Here you will find answers to your questions about K-Pop fandoms!

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What are K-Pop fandoms, what does it mean to be in a fandom, and how does the fandom name come about? Have you ever asked yourself any of these questions? Then you've come to the right place! Today we're answering some questions for you about "K-Pop Fandom" that we ourselves used to look for answers to. Have fun reading!

• What is a K-Pop fandom?
• What is the difference between fandom and fan club?
• What does it mean to be part of a fandom?
• What can fandoms accomplish together?
• Prejudices against fandoms
• Stop liking an artist because of a fandom?
• K-Pop Fandom Names
• When are fandom names announced?
• Who creates the fandom name?
• Fandom names and their meaning
• Since when do fandom names exist in K-pop?
• These K-Pop groups had to change their fandom name!

What is a K-Pop fandom?

This question is easy to answer because fandoms exist all over the world and not just in the music industry. A fandom is a group of people who collectively are a fan of something. This can be a series, an actor, a soccer club or even a K-Pop group.

Of course, every K-Pop artist and group has its own fandom. This usually also has an official name. More about that in a moment!

What is the difference between fandom and fan club?

Most K-Pop artists have not only their fandom, but also an official fan club. To be a part of the fandom, you don't have to do anything special. For example, if you are a fan of the boy group BTS, you are automatically a member of the fandom called "A.R.M.Y.". So you can call yourself ARMY.

As simple as it is, however, there is actually a lot of disagreement on the subject. Some fans think that if you just like listening to the music, you don't belong to the fandom. To be accepted by them, you have to be interested in the particular K-pop artist outside of the music, and in the case of BTS, for example, you have to know all the names of the members and other general facts about the boy group. But we are talking about very general information here, and it doesn't take much for the other members of the fandom to welcome you.

Unfortunately, there are still some very crass fans who look down on those who don't support the K-Pop artist enough in their opinion. Those who don't buy albums or permanently stream the new music videos to drive up the number of views are not "true fans". But don't let that affect you, K-Pop artists appreciate everyone who likes their music and cheers them on!

Unlike fandoms, you usually can only join K-Pop fan clubs by paying a fee.

You buy membership for a year and in return you get various benefits. For example, you get to buy tickets for concerts or fan meetings earlier than everyone else and have access to exclusive fan merchandise. Some K-pop bands offer these memberships on a regular basis and others only every few years.

Fan clubs and fandoms are very close though. They have the same name and while official fan club memberships are not always offered on a regular basis, fans are always a part of the fandom.

Of course, you can also belong to many different fandoms. We ourselves cheer for many different K-Pop artists and don't feel like we belong to just one fandom!

What does it mean to be part of a fandom?

Being an international fan is mainly a good way to introduce yourself to other K-Pop fans and get in touch with them. In general, fandoms and fan clubs now have a lot more global members than they used to. Of course, this is because K-Pop has become better known and the content is more accessible.

As a member of a fandom, you are part of a community. You will find many friends and contacts, thanks to which you will probably never miss an important event. If you want to take it easy, you can also enjoy your passion all by yourself. In what way do you enjoy your fan life? Do you regularly watch music videos and other content like variety shows or dance practice videos? Do you collect albums? Do you get together with other fans?

What can fandoms accomplish together?

It starts with the fact that Korean fans in particular often get together to throw birthday parties. For example, when one of their idos has a birthday, they rent entire restaurants to gather in.

They also rent all sorts of billboards so that the birthday boy or girl can be seen in train stations, bus stops, on buses, and other billboards all over Seoul.

But it doesn't stop there! For example, there are a whole lot of "Celebrity Forests" in South Korea. Forests that fans plant in honor of their stars to do something good in their names. A few years ago, EXO fans accumulated about $10,000 to plant such a forest for EXO's Chen! Such projects often involve international fans who contribute to the success with their donations.

At the end of 2022, Loona fans successfully boycotted the girl group's latest album. They demand that Loona's agency treat the singers better and allow them to cancel their contract. To make their point clear, they decided not to buy the new album "The Origin".

In the first week, only 93 copies were pre-ordered from the major K-pop online store "Ktwon4u". For comparison, the previous album "Flip That!" was pre-ordered more than 5,000 times in the same time. Many other stores didn't even sell the album. Loona's fans, who are called "Orbit" by the way, contacted all known K-Pop stores to inform them about the situation and ask them to join the boycott. The call was followed by countless stores all over the world! Finally, the release of the album was even postponed indefinitely.

The fan club of the boy band TVXQ even made it into the Guinness Book of Records in 2008. At that time, it had more than 800,000 members and was considered the largest official fan club ever!

Which accomplishment of K-Pop fandoms have you already witnessed? Tell us about it!

Prejudices against fandoms

Often there are prejudices against certain fandoms or habits that are widespread in fandom. This can be quite funny at times!

For example, it is often said that Shawols (SHINee fans) especially love the fan color of SHINee - pearl-aqua. Whether it's planners, jewelry or pencil cases; if it's pearl-aqua, they want it.

Unfortunately, there are also negative prejudices. For example, A.R.M.Y.'s (BTS fans) are often described as annoying and disrespectful. Even if it is only a small percentage of the fandom that behaves badly, such prejudices often apply to all members.

