13 K-Pop Fandom Names & Their Meanings

One of the greatest joy of being a K-Pop fan is that we get to be part of small or huge communities, which are our fandoms. In K-Pop each group has their own fanbase, with a unique name that links them to the group. As K-Pop fans, you can be part of one or more fandom, and share memorable moments with your artists and other fans. Fandom names can be chosen by the artists themselves, but often, it comes from fans themselves. Indeed, when a group is looking for a fandom name, it isn’t rare to come upon a survey where fans can suggest ideas, and eventually the artists will choose their favorite suggestion among those to name their fans.

As a K-Pop fan, you might have came across various fandom and groups name, and probably among those, a few got you curious about their meaning. Many times, fandom names are acronyms and such, which can make it difficult for non-fans to know what it stands for, or sometimes it seems so unrelated to the group it is hard to understand its meaning. No matter if you’re confused, curious or simply longing to learn more, here are 13 K-Pop fandom names and their meanings!

 

That is a very unique fandom name, and a word you’ve probably never seen before, but its meaning isn’t so complicated. In Korean, the word MIDZY is written 믿지, and it means to trust. It can have several written form, but to make it match the ITZY’s name, it was set to write it MIDZY. This name is a cool way to say that fans of MIDZY trust the members with their whole heart.

 

This one is already easier as once and twice already have some connection, but we can still wonder why once was chosen over thrice or other value. It is quite simple, according to the member, the fandom name is ONCE because you only have to love the group once, and they’ll repay you twice that love! That is a very cute statement and way to link a group with its fandom.

 

The connection between ONEUS and TO MOON might not seem so obvious, but you’ll see it all make sense. ONEUS can also be translated “One Earth” based on the Korean pronunciation of the group’s name. So ONEUS represents the earth, which is why their fans are named after the moon. ONEUS’ fans are like in orbit around the group, supporting them and creating some connection, just like the moon and the earth do.

 

GOT7 have two variation for its fandom name. The original one is iGOT7, which had for meaning that the fans have the 7 members of the group. But pronounced in Korean, it sounds like 아가새 (aghase) which means baby birds. This second version inspired a lot of goods designs related to the group such as their lightstick. So GOT7 fans have the seven members of the group, and they’re also the group’s baby bird.

 

This fandom name is quite tricky as it is read a different way than it is written. Indeed, SONE is supposed to be read as ‘so one / so won’, which means ‘wish’ in Korean. The meaning behind it is that group is here to fulfill all the fans’ wishes. And as it contains the word ‘one’ as well, it was meant to represent how the group and the fandom will stay one forever.

 

The story behind this fandom name is quite long, but it’s worth knowing. While BTS is now world-wide known, when they began, this abbreviation of their name wasn’t so common, as the original name of the group was BangTan Sonyeondan, in Korean. This means Bulletproof boys, and now it starts to make sense why the fandom was called A.R.M.Y, yet there is a trick. As you noticed, it is not written ARMY but A.R.M.Y, at least when the fandom name was first chosen. A.R.M.Y stands for Adorable Representative MC Of Youth, but as the group got popular and the word ARMY itself corresponded more to the group, it became the most popular version of the fandom name.

 

BLINK can have multiple meaning, but the true meaning behind this fandom name was the combination of ‘black’ and ‘pink’ which compose the group’s name. But seeing how lovely and talented the members are, maybe BLINK also stands for the way we fall for them in the ‘blink;’ of an eye!

 

This is one of the rare fandom name to have passed through an evolution along the years. At first, the group’s name was SHINee World, which stands for fans being SHINee’s world, and is also the title of the group’s first studio album. But SHINee World felt quite long for a fandom name, so fans found their own alternative. They contracted the two words, and the new fandom name SHAWOL was born. It is composed by the first syllable of SHINee and World, so the meaning remains the same, the name simply got shorter.

 

While this fandom name is quite direct, there are a few details that makes it even more lovely. Of course, UNIVERSE stands for the fans being the universe of the group. But did you know that in a song dedicated to fans in PENTAGON’s first mini album, there is a sentence saying ‘You are my universe’? And on top of that, if you take a look at PENTAGON’s color and various designs, there are the color of a night sky, and stars of constellations on some goods of the group. UNIVERSE are really PENTAGON’s whole world.

 

When first seeing SEVENTEEN’s fandom name, you probably wondered what is the link between the group and the fandom. CARAT obviously refers to the precious value of some gems, in this case diamonds. CARATs are SEVENTEEN’s precious diamond, but that is not all. CARATs are part of SEVENTEEN more than you know. Indeed, while the group is named like this, the do not have 17 members, only 13, plus 3 sub-unit, and one fandom, it is that whole that composes SEVENTEEN.

 

Once again, here is a name that can be easily confusing, and yet shows perfectly how much the members love their fans. In the fandom name of MONSTA X ‘MON’ is the French translation of ‘my’, and ‘BEBE’ is the French for ‘baby’. So MONSTA X fans are actually the group’s babies. And just like parents consider their baby the most precious thing in their life, MONSTA X feel the same towards MONBEBE.

 

This fandom name is less tricky than others, but it is possible that you did not get its meaning right away. The ‘LUV’ in REVELUV stands for the words love, which represent the love fans have for the group and vice-versa. But ‘REVE’ can be a bit harder to find, yet, it is very simple. REVE simply stands for the first syllables of ‘RED’ and ‘VELVET’, which is the group’s name.

 

Fans are the closest people to idols, apart from family and friends. And that’s what WINNER thought about when naming their fans. As they are the closest people and those who give them the most support and love, they are the group’s Inner Circle.

 

There are much more fandoms than you can imagine, and all of their meanings are interesting, so don’t hesitate to look for more in the Part 2 of this article!