People and Family Words in Korean
It's always useful to know the correct words for addressing people when you're speaking Korean. That's where this page comes in. It gives the Korean to English translations for several kinds of people and family words.
First up you will find some general people words, then you can learn how to say mother, father, grandmother, and grandfather in Korean. After this is a section with words referring to brothers and sisters in Korean and then sections for school and hospital personnel. There's also a section for addressing senior and junior people at school, work, or clubs.
Scroll down to learn these translations and more or use the quick links to jump to whatever specific section you'd like to learn first.
Korean People and Family Words:
Words in bold added during the last update. You can also view this list of family words from English to Korean.
Quick Links:
General People Words in Korean
Saying Mother and Father in Korean
Words for Grandmother and Grandfather in Korean
Korean Sibling Terms
Addressing Korean Seniors and Juniors at Work / School
Translations of Korean School Personnel
Korean Translations of Hospital Personnel
General People Words in Korean
To start out with, here are a few general people words in Korean.
Saram ➔ Person
Chin-gu ➔ Friend
Yeoreobun ➔ Everyone (used to address a crowd, kind of like, 'ladies and gentleman')
Ya! Ching-gun ➔ Hey! Friend
Saying Mother and Father in Korean
And now you can learn some Korean words for parents. If formality is important to you, we've included that too.
Bumo ➔ Parents
Eomma ➔ Mom (Less formal)
Eomeoni ➔ Mother (More formal)
Appa ➔ Dad (Less formal)
Abeoji ➔ Father (More formal)
Words for Grandmother and Grandfather in Korean
If you will be talking about grandparents in Korean, then you'll likely be needing these translations.
Jobumo ➔ Grandparents
Halmeoni ➔ Grandmother / Old lady
Harabeoji ➔ Grandfather / Old man
Korean Sibling Terms
Though these are listed as sibling terms, they might be used on non-siblings too.
Noona ➔ Big sister (used by young men to address an older female that they are close to)
Unnie ➔ Big sister (used by young women to address an older female)
Hyung ➔ Big brother (used by young men to address an older male)
Oppa ➔ Big brother (used by young women to address an older male)
Dongsaeng ➔ Little brother / Little sister (used by both genders to address a younger brother or sister)
Namdongsaeng ➔ Little brother (used by both genders to address a younger brother)
Yeodongsaeng ➔ Little sister (used by both genders to address a younger sister)
Addressing Korean Seniors and Juniors at Work / School
Sunbae and Hoobae are used to address people who started work, school, or club activities earlier or later. Age isn't a factor.
Sunbae ➔ Senior / Predecessor
Hoobae ➔ Junior / Underclassman
Translations of Korean School Personnel
Here's a variety of people that you might find in a Korean school setting.
Gyojang seonsaengnim ➔ Principal
Gyogam seonsaengnim ➔ Vice principal
Bujang seonsaengnim ➔ Head teacher
Seonsaengnim ➔ Teacher
Hagsaeng ➔ Student
Korean Translations of Hospital Personnel
And here are a few types of people that you might run into if you visit a Korean hospital.
Uisa ➔ Doctor
Ganhosa ➔ Nurse
Hwanja ➔ Patient
This list of Korean people and family words was last updated on March 31, 2025.
Next Up
Korean Food and Drink Words: Learn how to say food and drink words in Korean.
Perhaps you want to learn family and people words in these other languages?
Greek, Indonesian, Korean, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.
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