And, of course, many think that the fandoms of K-pop stars consist mainly of teenage girls. Of course, this is not true, after all, all over the globe there are both female and male, and not only young, but also adult fans. The passion unites them all!

Stop liking an artist because of a fandom?

Unfortunately, that's possible; we've had that experience too. If you really like an idol and watch his videos or follow news on social media, sooner or later you will get in touch with the respective fandom. Also, if you watch Idol B's videos, you might stumble upon comments from Idol A.

But what if you are totally annoyed by the members? Of course, the fans are not the same as the artist, but in our minds they are connected at some point. Whenever you think of Idol A, you simultaneously think of Idol A's fans and the interactions you may have had with them. This can eventually lead to you not wanting to engage with Idol A as much as you used to in order to avoid the fans.

With an artist you don't know or barely know, a few negative experiences with fans may be enough to decide you don't want to get to know the artist better in the first place.

If you really love Idol A and his music, however, you will definitely return at some point!

Fandoms, as you can see, play a bigger role than some might think. They represent their star!

K-Pop Fandom Names

Fandom names also exist all over the world. You may know that fans of Taylor Swift are called "Swifties" or fans of Lady Gaga proudly refer to themselves as "Little Monsters".

In fact, it is often, though not always, the case with these international stars that fans name themselves. For example, Ed Sheeran fans at some point started calling themselves Sheerios. In a tweet, the singer later explained that he likes and accepts the name.

What about K-pop fandom names? Fandom names are a staple in the K-pop industry and there is hardly any K-pop artist who doesn't have an official name for his fans!

When are fandom names announced?

Some announce the fandom name just a few days or weeks after the debut, while for others it can even take years. But even if it takes a long time, fans wait for their name because they are sure it will come one day.

Here are a few examples:

Hybe girl group Le sserafim announced their official fandom name "FEARNOT" on August 8, 2022, a little more than three months after their May 2 debut. The now globally famous boy group BTS presented their fandom name "A.R.M.Y." just a little less than a month after their debut. JYP Entertainment's NMIXX even announced the fandom name "NSWER" just a week after their debut.

But it can happen even faster: SM Entertainment's girl group aespa presented their fandom name "MY" on their debut day (November 17, 2020)! The same goes for the boy group TNX, which debuted on May 17, 2022, and at the same time named their fans "THX".

Another boy group called ATBO topped even that, naming their fans "BOAT" as early as July 12, 15 days before their debut on July 27!

However, as mentioned earlier, there are also groups where it took years.

An example of this is SM Entertainmentgirl group (fx). Although f(x) debuted back in September 2009, the official fandom name "MeU" wasn't announced until January 2016. So it took almost six and a half years!

In March 2015, heated discussions broke out when SM Entertainment announced that girl group Red Velvet, who had debuted seven months earlier, would announce their fandom name in April. This is because f(x) was also produced by SM Entertainment. Fans were upset that Red Velvet got a fandom name after only seven months and f(x) still didn't have one even after five years.

So as you can see, even within an agency, there is no system for when official fandom names are announced. However, we feel that fandom names are generally announced earlier these days than they were a few years ago.

Who creates the fandom name?

The fandom name, like the name of the K-Pop band itself, is usually created by the entertainment to which the artist or group belongs. But this is not always the case!

ATEEZ , in fact, let fans send in suggestions for the fandom name.

The boy group chose "Atiny." The name is composed of "ATEEZ" and the English word "Destiny". It represents that ATEEZ and their fans were destined to meet. Other suggestions from fans included AZEET, TREASURE or ZEETA.

In the case of TVXQ, a member of the boy group himself came up with the name.

Maknae Changmin gave the fans the name "Cassiopeia." In Chinese, TVXQ stands for Tong Vfang Xien Qi. The name can also be abbreviated to "TVfXQ". If you follow these letters on the keyboard, the drawn shape results in a W. This shape also resembles the zodiac sign "Cassiopeia". Also, the zodiac sign has five stars. TVXQ had five members at that time.

Fandom names and their meaning

What meaning is behind a fandom name varies greatly.

In some cases, they are based on the name of the artist.

A good example is the boy group SHINee. They have named their fandom "SHINee World". This is also the title of their debut album. The fans call themselves "Shawol" (SHINee World) for short.

Also the fandom name of Blackpink is composed of the name of the girl group. "BLINK" is simply a combination of "Black" and "Pink". It means that fans start with Blackpink and end with Blackpink.

If you see these two fandom names, you can very quickly guess which artist they belong to. Of course, there are many more of this kind and as simple as they seem, there is usually a nice meaning behind them.

These are some more very distinct fandom names and their meanings:

• NCTzen (NCT)
  NCTzens are Citizens of N City (NCT). Members of NCT also often use the nickname "Czennies" (short for NCTzens), which sounds like "Seasonies" when pronounced.
• ReVeluv (Red Velvet)
  ReVe is made up of the first two letters of "Red" and "Velvet". The luv stands for love and symbolizes the love of Red Velvet and their fans for each other. "Reve" is also the French word for "dream" and means that the fans are making Red Velvet's dreams come true!
• iGOT7 (GOT7)
  The name means that the fans got GOT7. (I got GOT7 / Fans have gotten GOT7.) In Korean, "iGOT7" can also be shortened to "AhGaSe," which translates to baby bird. The bird is also used more often as a symbol by the boy group, for example on the Lightstick.
• EXO-L (EXO)
  The L stands for "Love" and means that EXO will love their fans forever.

