Miss Kim's given name?

[ivy]

Just curious. Is there a preferred English spelling? I see Yuna, YuNa, Yu-na and Yu Na. I think I see Yuna most often, though I would pronounce that to rhyme with luna, which is not how she pronounces it.

 

[Mrs. P]

Just curious. Is there a preferred English spelling? I see Yuna, YuNa, Yu-na and Yu Na. I think I see Yuna most often, though I would pronounce that to rhyme with luna, which is not how she pronounces it.

There's also Yeon-a.

ISU simply has Yuna Kim, no dashes or spaces.

Phil Hersh had a story about this a few years ago: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/olympics_blog/2009/03/no-matter-how-y.html

 

[Robeye]

She signs her name as "Yuna" (if you've ever seen her autographs), so I use that orthography in deference to the apparent wishes of the principal.

In Korea, her name is pronounced as: Yun (like "fun") + Ah (as in "ah, I see").

A lot of people outside of Korea, particularly here in the US, seem to pronounce it as: Yoon (like "rune") + Ah

I thought I read somewhere a long time ago that Yuna doesn't mind too much the American way of pronouncing it...but I can't swear by this.

 

[bebevia]

"Yuna" was a documentation error at first. She initially meant to spell as the name pronounced, but the passport screwed it up (...). Since it was easier to spell and speak, she kept it that way. I guess we can say "Yuna" is her stage name

 

[gourry]

"Yuna" was a documentation error at first. She initially meant to spell as the name pronounced, but the passport screwed it up (...). Since it was easier to spell and speak, she kept it that way. I guess we can say "Yuna" is her stage name

Yes, this is also what I heard. Yuna meant Yun A, if you look closely, Yuna signs her name as YunA.(Sounds just like Robeye explained above. By the way Robeye, excellent explanation!)
But somehow the space disappeared when the officer processed the passport, so it came out as Yuna.
Yuna said it's okay to be called Yuna in English, so that's the way we should go I think.

 

[Olympia]

I tend to write it YuNa, just to give it a distinctive look, but I too have heard (both online and from a Korean acquaintance) that the "n" sound goes with the first syllable, not the second one, and that the first vowel sound is closer to "Yeo." I'm sure we English-speakers are close enough not to be distorting it too much! Not like the dancer who was discussing Mao Asada after the 2010 Olympics and kept calling her "May-oh." I wanted to find a way to e-mail her and correct her!

(In any case, if I ever am lucky enough to meet YuNa--and if I were able to speak at all!--I'd probably call her "Miss Kim." Though I'm older than she, I'm a bit shy about immediately proceeding to a first name, especially with a non-Western person.)

 

[Mathman]

^ I did! She was an artist in residence at the University of Michigan at the time.

 

[Ven]

I think in Korea it's pronounced differently but in the west its now pronounced "You" "na". As others said, the officials who did her passport made a mistake in translation.

If you go back and watch the last Olympics and other events around that time, you will hear the PA announcer say Ya-na Kim or Yun-a Kim, I think there were many different translations. From the 2010-2011 season onward, Yuna herself (or ATS) had her official ISU page updated as "Yuna Kim" so I believe that's what she prefers in English.

 

[Srin Odessa]

It's probably best if Yu-na (윤아) is spelled Yoona in English. It how most Korean celebrities with that name have it spelled in English.

 

[Ven]

It's probably best if Yu-na (윤아) is spelled Yoona in English. It how most Korean celebrities with that name have it spelled in English.

I'm so used to "Yuna" now I couldn't handle the change.

Edit: total speculation on my part, but I think the preference for Yuna is because English speakers tend to emphasize "na". I think she would rather it be pronounced all in one, Yuna, and not Yu-na since it's really Yun-a (but this is not as natural for English speakers). She also signs her name YunA.

 

[Mrs. P]

It's probably best if Yu-na (윤아) is spelled Yoona in English. It how most Korean celebrities with that name have it spelled in English.

But wikipedia and other folks write it (연아), which obviously isn't the same.

 

[w_darling]

Yes, Mrs. P, 연아 and 윤아 are not the same. I am no linguist but I can try to explain in my own informal way? The consonant "ㄴ" at the bottom of each first syllable is what gives the sort of "n" sound. As it specifically precedes the consonant "ㅇ" in the second syllable of each name (아 by itself would be pronounced "ah" as stated earlier), there is some blurring in the sound. The real issue is that it seems many non-Koreans have trouble romanizing the vowel "ㅕ," which is usually romanized as "yeo" and has more of the "uh" sound like in "fun," to use an earlier example. (Actually, the word "fun" made me think of those Funyun snacks and if you just leave off the "fun" part, that's more like how you would pronounce that first letter of Yuna's name!) Meanwhile the vowel "ㅠ" used in popular Korean popstar Yoona/윤아's name makes the overall sound more like the word "you."

 

[Mathman]

Actually, the word "fun" made me think of those Funyun snacks and if you just leave off the "fun" part, that's more like how you would pronounce that first letter of Yuna's name!

This gets my vote!

 

[bebevia]

...think of those Funyun snacks and if you just leave off the "fun" part, that's more like how you would pronounce that first letter of Yuna's name!...

Amazing

 

[Nadia01]

It's probably best if Yu-na (윤아) is spelled Yoona in English. It how most Korean celebrities with that name have it spelled in English.

Who said her name is 윤아? It's 연아. So your attempt at turning her name into "Yoona" is actually incorrect.