Young-ja, also spelled Yeong-ja, is a Korean feminine given name. According to South Korean government data, it was the most popular name for baby girls born in 1940.[1] Its meaning depends on the hanja used to write it.
| Young-ja | |
| Hangul | 영자 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 英子 |
| Revised Romanization | Yeong-ja |
| McCune–Reischauer | Yŏng-ja |
Hanja and meaning edit
There are 34 hanja with the reading "young" on the South Korean government's list of hanja which may be used in given names.[2][3] The syllable "ja" is generally written using a hanja literally meaning "child" (子; 아들 자; adeul ja). In Japan, where this character is read ko, it was originally used as suffix for the names of girls in the aristocracy. The practice of adding -ko to girls' names spread to the lower classes following the 1868 Meiji Restoration.[4] Names containing this character, such as Soon-ja and Jeong-ja, became popular when Korea was under Japanese rule from 1910 to 1945, but declined in popularity afterwards.[5] By 1950 there were no names ending in "ja" in the top ten.[6] Some ways of writing the name Young-ja in hanja include:
- 英子, first hanja meaning "flower petals" (꽃부리 영; kkotburi yeong). The same characters are also used to write the Japanese feminine given names Eiko and Hideko, among others.[7]
- 榮子, first hanja meaning "flourishing" (영화 영; yeonghwa yeong). The same characters are also used to write the Japanese feminine given names Eiko and Saeko, among others.[7]
People edit
People with this name include:
- Young-ja Lee (born 1936), South Korean music educator and composer
- Jung Hye-sun (born Jung Young-ja, 1942), South Korean actress
- Kim Young-ja (born 1949), South Korean volleyball player
- Young-ja Cho (born 1951), South Korean sculptor
- Lee Young-ja (handballer) (born 1964), South Korean team handball player and Olympic medalist
- Yang Young-ja (born 1964), South Korean table tennis player
- Lee Young-ja (comedian) (born 1968), South Korean comedian
- Park Yeong-ja (born 1975), South Korean rower
- Chang Yeong-ja, South Korean financier, one of the principals in the 1982 Lee–Chang scandal
Fictional characters with this name include:
- Yeong-ja, the titular character of the 1975 South Korean film Yeong-ja's Heydays[8]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ 한국인이 가장 줗아하는 이름은 무엇일까? [What are the names that South Koreans like the most?]. babyname.co.kr. Retrieved 2012-11-09.
- ^ "인명용 한자표" [Table of hanja for use in personal names] (PDF). South Korea: Supreme Court. p. 30. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
- ^ 유니코드 한자사전 (PDF) (in Korean). National Library of the Republic of Korea. August 2007. Archived from the original on 29 August 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
- ^ O'Neill, P.G. (2014). Collected Writings of P.G. O'Neill. Routledge. p. 318.
- ^ 가장 흔한 이름은? 男 영수→민준ㆍ女 영자→서연 [Most common names? Boys: Yeong-su → Min-jun; Girls: Yeong-ja → Seo-yeon]. Korea Economic Daily. 20 March 2007. Retrieved 2012-12-04.
- ^ 한국인이 가장 줗아하는 이름은 무엇일까? [What are the names that South Koreans like the most?]. babyname.co.kr. Retrieved 2012-11-09.
- ^ a b Breen, Jim. "Japanese Names (ENAMDICT)". Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
- ^ 신생아 인기 이름 '민준·서연'…드라마 영향? [Popular names for newborns: Min-jun and Seo-yeon ... the effect of TV dramas?]. Seoul Broadcasting System. 9 May 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
지난 1975년에 개봉한 영화 <영자의 전성시대>입니다. 주인공 이름인 '영자'는 당시 가장 흔한 이름 가운데 하나였죠. 실제로, 1940년대 태어난 여자들에게는 '영자' 그리고 남자들에게는 '영수'라는 이름이 가장 많았습니다. 그러나 시대가 바뀌면서 좋아하는 이름도 달라졌죠.
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