During the Goryeo dynasty period, a lot of people decided to change their names. Analysis of the governmental officials, whose lives are recorded in the Yeoljeon(biography) section of『Goryeosa』 or in the epitaphs found inside the tombs that were made in that period, shows that roughly 20% of them actually went through name-changes. In this article, the reason why so many Goryeo people chose to change their names is examined. In the Goryeo dynasty, changing one's name was not an easy task. In order to change one's name, one had to go through a certain officialized process, and the contents of one's census registration and the property ownership document had to be changed accordingly as well. So only a portion of the population, more like members of the leading class, is believed to have been able to change their names. The practice of name-changing can be examined throughout the entire Goryeo dynasty period. Also interestingly, many of the Goryeo people decided to change their names in the ending days of their lives or even right before their deaths. It was actually a very unique practice displayed by the Goryeo people, considering the fact that the classical text『Yaegi/禮記(Ceremonial Protocols)』 clearly dictated that “True gentleman(君子) would not change his name after the demise of his parents.” There were various reasons for changing one's name, and two categories regarding them can be suggested. First, there were cases in which one received a special name from the King(賜名), or one's name turned out to be sharing a particular letter with a royal entity's name and therefore that person had to change that letter(避諱) in order to avoid breaching the sacredness of that entity. In such cases, that person would not have had any other choice but to change one's original name. And secondly, there were also cases in which one would have decided to change one's name voluntarily and intentionally. In cases of the former kind, we can see that the King usually bestowed names to persons who were very close to himself, or to politically prominent entities or to even persons who became naturalized and newly obtained the Goryeo nationality. And we can also see that the names they received normally revealed the nature of the political relationship between the King and the receiver, or usually included specific letters harboring the meaning of loyalty to the country. On the other hand, cases of the latter kind reveal names naturally containing certain letters to reveal one's own personal aspiration for political success, or one's strong wishes to stay clear of bad luck, and all kinds of other individual sentiments like frustration, determination and hopes involving personal issues. And one could also have decided to change one's name for not single but multiple reasons. Yet it should be noted that the name-changing practice in Goryeo was never a mere private practice representing an expression of a personal and individual agenda. A name usually displays the owner's present status in political and social terms, namely the person's very identity. Individuals of Goryeo lived their lives not merely as private entities but also as members of prominent Houses, part of the nobility class, and also governmental officials and politicians. So the nature of intra-personal relationships they owned had to be reflected upon the new names they chose to use. In many cases, the Goryeo people wished to change their names to new ones which would appropriately represent their status as officials or scholars, and those new names had to be designed with letters which would effectively reveal their inclinations and intentions. They tried to compose names which would suggest the nature of the political and social world surrounding them, and names that would well signal their own wishes, aspirations and moral biases. And by letting the world recognize their new names, they were ultimately trying to urge themselves to be truthful and honest to their aspirations and determinations. In a time of dictatorship, one would change one's name to express one's own argument of calling for a more politically fair era, or in other cases one would change name to express one's opinion of a better Confucian life, or even one's opinion of a path that the Goryeo dynasty should take in the future. This trend of changing names for a particular reason grew even stronger in the later periods of the Goryeo dynasty, when the Goryeo people's Confucian reasoning grew very stronger, and deeper understanding of Neo-Confucianism was being obtained.

During the Goryeo dynasty period, a lot of people decided to change their names. Analysis of the governmental officials, whose lives are recorded in the Yeoljeon(biography) section of『Goryeosa』 or in the epitaphs found inside the tombs that were made in that period, shows that roughly 20% of them actually went through name-changes. In this article, the reason why so many Goryeo people chose to change their names is examined. In the Goryeo dynasty, changing one's name was not an easy task. In order to change one's name, one had to go through a certain officialized process, and the contents of one's census registration and the property ownership document had to be changed accordingly as well. So only a portion of the population, more like members of the leading class, is believed to have been able to change their names. The practice of name-changing can be examined throughout the entire Goryeo dynasty period. Also interestingly, many of the Goryeo people decided to change their names in the ending days of their lives or even right before their deaths. It was actually a very unique practice displayed by the Goryeo people, considering the fact that the classical text『Yaegi/禮記(Ceremonial Protocols)』 clearly dictated that “True gentleman(君子) would not change his name after the demise of his parents.” There were various reasons for changing one's name, and two categories regarding them can be suggested. First, there were cases in which one received a special name from the King(賜名), or one's name turned out to be sharing a particular letter with a royal entity's name and therefore that person had to change that letter(避諱) in order to avoid breaching the sacredness of that entity. In such cases, that person would not have had any other choice but to change one's original name. And secondly, there were also cases in which one would have decided to change one's name voluntarily and intentionally. In cases of the former kind, we can see that the King usually bestowed names to persons who were very close to himself, or to politically prominent entities or to even persons who became naturalized and newly obtained the Goryeo nationality. And we can also see that the names they received normally revealed the nature of the political relationship between the King and the receiver, or usually included specific letters harboring the meaning of loyalty to the country. On the other hand, cases of the latter kind reveal names naturally containing certain letters to reveal one's own personal aspiration for political success, or one's strong wishes to stay clear of bad luck, and all kinds of other individual sentiments like frustration, determination and hopes involving personal issues. And one could also have decided to change one's name for not single but multiple reasons. Yet it should be noted that the name-changing practice in Goryeo was never a mere private practice representing an expression of a personal and individual agenda. A name usually displays the owner's present status in political and social terms, namely the person's very identity. Individuals of Goryeo lived their lives not merely as private entities but also as members of prominent Houses, part of the nobility class, and also governmental officials and politicians. So the nature of intra-personal relationships they owned had to be reflected upon the new names they chose to use. In many cases, the Goryeo people wished to change their names to new ones which would appropriately represent their status as officials or scholars, and those new names had to be designed with letters which would effectively reveal their inclinations and intentions. They tried to compose names which would suggest the nature of the political and social world surrounding them, and names that would well signal their own wishes, aspirations and moral biases. And by letting the world recognize their new names, they were ultimately trying to urge themselves to be truthful and honest to their aspirations and determinations. In a time of dictatorship, one would change one's name to express one's own argument of calling for a more politically fair era, or in other cases one would change name to express one's opinion of a better Confucian life, or even one's opinion of a path that the Goryeo dynasty should take in the future. This trend of changing names for a particular reason grew even stronger in the later periods of the Goryeo dynasty, when the Goryeo people's Confucian reasoning grew very stronger, and deeper understanding of Neo-Confucianism was being obtained.

name-changing(改名), procedure of changing one's name, bestowal of a name(賜名), reason for name-changing, governmental official