetseg, Sarantuya, Batbold, Batbayar, Timurbaatar, Naranbaatar, Munkhbayar, Munkhtsetseg, Bayarmaa, Bolormaa, etc., as well as famous political figures like Sukhbaatar, Choibalsan, Stalin, Gagarin, Zhukov, Gurragchaa, Soyuz, Janibekov, Tsedenbal, etc., gave the names of historical meritorious people to their children. Also, if born on New Year’s Day, it was called Shinbayar, Shinjil, Yolk, if born on Women’s Day, March, if born on Labor Day, Mainbayar, if born on November 7, it was called Oktyabr etc. (J. Serjee. “You need to pronounce the persons name in full. Because … ”. Google. Last modified February 14, 2018. https://www.google.com).^[8]

However, in modern times, Mongolians often name their children after the same syllable, or after historical or famous people. For example: Yesuhei, Öelun, Temujin, Burte, Belgudei, Manduhai, Khasar, Chingis, Ogodei, Anu, Anujin, etc. From this, it can be seen that nowadays, parents give their children Sanskrit and Central names less and they tend to give Mongolian names.

In the course of Korean history, Korean surnames and names have changed. For example, early Korean names were common during the Three Kingdoms period (57 BC–668 AD), but over time, they were replaced by names written in Chinese kanji due to the use of Chinese kanji.

During the period of Mongol and Manchu influence, the ruling nobles changed or added Korean names to Mongolian and Manchu names, which also influenced the change of surnames and names of Koreans. For example: King Chunsong of Goryeo was Ijirbuha, Chunsuk’s Mongolian name was Radnashiri, Chunghe’s Mongolian name was Budashiri, Chunmug’s Mongolian name was Badmadorj, Kunmin was called Bayantumor, Manchu-Korean Wang Gi (王祺), and later Wang Jong, 王顓 and so on.

In this regard, the “Rainbow to Grow on the Side” published by the Mongolian Center of Seoul City University… During the Great Yuan Dynasty, when Mongolia was directly involved in the affairs of the Koryo (Brass) state, the kings of Koryo had both Mongolian and Korean names. The 29th generation Chunmug Wang (八思麻朶兒只), the 30th generation Chun Zong Wang (迷思監朶兒只), and the 31st generation Gong Ming Wang (伯顏帖木兒) had Mongolian names. The third great queen of Togoontümer Khan of Yuan Dynasty was Ulziihutag (Ki queen – 奇皇后 (1315–1369)). People who came from Korea in the court of Mongol kings had the surname Solongo (솔롱고 씨-肅良合 氏) (Mongolian Center of Seoul City University 2012. Rainbow growing on the side. 78–80).^[9]

During the reign of King Sejong in 1443, Korea had its own national script, but due to the influence of the ruling class obsessed with Chinese culture and script, the Hangul script did not gain strength, and from the end of the 19th century, the Chinese characters were rejected in government official documents, and there was a movement to use the national script twice, and it was widely used. but the brutal Japanese forces dominated the whole of Korea (1905–1945), forcibly denied its traditional culture and history, and it was suppressed for a while until the surnames and names of Koreans were written and pronounced in the Japanese style (創氏改名). In the first half of the 1940s, the Japanese colonial authorities (1910–1945) carried out a wide-ranging campaign to change the surnames and names of Koreans to Japanese surnames, and by 1944, 88 % of Koreans had Japanese surnames. Thus, Koreans consider this historical period as the saddest and most shameful, when almost 90 % of the population changed their surnames. In 1945, when Korea was freed from the brutal Japanese colonialism, there was a movement to reduce the use of Chinese characters and universal use of Hangul characters.