On the other hand, there are of course some fandom names that have nothing to do with the name of the artist.

• Neverland ((G)-Idle)
  "Neverland" is based on the fairy tale of Peter Pan. In Neverland, children never grow old. With this, the girl group wants to say that they and their fans never change and stay together forever!
• SONE (SNSD)
  SONE is pronounced like "So One" and means that SNSD and their fans will be one forever. In addition, the Korean spelling 소원 can be translated to "Wish."
• Bunnies (NewJeans)
  At first glance, "Bunnies" has nothing to do with NewJeans, but those who know the girl group know where the name comes from. Because even before the debut, a bunny was used as a symbol for NewJeans. It can also be seen on the debut album.

Of course, not only boy and girl groups have a name for their fans, but also solo artists.

For example, the singer IU has named her fans "Uaena". It combines the English word "You" (U) with the Korean words "ae" and "na" and together means "U love me".

The fandom of the singer Eric Nam is called "NamNation".

Did you know that in addition, some members of boy or girl groups also have their own fandom name for their personal fans?

In 2018, Tiffany from the girl group SNSD announced the official name for her personal fandom: "Young Ones." On the one hand, it is a reference to her stage name Tiffany Young. For another, the name is very similar to the Korean word "Youngwon" (Hangul: 영원), which translates to "Forever." So Tiffany and her fans will be together forever!

However, this is rarely the case. In most cases, it's the fans who come up with their own fandom names for their favorite idols. These spread and are eventually accepted by all other fans.

One of the probably more well-known examples is the solo fandom names of SHINee. Onew fans call themselves MVP's (based on a line by Onew from the debut song Replay), Key fans call themselves Lockets or Lil' Freaks, Taemin fans call themselves Taemints, Jonghyun fans call themselves Blingers and Minho fans call themselves Flames. The latter are based on the stage names "Flaming Charisma Minho" and "Bling Bling Jonghyun".

What solo fandom names do you know?

Since when do fandom names exist in K-pop?

This question is not so easy to answer. This is because although some 1st generation K-pop groups also have fandom names, it is not entirely clear exactly when they were created.

For example, the fandom of H.O.T, the first K-pop boy group, is called "Club H.O.T" or "White Angels". However, when exactly this fandom name was really introduced is uncertain. After all, as this article readily explains, it can take years for an idol group to announce a fandom name.

Opinions are somewhat clearer about the fandom name of "S.E.S", a girl group that debuted in 1997. The fandom is called "Friend" and fans assume that the title of the album "Friend" (2002) is a reference to it.

The earliest fandom name where we know exactly when it was announced is "Cassiopeia" by the boy group TVXQ.

They debuted in 2003 and are considered to be the start of the 2nd K-pop generation. The official fan club was founded on April 23, 2006. Fans celebrate April 23 as Cassiopeia Day.

"Seo Taiji and the Boys", the trio that laid the foundations for K-Pop and is seen by some as the start of the 1st generation, did not have a fandom name.

So we would argue that K-pop fandom names emerged toward the end of the 1st generation and became the norm in the 2nd generation.

These K-Pop groups had to change their fandom name!

Yes, it can happen that a fandom name has to be changed after it was announced. And what could be the reason for that? Quite simply, it overlaps with another fandom name or even the name of an artist.

For example, the five-member boy group TXT had to face this problem. They announced on April 25, 2019, that their fandom would be called "Young One." However, it was almost identical to the name of Tiffany Young. Namely, the singer had titled her fandom "Young Ones" in September 2018.

So TXT announced a new one a few months later, in August 2020: MOA.
It is an acronym for "Moments of Alwaysness". Moreover, "mo" means "to gather" in Korean. On TXT's Twitter account, the following saying was uploaded to match: "TOMORROW X TOGETHER and fans moa pieces of each other's dreams to complete one dream."

Other examples:

• The girl group CRAXY was just unlucky. She announced her fandom name "CRAVITY" in March 2020. But in April 2020, just a month later, a boy group named Cravity debuted. The girl group announced its new fandom name "Crown" in October to avoid confusion with the boy group.
• Girl group Cignature withdrew its original fandom name "Ciluv" just hours after the announcement because it is pronounced the same as "Syrup," the fandom name of another girl group. Later, the fans got the new name "SIGNFAN."
• The girl group ANS changed the fandom name from "ANSWER" to "ANSer" because another girl group was already calling their fans "ANSWER".

So you see, despite the research of the entertainments, it can always happen that fandom names overlap. Of course, not every one of these artists would have had to change the fandom name, but it's simply a sign of respect. Besides, the fans of these groups are certainly happy with the new name as long as it connects them with their stars.

Which fandom do you belong to?

Do you have a question about fandoms that we haven't answered? Ask us!