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David A. Go Professor Lynn Raymond English 1102 800555319 Writing Prompt #2 The naming of Korean culture has a complicate system in it. Each name usually has 3 syllables in it. A surname, or first syllable in Korean name, indicate what family they are in. There are cases that Korean shares same surname but have different family origin. To avoid complication, they present their surname with what part of Korea their family origin is from. Centuries ago, the Korean law of prohibition of marriage of the same surname and the same family origin was reasonable. This law encouraged young men to find their brides from outside the village in order to avoid the danger of consanguineous marriage. Same syllable of first name between family members is called generation character. If family members shares same syllable of first name, they are in same generation. For example, my brother and I share same first syllable of first name "Byung". Generation character has decided by ancestors and it is based on the five elements system. Naming order of the five elements system is first metal, water, tree, fire, earth () and circulate back to metal again. For example my father's generation character is "Young, " and it has Chinese character of water, , in it. The next generation, which is I, have generation character "Byung, " and it

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contains lower generation character tree, , in it. Interesting thing is that even if someone is younger than you but has first name containing upper generation character, he/she is elder member of an earlier generation and you have to be courteous to him/her.