The origin and meaning of the names of K-Pop girl groups

<< The origin and meaning of the names of K-Pop groups and idols

This is an extension of the article explaining the origin and meaning of the names of ten of the most popular K-Pop groups, which you can read about here. The same format will be used in this guide, which will explain the meaning of more names, focusing on girl groups. This is a work in progress, and more artists will be added over time. The artists here reflect the ones included in the introductory guide to K-Pop girl groups, but with sub-units listed together with their group. All artists are listed in alphabetical order.

2NE1

The name 2NE1 combines NE, an acronym for “New Evolution”, with the number 21, which stands for “21st century”, and together means “New Evolution of the 21st Century”. The name is pronounced either as “twenty-one” or “to anyone”.

Members:

  • Bom – real name: Park Bom.
  • Dara – from her real name: Park Sandara.
  • CL – from the first letters of the syllables of her name: Chaerin (Chae-rin). In Korean r and l are both represented by the letter ㄹ.
  • Minzy – from her real name: Gong Minji.

aespa

See aespa

ARTMS

The name ARTMS comes from Artemis, the personification of the Moon in Greek mythology, and is also pronounced as “Artemis”. This is a reference to the members’ history as a part of Loona, as the Moon is a symbol closely associated with this group.

Members:

  • HeeJin – real name: Jeon Heejin.
  • HaSeul – real name: Cho Haseul.
  • Kim Lip – Kim comes from her real name: Kim Jungeun. Lip comes from the Hanja character 立 (lip), which means “to establish”. This is a reference to how Kim Lip was the first revealed member of Odd Eye Circle, the second sub-unit of Loona.
  • JinSoul – from her real name: Jeong Jinsol.
  • Choerry – from a shortening of her real name: Choi Yerim.

Babymonster

The name is combination of “baby”, indicating their young age and immense potential, and “monster”, a reference to their exceptional skills and fierce image.

Members:

  • Ruka – real name: Kawai Ruka.
  • Pharita – real name: Pharita Boonpakdeethaveeyod.
  • Asa – real name: Enami Asa.
  • Ahyeon – real name: Jung Ahyeon.
  • Rami – from her real name: Shin Haram.
  • Rora – from aurora, a name given to her to symbolize her potential to shine brightly.
  • Chiquita – from the Spanish word chiquita, which means “little girl”, as a reference to her young age.

Blackpink

See Blackpink

Everglow

Everglow means “always glowing”, reflecting the group’s will, energy, and potential.

Members:

  • E:U – stands for “Especially for U”, symbolizing her dedication to fans.
  • Sihyeon – real name: Kim Sihyeon.
  • Onda – in Korean 온다 (onda) means “to come”, while “onda” also means “wave” in Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. These two meanings come together to represent the idea of coming to fans like a wave.
  • Aisha – from Asia, indicating her will to conquer all of Asia with her talent.

Former members:

  • Mia – name of Scandinavian origin meaning “beloved”, also linked with the Hanja character 美 (mi), meaning “beauty”, and the Korean word 미아 (mia), meaning “missing child”.
  • Yiren – real name: Wang Yiren.

Girls’ Generation (소녀시대)

The Korean name of the group, 소녀시대 (sonyeo sidae) means “generation of girls”, and was rendered in English as Girls’ Generation. This name symbolizes their wish to bring a new era for K-Pop girl groups. It is also a reference to 1989 song “Girls’ Generation” by Lee Seung-chul. The group is also sometimes referred to as SNSD, which comes from the first letter of each syllable of their Korean name.

Members:

  • Taeyeon – real name: Kim Taeyeon.
  • Sunny – from her real name: Lee Soonkyu (soon -> sun). Also, it symbolizes her bright and cheerful personality.
  • Tiffany – she adopted this stage name because it’s the name her mother initially wanted to give her, before changing it to Stephanie.
  • Hyoyeon – real name: Kim Hyoyeon.
  • Yuri – real name: Kwon Yuri.
  • Sooyoung – real name: Choi Sooyoung.
  • Yoona – real name: Lim Yoona.
  • Seohyun – from her real name: Seo Joohyun.

Former members:

  • Jessica – real name: Jessica Jung.

i-dle (formerly (G)I-dle)

Both their current and former name are based on the word “idle”, a word chosen by leader Soyeon when she was working on her single “Idle Song”, before the group’s debut. The “I” was isolated to symbolize “individuality”, while “dle” sounds like the Korean plural marker 들 (deul), and the “G” stands for “girls”. Together, the name represents a group of girls who come together while keeping their individuality. In Korean, their original name was (여자)아이들, with 여자 (yeoja) meaning “girl”, and 아이들 (aideul) meaning “children”, while also being a translitteration of the English word “idle”. In 2025, they dropped the (G) from their name and removed (여자) from the Korean version, to symbolize their willingness to break gender constraints.

