Celebrity

Real names of celebrities that are less known by the populic: Park Seo Joon only uses to do charity, Ma Dong Seok got his name from childhood memories

Stage names sometimes became popularized to the point it may become artists’ real names. 

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For various reasons, artists chose a stage name different from their real ones. (Image: Biggo/Girlstalk) 

Song Ji Hyo

Song Ji Hyo, the ace of “Running Man” has changed her name many times, inside and outside of the entertainment industry. When she was born, she was named Cheon Seong Im but her real birth name ended up being Cheon Soo Yeon. 

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Song Ji Hyo was a name inspired by her idols. (Image: Ize) 

The actress only called herself Song Ji Hyo when she turned to modeling. Her stage name stemmed from her admiration for Song Seung Heon and Song Hye Kyo.

Bi Rain

Bi Rain gained popularity from the famous series “Full House” and became a household name in Korea. The audience frequently knows of the actor as Bi Rain and little knows his real name is Jung Ji Hoon. 

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Bi means “rain” in Korean. (Image: Afangirlsheart) 

The stage name was invented because the sky rained whenever he went to record for a song. Because of its recurrence, his old manager decided to call him Bi, which means “rain” in Korean. 

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Bi Rain was popular thanks to “Full House”. (Image: Imdb) 

Kim Woo Bin

Kim Woo Bin’s real name is Kim Hyun Joong. When the actor switched career from modelling to acting, Hyun Jung took up the name Kim Woo Bin out of worries of being mistaken with senior singer Kim Hyun Joong, who played Yoon Ji Hoo in “Boys Over Flowers”. 

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Woo Bin changed name for fear of being mistaken. (Image: Bisnis) 

Park Seo Joon

Not many viewers know Park Seo Joon’s real name is  “Park Yong Kyu. To avoid the attention of the press, the actor only uses his real name in charity work. 

Park Seo Joon
Park Seo Joon usually donates to charity under his real name. (Image: Awesomeent) 

Gong Yoo

“Goblin” Gong Yoo has a real name, Gong Ji Cheol. His stage name is the combination of his mother’s and father’s last name (“Yoo” and “Gong” respectively). 

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“Gong Yoo” is the combination of his parents’ last names. (Image: Sina) 

Son Ye Jin

Son Ye Jin’s registered name is Son Eon Jin. The actress started using the name “Son Ye Jin” when she started her acting career. Her stage name is not too different from her real name. 

Son Ye Jin
Son Ye Jin’s real name is not too different from her stage name. (Image: Rakuten) 

Hyun Bin 

The stage name “Hyun Bin”, on the contrary, has nothing in similarity to the actor’s real name. In his birth certificate, Hyun Bin’s real name is Kim Tae Pyeong. The media once reported his reason for changing his name being it was hard to pronounce. 

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Hyun Bin had his current stage name because he thought his real name was hard to pronounce. (Image: Gukjenews) 

Shin Min Ah

Shin Min Ah only changed her last name when she took up this stage name. The actress’s real name is Jang Min Ah. When she was working as a model, she took up “Yang Min Ah”. Min Ah was well-known at that time because her name reminded people of the “Burger Girl” Yang Mi Ra. 

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Shin Min Ah’s real name is Jang Min Ah. (Image: Janghaven) 

Kang Ha Neul 

Kang Ha Neul’s real name is Kim Ha Neul. However, as he feared of being mistaken for a famous actress, he decided to tweak his name a bit. “Ha Neul” also means heaven, therefore, the actor kept this part of his name to preserve its meaning. 

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Kang Ha Neul changed his name so it would not be identical to someone else’s. (Image: Techpinas) 

Ma Dong Seok 

Ma Dong Seok has an interesting backstory to his current stage and how his real name “Lee Dong Seok” was “twisted”. 

Ma Dong Seok
“Ma Dong Seok” is a name inspired by childhood memories. (Image: Insight) 

When he was in primary school, Ma Dong Seok got in a fight with a friend at school. Friends decided to call him “Ang-ma Dong Seok” (Demon Dongseok). His manager also thought “Ma Dong Seok” would be unique and suitable for work in the industry. He even said that his father sometimes forgot his real name. Instead his father would call him by his stage name. 

Source: K14

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