By Michael Breen Notes on Korean Names and Spelling Korean names are difficult for readers of English at the best of times, and are downright confusing when they appear as frequently as they do in this text.
Korean names start with a one syllable or, in rare cases, a two syllable family name.
The two syllables which follow are the given name, for example, someone named Kim Kyung ja would be called Miss Kim in formal circumstances and Kyung ja by her friends. Of these two .syllables, one is a generational name shared by siblings and cousins. So, Kyung ja's cousin might be called Kyung mee. Sometimes given names only have one syllable. In the west, many Koreans invert their names.