Members:

  • Miyeon – real name: Cho Miyeon.
  • Minnie – a nickname that was given to her as a child.
  • Soyeon – real name: Jeon Soyeon.
  • Yuqi – real name: Song Yuqi.
  • Shuhua – real name: Yeh Shuhua.

Former members:

  • Soojin – real name: Seo Soojin.

Illit

The name comes from a contraction of “I will” and “it” (I’ll it -> Illit), with the idea that any verb can be put in between, like “I will be it” and “I will do it”. This symbolizes the members’ ability to choose their own path.

Members:

  • Yunah – real name: Noh Yunah.
  • Minju – real name: Park Minju.
  • Moka – real name: Sakai Moka.
  • Wonhee – real name: Lee Wonhee.
  • Iroha – real name: Hokazono Iroha.

Itzy

See Itzy

Ive

Ive is a shortening of “I have”, representing the idea of being a complete group that has everything.

Members:

  • Gaeul – real name: Kim Gaeul.
  • Yujin – real name: An Yujin.
  • Rei – real name: Naoi Rei.
  • Wonyoung – real name: Jang Wonyoung.
  • Liz – inspired by the main character of the novel Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet. The name was chosen to reflect her will to be elegant like the character from the novel.
  • Leeseo – from her real name: Lee Hyunseo.

Le Sserafim

Anagram of “I’m fearless”, symbolizing the group’s confidence. The name is also a reference to seraphim, an heavenly being with six wings, which represent the six initial members of the group.

Members:

  • Sakura – real name: Miyawaki Sakura.
  • Chaewon – real name: Kim Chaewon.
  • Yunjin – real name: Huh Yunjin.
  • Kazuha – real name: Nakamura Kazuha.
  • Eunchae – real name: Hong Eunchae.

Former members:

  • Garam – real name: Kim Garam.

Loona (이달의 소녀)

이달의 소녀 (idalui sonyeo) means “This Month’s Girl”. This name is a reference to how the group has 12 members, who were introduced one by one roughly every month during their pre-debut project. The name Loona can be derived from 이달의 소녀. Take the first letter of every syllable: ㅇㄷㅇㅅㄴ. Now reorder the letters as: ㄴㅇㅇㄷㅅ. Turn ㄷ into Π, and ㅅ into Δ, and the result is LOOΠΔ, which can be read as Loona. In addition to this, the word 달 (dal) in 이달의 소녀 means both “month” and “Moon”, while Loona is pronouned the same as “Luna”, which means “Moon” in languages such as Latin, Italian, and Spanish. For this reason, the Moon is a symbol closely associated with Loona.

Sub-units:

  • Loona 1/3 – a reference to how the sub-unit includes four members, or one third of the members of Loona.
  • Odd Eye Circle – Odd Eye is a reference to Loona’s lore, in which all three members have an “odd eye”, a different-colored eye that represents their powers. This comes from “odd-eyed” a term used to describe a person who has heterochromia of the eyes, or eyes of different colors. Circle comes from the fact that all three members have a circle as a representative shape. Also, when written in capital letters, “ODD” can be seen as three overlapping circles or moons.
  • Loona yyxy – yyxy is pronounced as “why why by why” and stands for “youth youth by young”, which symbolizes their youthful energy and, in Loona’s lore, their rebellion against life in “Eden”. The name is also inspired by DNA and the chromosomes XX and XY, with the idea of reflecting a new and unusual life form. Also, when going in debut order, the letters can represent the members Yves, Chuu, Go Won, and Olivia Hye. Go Won is associated with the letter x through her representative animal, a butterfly, which can be stylized as an “x”.

Members:

  • HeeJin – real name: Jeon Heejin.
  • HyunJin – real name: Kim Hyunjin.
  • HaSeul – real name: Cho Haseul.
  • YeoJin – real name: Im Yeojin.
  • ViVi – from the name she used while modeling before her debut: Viian Wong. She is from Hong Kong, and in Chinese languages reduplicating a syllable is a common way to form an affectionate or cute nickname.
  • Kim Lip – Kim comes from her real name: Kim Jungeun. Lip comes from the Hanja character 立 (lip), which means “to establish”. This is a reference to how Kim Lip was the first revealed member of Odd Eye Circle, the second sub-unit of Loona.
  • JinSoul – from her real name: Jeong Jinsol.
  • Choerry – from a shortening of her real name: Choi Yerim.
  • Yves – the name is pronounced as “Eve”, as in “Adam and Eve”, but is written with a different spelling. This is part of a series of biblical references surrounding the sub-unit Loona yyxy, of which Yves is the first revealed member. In Loona’s lore, Yves bites an apple to start yyxy’s escape from “Eden”, similarly to how in the Bible Eve eats the forbidden fruit (often depicted as an apple), leading to Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
  • Chuu – shortening of Jiwoo, from her real name: Kim Jiwoo.
  • Go Won – Won comes from her real name: Park Chaewon. The origin of Go is unclear, it could be part of a pun on the Korean word 고원 (gowon), meaning “highland, plateau”, as a reference to the surface of the Moon.
  • Hyeju – real name: Son Hyeju.
    • former stage name: Olivia Hye – Hye comes from her real name: Son Hyeju. Olivia is a reference to actress Olivia Hussey, possibly due to their resemblance.

