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As I said in another thread we have a referral! Now comes the name.I hope what I write makes sense! :o Our referral's name was told to us as Surname Namename. Does that make sense? Let's say with western substitutes "Smith Sueann". My question is in regards to her "first name" (which I guess is kind of like first and middle), which we plan to use as her new middle name (we plan to choose a western name for her first name).In all our documents it's written as one long name. In other places (for other people, like articles by Korean authors) I've seen their "two names" broken up with a hyphen. And then sometimes the second name is capitalized.In other words..NamenameName-nameName-NameorSueannSue-annSue-AnnWhat is most common? I do think the hyphen helps with pronounciation for westerners, since the names and sometimes constanant combinations are unfamiliar to westerners. But I want it to be "correct." And if the translation with no hyphen is supposed to be that way, then I don't want to add one, kwim? Maybe a hyphen doesn't even matter, since translations are usually approximations anyway...? IDK!I hope I made a little sense, and I hope someone can help me. TIA.
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I think I understand what your saying. Both my husband and my middle names are Korean. His is Mike Name Name then last name. Mine is Kelly Name-Name then last name. So, it's optional how you want to do this except I wouldn't do Namename b/c it looks really long and hard to pronounce... even though since it's a middle name, it hardly gets used. In the end, it's what you like the best.
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I think they are all 'the same', its just short hand . For ex. . Remember Kim Eu Na? Her surname is Kim (a lot are ...its like the #1 name in Korea) and her Name is Eu Na ... It means something like Beautiful Flower or something (dont quote me but I looked it up once and she had a pretty name).In Korea (according to the research I've done w/ my middle child - he's 6 now) ...Most families name their children 2 names ... they are often similar and kind of show a meaning. For example if you google popular Korean names - its popular names such as pretty lilly or kind honest.Maybe one thing to consider is it really IS about the translation. Her name in Korean which means it is actually written in characters - korean characters. Probably NOT any dashes.. Its the translation. It seems to me "american perception wise" is that the hyphen is for uneducated americans to 'help pronounce". By uneducated I mean not educated in Korean cultural names, pronounciation, etc.I named my second son - Andrew Jae ... Middle name Jae was something good like honestly.I am on the Korean Adoptee forums and found out that some agencies were randomly generating childrens names! I think that's what happened to me. I 've searched for the meaning of my name and it doesn't show up. I hate the name! I'm very dissappointed and thankful my parents did not keep my name. Though I hate the Name my parents picked! And I hate my husband's last name. I think I really got robbed on the naming. Oh well... There's other things in life that are much more important.
When I write Korean names, I always break up and capitalize all three parts. But it's just a transliteration, anyway, so do what you think looks good!
I think some names can be confusing if written as one word. Like, say "Hyeongyeong." It could be Hyeon Gyeong (현경) or it could be Hyeong Yeong (형영). If it's not clear I would definitely break it up.
Regarding hyphens, I dug up an old e-mail from a friend:
Many of you are asking why I write my name without the hyphen now.
About a year ago my wallet was stolen (yes, the wallet that had my LIFE in it) and I had to replace the ID's and cards. When I went to the Department of Motor Vehicles to replace my drivers license, the seemingly disgruntled clerk told me that California DMV didn't put hyphens in names anymore. Why not, you say? Nobody knows and it doesn't really matter because they don't care how YOU write your own name. They ignore that completely.
Many computers don't accept punctuation in names, actually. My social security card is the only one that shows my name with the hyphen now. My green card, credit cards, insurance cards, etc. don't have hyphens. But "Jihyoung [last name]" and "Ji Hyoung [last name]" both have been legally recognized as "Ji-Hyoung [last name]" for years, along with about 20 different renditions of my name on my credit report. H & R Block doesn't put the hyphen, either, and I've been getting my tax returns from IRS just fine so this hyphen seems to be a minor detail to everyone else but me. So the truth is I ended up throwing my hands up in the air and said "whatever!"
I will be applying for US citizenship in the next year, without the hyphen, and I will legally be "Jihyoung [last name]." America is not ready for the hyphen in my name. For you all, "Ji-Hyoung [last name]" will always be correct, and you may write my name with or without the hyphen.
So that's the story. Thanks for asking. :)
Interesting posts! Thanks for sharing all of this. I've often seen the name separated by spaces but not hyphens. "Name Name" if that makes sense. I think I've also seen NameName so that you see the extra capitalization as a separation. I'm just starting to learn how to read Korean so I'm unclear how much separation they put between their words. I know each syllable is a block and what the blocks are made up of but that's about it so far. ;) Good luck!
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