Some modern Korean names have changed in form and structure. For example, giving a name to a child with a native Korean pronunciation instead of an alphabet, naming a famous person from the religious scriptures one believes in, and in doing so, using the Korean accent to make it easy for foreigners to pronounce and listen to, has been popular for a long time. According to the observation, the name of a person has been constantly changing with time. It includes:

In 1945–2006, when examining the names of newly born Korean children by male and female gender, from 1945, male children were named Yong (永 – eternity), female children were named Ja (子 – son, child), and from 1975, male children were named Son (誠 – truth), Female child Yn (隱 – secret) has been used a lot, while since 2006, male children have been given the meaning of the people, Min-jung, Min-je, Ji-hun, Hyun-woo, Jun-so, and female children So-yeon, Min-so, meaning the people. Names like Soo Bin, So Hyun, and Min Ji have increased (News of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Korea. “Form and structure of modern Korean names” Folkency. Last modified August 22, 2019. http://folkency.nfm.go.kr/kr/topic/detail/365).^[10]

In Korea, since the 1980s, attempts to name children in their native language have become popular among young families. For example, 박차고나온놈이샘 (Pak-chagu-naun-numisem- Pak the animal that kicked out), 조아라우리고은이(Ju-a-ra-uri-gu-Yni- Nice, our pretty) Names, as well as dew, courage, bright, star, star, flower, thumb, ring, man, hanhar, precious, powerful, mirror, sky, cross, lily, grass, are given to female children a lot.

But from the 1990s, when the child started to grow up and enter the social life, the name began to look like a light fantasy, and due to the fact that it was not suitable for records, it was necessary to transfer it to Chinese characters again. Native Korean names are cute at a young age, but it becomes difficult to write a person’s surname and name in the Korean language, which has a lot of use of glyphs in documents. Especially when you go to study or work in the neighboring countries of China and Japan, an image name is indispensable. For this reason, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Korea allowed to change the name of the Hangul characters to Chinese characters, but there was even a decision to limit the name from characters to purely Korean words.

6 Ways to Give Names to Mongolians and Koreans

Mongolians say, “Parents give the name to be called, and the glory to be imitated is found by oneself”, so it is the duty of parents to give a name to their child. However, it depends on the person whether to imitate the name given by parents or not. The people of Mongolia have long passed word of mouth on the importance of cherishing and loving the name given by their parents to the next generation through proverbs and sayings. For example: “If the Lord tries, fate will try”, “To break a name, break a bone”, “A person should raise his name, a peacock”, “A bad name will not be removed even if you wish for a good name, but you will not find it”, “Your name is young, your clothes are new”, “Good A person’s name can be bought and eaten by three”, “A good person’s name is destroyed by a bad person, and a magpie defecates on the top of a beautiful temple”, etc. Therefore, Mongolians love and respect their name very much. For example, the custom of cursing and honoring the elderly, refraining from saying the names of parents and teachers has been passed down to this day. There are idioms in the Korean language, such as the Mongolian sayings such as “To break your name, to break your bones” and “Think of your name”.

Mongolians respected the custom of naming names. Mongolians used to see the good days and planets and give them names to symbolize good fortune and good health. There are many naming traditions. For example: Put a piece of paper with your name in a cup of rice and give it to you after sifting it. It symbolizes that fame will grow like rice. When naming the child, the father whispers it into the right ear of the male child and into the left ear of the female child. This is due to the fact that according to the ancient custom of Mongolians who pray to the highest heaven, the right side is represented by a man and the left side is represented by a woman.

There was also a naming convention. When naming children, astrologers followed the birth year, month, day, planet, and constellation. Names were given in the following areas.

1. It will be given as a gift according to the year of birth. For example: Mouse, rabbit, dragon, tiger, etc.

2. It is named after the planet of birth. For example: Davaa, Myagmar, Sumya, Bud, etc.

3. Name according to the birth month and planet. For example: Gerel, Bayan, Altan-Erdene, Bayar, etc.

4. Name according to birth planet and time. For example: Zul, Bilegt, Ariun, etc.

5. It will be given according to the date of birth and the star. For example: Tsolmon, Khas, etc.

6. The star is named according to the case of the planet. For example: Saran, Hishig, Mongon, etc.

7. Name according to birth month and star. For example: Oyun, Bolor, Ochir, etc. were used to give the physical characteristics of the given year, month, season, star, planet, and day based on the meaning of the given name.

