I am expecting a baby next Spring, so still very early days, but I’m looking for ideas that will work well for both mine and my partner’s culture.
I was born and raised in Arkansas, my family is pretty southern and baby names in my family include: Blaykelee, Blayne, Whembley, Wrenley, Barrett, Blu, Trace, Pierce, Judah, Jubilee, Annsley, and Beau
There is a little bit of variety there, but all pretty standard southern baby names.
My partner is Korean, and his family doesn’t have any babies so it is hard to get an idea of what Korean mothers are naming their babies these days. My partner is practical, and he says he’s happy to choose a name that blends with my family since that is who we will be close to, but I’m a sentimental person and I feel so connected to my own heritage. I want my baby to have a name that feels a little Korean, just in case he or she wants to connect with that part of their culture when they are older.
Family names would be tricky - this is the first mixed race baby in my family, and his, so I don’t want to favor one over the other by using family names.
I’m sure other Nameberry commenters may have more helpful input if they are Korean or grew up in Korean culture. So, my input is limited to my experience - my husband is half Korean (on his mother’s side). We decided to give my daughter two middle names, including one Korean one (Junglyn), to honor her heritage. Have you spoken with your husband or your in-laws about any naming traditions or recommends? One naming tradition is to use the same prefix for the generation of the family, and then to add a specific suffix that makes that person’s name unique (i.e. Jung + Lyn). If his family follows that, you could find out what the generational prefix is and decide whether to use it. Is your husband’s name Korean, and does he speak Korean? All of these may be important in deciding how much or little to lean on Korean cultural naming practices in choosing your child’s name. [name_f]My[/name_f] husband does not speak the language, but if he did that may have influenced our decision. I would say to choose names that resonate for both you and your husband, whether they’re connected to the Korean language and culture or not.
I think it would really be worth talking to your husband about Korean baby naming practices or traditions - or just any Korean names he likes!
You could find a Korean name that feels or sounds easily translatable to [name_f]English[/name_f]? You could pick one for a middle name? You could do two middle names that are both honours? So a first name you both love, then one honor based on your side, one on his?
I am not Korean so I can’t speak to what’s currently popular among Korean families these days or what may be considered super outdated/ a “grandparent name”. However, I do like the idea of trying to connect both of your cultures in your child’s name. I think it will be nice for them to have both sides of their family represented.
I think the idea of using either one culture’s name as the first name and the other’s as the middle name works well. [name_m]Or[/name_m] something where you have a full name from one culture but a nickname from the other? I think of something like [name_f]Sunny[/name_f] “Sun”, [name_m]Jayden[/name_m] or [name_f]Jaelyn[/name_f] “Jae”, Joo-Won “Junie”, Ji-Min “Jimmy”, or Eun-Jung “EJ”. [name_m]Or[/name_m] a name that feels multicultural in itself, like [name_f]Hana[/name_f]. [name_m]Or[/name_m] even having two versions of their first name that sound very similar and could be used in [name_f]English[/name_f] or Korean? Like [name_f]June[/name_f] and [name_m]Jun[/name_m].
I probably could have explained a little better. My partner and I have favorite Korean names, and do plan to use that in the middle name place.
Cho-rong for a little girl, Jun-ho for a little boy. What I need are some first name ideas that are familiar and comfortable around my family, but could easily be worn in Korea as well.
So names that sound nice with our middle names, are more “Arkansas” friendly, but could still be their first name if they ever decided to spend more time around native Korean speakers.
For example Won struggles with the letter ‘r’, often replacing it with an ‘l’ sound. So with Cho-rong he pronounces it like Cho-'l’ong.
The ‘th’ sound is also a bit of a struggle, he will either replace it with an ‘s’ or a ‘d’ sound.
I think these names would be pronounceable in Korean but my apologies for any that aren’t! They’re also a mix of names that are specifically common in the [name_f]South[/name_f] and names that are just generally familiar in the US.
Are there any “southern” names on your list as well?
I’d never seen Chorong as a name before, sounds very special!
Honestly, most mixed kiddos I’ve seen around recently have classic-ish [name_f]English[/name_f] names, some as their given names in Korean as well, and some that double with a given Korean name. Notably, I’ve been seeing many Davids (who fight folks into pronouncing it da- and not day-). The other boys were [name_m]Daniel[/name_m], [name_m]Sean[/name_m], [name_m]Vincent[/name_m] and [name_m]Logan[/name_m] that I know.
Some more ideas:
[name_m]Wylie[/name_m] Junho
[name_m]Nico[/name_m] Junho
[name_m]Banjo[/name_m] Junho
[name_m]Bellamy[/name_m] Junho
[name_m]Dawson[/name_m] Junho
[name_m]Shepherd[/name_m] Junho
[name_m]Samuel[/name_m] Junho
[name_m]Joel[/name_m] Junho
[name_m]Benson[/name_m] Junho
