How many of you has had issues trying to figure out who's who among idols?  Apart from the fact that it's already tough to remember K-pop idol names in general, the matter is made even more complicated by those who bear the same name.  There are quite a few Jonghyuns, Minhyuks, Seunghyuns, and a few other names in Korea, and now it is highly likely that all those names belong to someone who is fairly popular.  While it is ideal to adopt a stage and unique name, many artists debut using their real names contributing further to the namesake confusion.

In the case of CNBLUE's Lee Jong Hyun and SHINee's Jonghyun, these two happen to be good friends also, being that they are part of the 90-line, and are members of the 'honorary' group Kyu-line.  Their friendship is even more highlighted as they rib each other of being namesakes.  And due to their technically equal level of popularity and unique genres, both of them are fine using their actual names and still be identified correctly.  They would only use their identifiers such as CNBLUE or SHINee in the case that they are appearing together, or as many have witnessed, when they are teasing each other.   But not all namesakes get as lucky as Jonghyun and Jonghyun who happen to find each other in the vast sea of K-pop and be friends with each other.

Take the case of CNBLUE Kang Min Hyuk (interruption: is it just me or is CNBLUE quite notorious for having namesakes, well at least we know Yong Hwa and Jung Shin don't have many namesakes). Back to topic, take the case of CNBLUE Minhyuk who share a name with BTOB Minhyuk.  Recently, even the editing room floor in TV programs are quite baffled.   During the show, "Idol Athletic Championship," BTOB Minhyuk was mistakenly identified as CNBLUE Minhyuk. Sighs. The interesting thing about them is that they have somewhat similar debut dates - BTOB Minhyuk debuted around the same time as CNBLUE Minhyuk debuted as an actor. So, these two almost always are in the news around the same time as well, likely confounding the issue even more. 

At least some idols made it a bit easier for us.  Take the case of Super Junior Kibum and SHINee's Kibum (Key).   Instead of using a stage name, Key simply did a mono-syllable for his celebrity name, and that works out well.  This way Super Junior Kibum and SHINee Key are noted as completely separate people.  This was smart and possible to do because they belong to the same company, SM Entertainment.

Now, what happens when idols have the same position in a group (i.e. vocalist, rapper, etc) and have the same age as another idol of a similar name?  JYJ Junsu and 2PM Jun. K (Kim Jun Su) initially shared the same name, while being the lead vocals of each of their groups. While Jun. K is already using a stage name, circumstances allowed him to really have a different name than JYJ Junsu.  In October 2012, Jun. K announced he is now Kim Min Jun, due to family matters (hmmm?  this is beginning to sound like those birth secret kind of dramas). 

The easiest of all is when they just take stage names, instead of using their real names.  This is the case for f(x) Luna and T-ARA Hyomin who are both named Park Seon Young in real life. 

While names definitely help us identify each other and identify our favorite idols, it becomes fairly important for idols to really differentiate themselves not only from their namesakes but also in general.  This is often done by having a certain style or attitude that allows people to remember the personality, rather than the face or the name.