   There is also evidence that astrologers took into account the number of children and the formation of children when choosing a name for a person.

   Giving a person’s name according to the year, month, day, time, planet, and star was not only an ancient tradition, but also had a deep meaning. It includes:

8. He knew the year, month, day, time, planet and star of his birth by hearing a person’s name.

9. It was used to determine the method of treatment of the disease when it occurred. For example: The name Light indicates the year, month, day and time of the mouse, as well as the fact that the mouse was born on Monday. If the name Sarangerel is given, it indicates that he was born at night. It is written in the ancient name sutra, “If Sarangerel is weak or sick, boil water in the moonlight at night” (Aryasuren and Nyambuu 1990, Dictionary of Mongolian customs, 53).^[11]

Since ancient times, there have been many ways of naming Korea, which is steeped in Eastern culture. There are many people who believe that a name can be improved by carefully filtering the confusion of human destiny. This people with Korean and Chinese double script has its own culture, like the Eastern countries, which gives a person’s name based on a person’s birthday, symbols of good and bad, five bodies, and methods.

The doctrine of the five bodies and methods occupies an important place in the cognitive theory of the people of the East. This teaching also has an important position in Korean nomenclature.

In ancient India, China, and Greece, cognitive theory was developed, and the world’s substances are wood, earth, fire, water, and iron, and they exist in opposites and opposites according to their methods. There are two things inside. One is the five astrological bodies from ancient India, including earth, water, fire, gas, and space, and the other is the five black astrological bodies from ancient China, wood, fire, earth, iron, and water. When calculating a person’s name, the year, month, day, time, phonetic pronunciation and recording are classified by these five bodies, and the many rhythms encountered in a person’s life are calculated in advance and analyzed by turning bad into good. It can be seen from these that the importance of symbols is embedded in the culture of human names of both peoples.

In Korea, there are two main ways to name a person: to follow the blood relationship of the lineage and not to follow. In ancient times, consanguinity served men of the upper class, non-consanguinity served slaves and women, and the former is still used by traditional families today. The change in the form and content of the naming ceremony according to blood relationship was influenced by Chinese culture, which is due to the deep development of Eastern wisdom in China, which worships the teachings of the five bodies and methods. Later, the method of naming was divided in terms of form and structure and divided according to the corresponding things such as birthday maze (四柱 – saju), feng shui (風水 – punsu), facial features, and spells, but some methods are no longer used.

However, in modern Korea, when parents cannot provide a person’s name, there are internet services and service centers that provide a number of names according to the horoscope and numerology at the request of the individual. There is a difference of opinion among these fortune tellers who offer a few options for a person’s name, but the demand for finding a good name does not decrease, dozens of books have been published, and today there are more than 800 news blogs and sites alone.

Chinese and Japanese language and culture have strongly penetrated the study of surnames and names of Koreans. However, each of the three countries has developed richly in its own way. For example, the Chinese way of naming a person is based on the five physical defects of the person’s year of birth, and the good and bad signs are thought out. The Korean way of naming a person is to direct all the shortcomings in the case of the birth planet according to the method of fortune-telling called saju, while the Japanese name is given based on numerology, number symbols and magical properties.

Nowadays, every Korean family has a list of names that strictly follow the blood relationship of that clan. This method of assigning a name by adding the curved, horizontal and vertical lines of the image of the name, which can be calculated by adding other numbers such as the base number, is still valid in families that follow the tradition. There are also symbols that cannot be used in a person’s surname (Seoul City Hall News. “A list of names that every Korean family should follow”. Naver. Last modified June 12, 2019. http://blog.naver.com/35).^[12] The method of giving names by counting pictures is still used in Korea, but the opinions of fortune tellers are different and different, so the public’s trust in them has weakened recently, but it has a modern tone. , the way of naming the pronunciation of the Korean Hangul alphabet, which divides the pronunciation into five forms and methods, is spreading. The five phonemes of the Hangul alphabet, which are imitated in the way that the sounds of the human speech organs are made, are g, k – wood of the teeth of the tongue, n, d, t, r – fire of the tip of the tongue, ng, x – earth of the tongue, s, j, h of the teeth, metal, labial m, b, p – water body or divided into five bodies: teeth, tongue, base of tongue, teeth and lips. However, in the interpretation of the phonetic system during the creation of Hangul alphabets (훈민정음 제자해 – hồnmin – jonym – jejahe), the words m, b, and p of the lips are earth, and ng and x of the tongue are watery, which contradicts the phonetic theory of modern Hangul letters.

