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Korean Family Terms: A Complete Guide

Tap a term to see its meaning and an example sentence.

Uncle (father's brother) vs. maternal uncle

In Korean, a father's brother is called samchon, while a mother's brother is called oesamchon β€” the two are never interchangeable, unlike English where 'uncle' covers both.

Aunt (father's sister) vs. aunt (mother's sister)

A father's sister is gomo and a mother's sister is imo β€” again, two separate words depending on which side of the family the aunt is from.

Words for a sister's husband

Korean has different terms depending on both genders involved: a woman's older sister's husband is hyeongbu, while a man calls his older sister's husband maehyeong; a woman's younger sister's husband is jebu. Spouses of a wife's siblings call each other dongseo.

In-laws differ depending on whose parents they are

A husband's parents and a wife's parents each get their own completely separate pair of words β€” Korean never uses one blanket term for 'in-law' the way English does.

Cousin (sachon)

Sachon refers to the children of your father's brother, father's sister, or mother's sister or brother β€” in Western kinship terms, a first cousin.

Second cousin (yukchon)

Yukchon covers the children of your first cousins, or the children of siblings who share the same great-grandparents β€” what English would call a second cousin.

How the 'chon' counting system works

Chon counts how many steps separate you from a relative: parent and child are 1 chon, siblings are 2 chon (counted through the shared parent), and the number climbs from there β€” which is why relatives further out are always described by an even number.

A wife's siblings

A wife's brother is called cheonam, and a wife's younger sister is cheoje β€” separate terms that exist alongside the words for a husband's siblings.

Why Korean family terms trip people up

Korean draws a hard line between the father's side and mother's side of the family, and marriage creates a whole new set of names for people who did not have a 'relative' word before. Because English tends to use one word (uncle, aunt, cousin, in-law) for relationships Korean splits into several, these terms feel like a maze at first.

The logic behind the chon numbering system

Once you know that chon simply counts steps of separation, the system stops feeling arbitrary: parent-child is always 1, siblings are always 2, and a cousin is always 4, no matter which side of the family they come from. Learning this one rule makes it much easier to guess an unfamiliar relative's chon number instead of memorizing every case individually.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the exact difference between a cousin and a second cousin?

A cousin (sachon) is the child of your uncle or aunt β€” 4 chon away from you. A second cousin (yukchon) is either your cousin's child or the child of a sibling who shares your great-grandparents β€” 6 chon away.

Why is the chon number always even for relatives outside your direct line?

Because the count runs through a shared ancestor: you go up to the shared parent or grandparent and back down to the relative, and that round trip always adds up to an even number.