By Jae-Ha Kim
Kocowa.com
August 16, 2020
Celebrities using stage names is nothing new. Some names are obvious. For instance, did anyone think the Weeknd was born with that moniker? (The musician was born as Abel Makkonen Tesfaye.) The world may remember her as Marilyn Monroe, but the iconic actress was born Norma Jeane Mortenson. And Natalie Portman was born Neta-Lee (a nod to her grandmother’s surname) Hershlag.
Some of your favorite K-Drama and variety show stars utilize different names than they were born with as well. Their reasons range from wanting to give their family a little privacy to simply not liking the sound of their birth name to … just because.
Born Gong Ji-Chul, the star of “Train to Busan,” “Coffee Prince” and “Big” kept his last name and changed up his first name to the simpler (and easier to remember?) Yoo. Most Korean given names share two syllables, so his name is unique and memorable.
To be perfectly honest, I had always assumed Park Seo-Joon was his birth name. The actor — who’s known for his work in “Fight for My Way,” “Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth,” “She Was Pretty,” “Kill Me, Heal Me,” “What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?” — was actually born as Park Yong-Gyu. It suits him, don’t you think?
It’s no secret that Song Ji-Hyo is not the “Running Man” star’s real name. Her fellow castmates often tease her about it and the actress happily owns up to it. Born Cheon Seong-Im, she has said that she chose her name after seeing Song Seung-Heon and Song Hye-Hyo in “Autumn in My Heart.” As Shakespeare said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” And that definitely holds true for Song Ji-Hyo.
Would you love Hyun Bin as much if you only knew him as Kim Tae-Pyung? Me, raising my hand and saying an emphatic, “Yes!” Again, I’m so used to first names having two syllables that Tae-Pyung makes more sense to me than Bin. But whatever his name is, we’ll take him!
The “Secret Garden” actress shares a passion for art and photography with her friend, BTS‘ V (whose real name, of course, is Kim Tae-Hyung). Born Jeon Hae-Rim, she supposedly took her stage name as a favor for an early manager, who told her his first unrequited love was named … you guessed it! … Ha Ji-Won.
One of South Korea’s most famous idols and actors, Rain — or 비 (which literally means rain) — is recognized worldwide by his stage name. Born Jung Ji-Hoon, he’s often addressed by his birth name by elders, such as “Running Man” star Jee Seok-Jin (who himself is known by nicknames such as Big Nose or 왕 코 — or king of noses). Not that making life easier for Westerners was necessarily the goal, but Rain was easy for fans such as Stephen Colbert — who’re unaccustomed to Korean names — to remember and pronounce.
There are all sorts of theories as to why ASTRO member Lee Dong-Min goes by his stage name of Cha Eun-Woo. The most popular one is that he played a character named Cha Eun-Woo in the 2015 web drama “To Be Continued” and fans thought that was his real name. Do I think fans are that clueless? No. But it’s a cute theory. Regardless of what his name is, the “Gangnam Beauty” actor is having great success as an idol, actor and variety show star (“Master in the House,” “Handsome Tigers,” Episode 378 of “Law of the Jungle”).