Since 2019, as part of the promotion of the Korean alphabet, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has announced that it has started implementing a pilot program to give Korean names to foreigners. This program, called “Korean Names for Non-Koreans”, is intended for Koreans living abroad and foreigners who are interested in Korean culture, and a small number of citizens. is covered.

7 Calling Mongolians and Koreans by Name

Mongolians often call older people by name without saying it, or add words such as “brother”, “brother”, “guay”. Mongolians say that if you pronounce a person’s name in half, that person’s fate will also be divided in half. Therefore, the person’s name should be called in full. This is respect, or rather, a denial of a person’s position in society. Among Mongolians, there is a custom of refraining from calling the name of a noble person. The name of the royal family was not mentioned, nor was it given to the children. However, nowadays, although they have refrained from saying it for a long time, they have started giving their children the names of their emperors, and naming products, organizations, and places.

In traditional Korean society, there are strict rules regarding the use and naming of people’s names. In Korea, it is considered rude to call someone by their first name unless they are a close friend. In Korea, an old person’s name is also not called. A person’s name is not just a symbol, but a social rank. Koreans refrain from mentioning the names of kings, high-ranking people, ancestors, and parents, similar to Mongolians.

It is difficult for Mongolians to pronounce and determine the names of Koreans. Mispronouncing a person’s name is disrespectful. This is partly related to the fact that the name of a person living and studying in Mongolia is transliterated in Cyrillic. This means that the person who is transliterating the person’s name writes it in his own way, and in some cases it is written incorrectly.

It is said that the surnames and names of Koreans developed according to the rules of their native Korean language when they were not influenced by Chinese characters and Confucianism, but from the ancient Joseon period (108 BC), when Chinese characters first entered the Korean language, people’s names were written in Chinese characters. This is told in the “History of the Three Kingdoms”, “The Understanding of the Three Kingdoms”, and “The Memoirs of the Kings of Joseon” in the history of Korea. At the time when Chinese calligraphy and Confucianism had not taken root, names were given by native language pronunciation, but since the Koryo period, social differences between the yang ban (noble) and yang ming (commoners) classes intensified, and people’s clans were called by Chinese characters. In one part, he was illiterate, so he couldn’t transliterate a Korean’s name using Chinese characters.

In an old bookstore in Korea, in a family’s genealogy, the name of the ancestor is covered with a piece of silk cloth, which is considered a sign of great respect and fear of even looking at the ancestors, let alone calling them by name. The practice of abstinence can be seen as a trace of Confucianism, which has been strongly dominant in Korea.

Since ancient times, if a Korean person’s name has the same pronunciation, let alone the spelling of the name of the kings, it was considered a severe punishment and strict prohibition was imposed. This tradition, which became strong from the Goryeo period, became more strict during the Joseon period. Not to mention, even among the kings and princes, there was a practice of changing the names of the previous kings to gain respect. The names of kings should not be written in the dictionary of Korean names. This phenomenon of not writing the names of kings in the scriptures is not only in Korea but also in many countries around the world.

Also, names were given based on the child’s dream, place of birth, date of birth, order of siblings, appearance, talent, etc., which is similar to the naming custom of Mongolians. For example, the name Yi Mun-ryong in the legend of the virtuous Chun-hyang has the image of dream. The phenomenon of naming women by their birth month was common in ancient Korea. For example, in the “Records of Mugje” written by Yi San, it is said that those born in three months are called Samwol, and those born in nine months are called Gu-wol.

Similar to the Mongolian tradition of naming a person by the place where he fell and the water he was washed with, there is also a custom in the Korean language. But Mongolians will never call it in a bad sense.