Loossemble

From Loona and “assemble”, a reference to the members’ history as a part of Loona, who assembled to create a new identity on their own terms.

Members:

  • HyunJin – real name: Kim Hyunjin.
  • YeoJin – real name: Im Yeojin.
  • ViVi – from the name she used while modeling before her debut: Viian Wong. She is from Hong Kong, and in Chinese languages reduplicating a syllable is a common way to form an affectionate or cute nickname.
  • Go Won – Won comes from her real name: Park Chaewon. The origin of Go is unclear, it could be part of a pun on the Korean word 고원 (gowon), meaning “highland, plateau”, as a reference to the surface of the Moon.
  • Hyeju – real name: Son Hyeju.

Mamamoo

The name represents a baby trying to speak for the first time. This symbolizes the group’s aim to make music that’s familiar for everyone and also easily approachable, enough to be understood instinctively.

Members:

  • Solar – inspired by the last syllable in her name: Kim Yongsun. Solar means “related to the Sun”, and also sounds similar to the musical notes “sol-la”. This is more evident in her Korean name 솔라 (solla), a combination of 솔 (sol) and 라 (la).
  • Moonbyul – from her real name: Moon Byulyi. Also, 별 (byeol, here written as byul) means “star” in Korean, so the name also can also be interpreted as moon-star.
  • Wheein – real name: Jung Wheein.
  • Hwasa – in Korean 화사 (hwasa) is the root of the adjective 화사하다 (hwasahada), which means “to be splendid”.

Momoland

The name is a combination of “Momo” and “land”. Momo comes from 1973 German novel Momo, in which the main character, named Momo, gives hope and dreams to many people. “Land” comes from the idea of being like an amusement park where fans can go to have fun, as many theme parks use this word in their name. Overall, the name represents the idea to give fans both hope and fun.

Members:

  • Hyebin – real name: Lee Hyebin.
  • Jane – no official explanation, probably just a simple English name she chose to adopt.
  • Nayun – real name: Kim Nayun.
  • JooE – from her real name: Lee Joowon. In Korean, the surname 이 (i) is commonly transliterated as Lee, but sounds like “e” in English (Joowon Lee -> Joowon E -> JooE).
  • Ahin – real name: Lee Ahin.
  • Nancy – real name: Nancy Jewel McDonie.

Former members:

  • Yeonwoo – no official explanation, Yeonwoo is a common Korean name with a meaning like “beautiful rain”, but it’s not her real name, which is Lee Dabin. The stage name might have been adopted simply because she liked it.
  • Taeha – legal name: Kim Taeha. She was born as Kim Minji, but legally changed her name for unknown reasons before her debut.
  • Daisy – no official explanation, probably chosen as a bright and friendly-sounding English name.

NewJeans

The name NewJeans comes from the idea that jeans are a timeless fashion item, representing their aim of becoming timeless as well. Also, it sounds like “new genes”, which refers to the idea of the group starting a new era for K-Pop. In the midst of a contract dispute with their company, NewJeans briefly changed their name to NJZ, from an abbreviation of their original name. However, they stopped using this name following an injunction.

Members:

  • Minji – real name: Kim Minji.
  • Hanni – real name: Hanni Pham.
  • Haerin – real name: Kang Haerin.
  • Hyein – real name: Lee Hyein.

Former members:

  • Danielle – real name: Danielle Marsh.

Nmixx

The letter N stands for “new”, “now”, and “next”, as well as an unknown variable. Mixx comes form “mix”, which symbolizes combination and diversity. Together the name means “the best combination for a new era”.

Members:

  • Lily – real name: Lily Jin Morrow.
  • Haewon – real name: Oh Haewon.
  • Sullyoon – from her real name: Seol Yoona.
  • Bae – from her real name: Bae Jinsol.
  • Jiwoo – real name: Kim Jiwoo.
  • Kyujin – real name: Jang Kyujin.

Former members:

  • Jinni – from the last syllable of her real name: Choi Yunjin.

Red Velvet

See Red Velvet

Twice

See Twice