Minguk

Minguk is a masculine given name used in Korea. It is written in Hangul as 민국. The name is commonly formed from Sino-Korean morphemes meaning bright or clear (明) and nation, country (國). The standard romanization under the Revised Romanization system is Minkuk, though Minguk is a widely encountered spelling in public use. Because Korean given names can be created from various hanja, Minguk can carry different meanings depending on the characters chosen.

As a two-syllable given name, Minguk is typically given to boys and is used across generations. It is often part of longer compound names formed with different second syllables, with the chosen hanja shaping its intended attributes such as brightness, leadership, or national pride. The particular hanja used can thus produce a range of nuanced meanings.

In popular culture, Minguk is known as the given name of one of the triplet sons of South Korean actor Song Il-gook on the reality program The Return of Superman. The show follows the daily lives of celebrity families, and Minguk appears alongside his brothers Daehan and Manse, contributing to the name’s recognition beyond traditional contexts.

See also notes: Minguk reflects broader patterns in Korean naming, where two-syllable given names often combine a favorable meaning with a family or personal aspiration. Spelling variations like Minkuk and Minguk arise from different transliteration practices, but the underlying Hangul remains 민국.