An example of this is Dui-gaan (toilet, bad water hole – 마간) of the slave man in “The Notes of Muje” by Yi San (Mongolian Center of Seoul City University 2014. Korean name (김해경) 1910–1937, famous Korean writer. 78–79),^[13] who used to write satire.

Even in Mongolian literature and screenplays, some heroes have bad names and nicknames. For example: Doldoi, Dolingor, Chig Luuzan, Pink Gajid, Japanese Danzan, sword Togmid, etc.

For example, when naming siblings in order of birth, the eldest child has the words big and big. The third daughter is Sam sun (gutgaar), the fourth is Sa sun (short), the youngest is Magne, Magdun (youngest), Gydni (last) and so on. When naming based on appearance, the phonetic meaning is native Korean, but it was often transferred to the image. Names of characters in a somewhat clumsy novel. In Mongolian, it is equivalent to Jijgee, Boro and Boroo. It is related to the occurrence of names with -goo, -gua (nalshini) in recent times. It was also customary to give names based on talent. For example: Jumon (The Archer) is the main character of the TV drama. The fact that there are many such names is a testimony to the fact that names were given to children during their upbringing, not at birth. It is like giving a name to a child waiting for it to grow up, as in the story of the Indian tribe “Dances with Wolves”. Names given by parents’ sentiments include the name Bunhe (angry). For example, if you want to have a boy, but you have a girl, you may name it out of frustration.

In Korea, when giving names to female children, it was not possible to name them, but there was a time when families with many girls had the same pronunciation for all their names.

This happens a lot in Mongolia as well. Sisters ends with flowers, vintage, rays and light. For example: Altantsetseg, Altanchimeg, Altantuya, etc.

In recent times, Koreans have chosen words that have the same pronunciation as their surnames and transferred them to their names. There are many names that can be pronounced with native Korean words when pronouncing the name separately from the surname. For example: Yo Buram, Kwon Budire, etc. However, it makes no sense when people are called by their first names, such as Yi Ruse, Jeong Da Eun, etc. There is also a form in which a name is created by borrowing the surnames of the father and mother at the same time. Joo Han Hye Jung, Lee Park Hye Kyung, etc. But if the first surname is removed, there is a risk that the following three syllables will be mistaken for a surname and a first name.

Nowadays, there are many religious sects in Korea. Christian families have religiously inspired names such as Ye Chang (예찬 – Praise of Jesus), Ha Eun (하은 – Lord’s Grace), Simon, Pedro, Jean Hanna, etc. Also, due to the increase in emigration abroad, the use of foreign names and names with English pronunciation has increased. This name was given in order to simplify Korean names that are difficult for foreigners to pronounce. Anna-An na, Suzy-Suji, Hanna-Han na, Simon-Shim On are also names transliterated into Chinese characters. When transliterating a Korean’s name into English, the first name is written first, followed by the last name. Surnames are highly respected, so when you meet someone, you must explain your last name first.

From all of the above, the characteristics of Korean names in general are quite clear. Names given to children by families that follow tradition, and names given by recent trends are a cultural phenomenon in Korean society.

8 Conclusions

In this article, when considering the naming tradition and current trends of the Korean people, I tried to compare it with the Mongolian naming culture. Therefore, based on the comparison of Mongolian and Korean names, the following conclusions were made. It includes:

1. The surname and name culture of the people of Korea with the tradition of calligraphy and Confucianism is not structurally similar to that of the Mongolian people, but there are similarities in terms of meaning symbols, customs, and thinking.

2. Number symbols are strongly embedded in Korean naming culture, which is different from Mongolian. In Korea, according to the tradition, surnames have been symbolized using Chinese symbols using the method of the five bodies. But recently, the name has been given by the phonetic pronunciation of the Hangul alphabet, which has become a national pride. Mongolians don’t have a name symbolized by the five physical methods.

3. Due to the influence of globalization, Mongolian and Korean names have changed a lot. Although religion and the wishes of the parents are important, the custom of naming children is more open in modern times, respecting human rights and giving names freely regardless of gender.