[jkovick]

I was wondering if someone could give me some insight. If a child's name is Min Young, I understand that Min is his family name and Young is his given or first name (by American standards) is that correct?

[Max'smom]

It depends on what system of translation was used to come up with these two names. Typically in Korea children have 3 names that come in the following order: family name/generational name/personal name. Example: Choi Sung Ho might be a name for a boy in Korea. However when this boy is adopted by a US family, his US immigration papers will probably change his name to read Sung Ho Choi. This can create confusion later on, eg if his personal name was Ho and his generational name Sung, in Korea he would be called Sung Ho but following US practice you use the "first" name as his personal name, so he would be called "Ho" here. To circumvent the incompatibilities between these two very different naming systems, US adoption agencies often recommend combining the generational and personal names, so in this case the boy would be called "SungHo."

[jkovick]

We are considering a waiting child who is listed as the name Min Young, so I was trying to figure out if his first name would be Young or Min. Or how we would incorporate his Korean name with an American first name.

I do apologize for my lack of understanding--but I really do want to learn.

[Max'smom]

I bet what you are calling the first name would be Min, and Young is the surname or family name. If you adopt him the agency will give you his full name and you might make a decision then regarding which parts of his Korean name to add.

[adoptkoreablog]

A lot depends on the translation. Traditionally, the first name in the list is the family name. It goes family name, generation name, given name. However, every once in awhile someone will "Westerize" it and confuse us all. The best way to find out is to ask. My son only had two names too (his birth mother chose only two). For him the first grouping was the surname and the second was his personal name. In that case, as you write it, Min would be his family name.

Remember, the translation you are getting is just a phonetic version of his Hangul name.

http://korea.adoptionblogs.com/weblogs/the-korean-name

Mo

[hlaclair]

I think I know what waiting child you are looking at! I will PM you about him. If it's the one I think, his "first" name is Min Young. His family name is not posted on the web listing.

Holly