Constructing Names from Chinese Characters (漢字)
Constructing a Korean Name for the SCA College of Heralds.
by Choi Min, last updated 2024.04.03
Introduction
A lot about Japanese and Chinese names have been covered by Mistress Sǫlveig Þrándardóttir and Master Ii Katsumori 井伊勝盛. However I recognize that Mistress Solveig's book is not accessible online, and Master Ii is not focused on the heraldic sector. So my goal is to make a concise(?) explanation that is geared towards consulting and commenting heralds, and hopefully it also helps any submitters and non-SCAdians who stumble across it as well. This will be focused on Japanese and Chinese names because that is the bulk of what comes through as far as East Asia goes, but I will try to touch on other languages as I learn more. On paper, I have six semesters of Japanese, and one semester of Chinese Calligraphy/Writing systems from my University degree, but I have done a lot of linguistic reading since Uni, and am trying to learn Korean in my free time. As I am writing this I am also running it by various SCAdians who have more linguistic experience than me; their names are Henric of Drachenwald, and Situ Zeming 司徒澤銘 of Ansteorra. Situ is contributing some writing to this page, and has a B.A. in Linguistics as well as a B.A. in Chinese Language and Culture. Also, somewhat amazingly and conveniently, someone is going through English Wikipedia as I am trying to compile this (late Sept and early Oct 2022) and is providing meticulous detail to the Korean, Japanese, and Ryukyuan language history Wiki's with good-looking citations, so if you need more detail please look into those (and I now have too many new books to get). I will do my best to explain below with a specifically SCA Heraldic lens (both for client-facing heralds and admin-level heralds).
Yours in Service, Choi Min 崔敏
Navigation
Korean Names
[under construction]
To begin, please review the compiled Korean name resources here.
Mini-Glossary
初名, 초명 - First Name
號, 호 - Pen Name
字, 자 - Courtesy Name
名, 명 - Given Name
諡號, 시호 - Posthumous Name
姓, 성 - Family Name/Surname
Clan Names 本貫 본관 Bong-wan
Korean clan names are regular surnames with a locative designator. In this usage, the name is written like [bongwan][surname], and that specifies which clan of that surname the person is from. Where the locatives needed to designate clans historically? Probably. A name scholar I know suggested they might not have been needed historically, so I will research more.
Hanguk-eo 韓國語 and Hanja-eo 漢字語
Hanguk-eo 한국어/韓國語: indigenous Korean readings of characters. This term is more broadly "the Korean Language"
Hanja-eo 한자어/漢字語: the Sino-Korean readings of characters. Literally "Han (Chinese) characters language"
This is important to note that Korean also has two pronunciations for hanja like Japanese does for kanji, however the Korean pronunciations are overall used less than the Sino-Korean. The commonality of having Korean pronunciations or words for names goes up when you go lower in social status, as well as women tend to have a higher chance of being named with "Korean-sounding" names. This is compared to Noblemen almost all having names picked and pronounced using Sino-Korean words/pronunciations.
Some fundamental information on hangul can be found here.
Nobles & Social Status Affecting Names
(Something something about Pen names over courtesy names used more.)
"According to Han, there were eight types of ho (호) that a scholar could choose. The penname could refer to a place of which they were fond, it could be the name of one of their belongings, it could represent a value that they pursued, it could represent a stage in their life, it could refer to an aspect of their appearance, it could echo the name of one of their respected role models, it could represent their occupation, or it could be a phrase from a classical text that they admire."
Kisaeng Names
They were considered owned by the government, so when they became a kisaeng (if they had a surname) they would be stripped of the surname. Kisaeng would also sometimes get Pen Names, or at the least, artist names.
Data Pools for Korean Names
If you are looking for sources to browse - I've compiled some other people's name data here, but I will also insert some tables onto this page for easier browsing (all in one spot).
Names from Goryeo
Documents by Richard Kim
Richard Kim has contributed much research for Korean name pattern study, and you can find him for questions most often in the SCA Korea Facebook group. He has compiled Korean feminine name from the 1456 CE Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, linked to the left, and has compiled Korean Clan names in a spreadsheet, linked below.