Korean name (지우) combining characters often meaning 'wisdom' (지) and 'friend' or 'rain' (우); popular as a unisex name.
Jiwoo is a Korean given name written with two syllables, each chosen from a rich vocabulary of hanja (Chinese characters used in Korean). The first syllable, ji (지), most commonly draws on characters meaning "wisdom," "will," or "knowledge," while the second syllable, woo (우), can mean "rain," "universe," "friend," or "feather" depending on the character selected. The resulting name can thus carry meanings as varied as "wise rain," "knowledgeable friend," or "universal wisdom" — the final meaning shaped by each family's specific hanja choices.
In South Korea, Jiwoo is a popular unisex name, used comfortably for both boys and girls, reflecting the Korean naming tradition where many given names are not strictly gendered. It gained particular cultural visibility through Korean entertainment: the name appears among K-drama characters and K-pop adjacent figures, lending it a recognizably contemporary, urban Korean identity without being tied to any single era. The two-syllable rhythmic structure is quintessentially Korean, sitting naturally in a lineage of beloved names like Minjun, Seoyeon, and Hyunwoo.
For Korean diaspora families naming children abroad, Jiwoo offers a meaningful connection to Korean linguistic heritage while remaining accessible — it is short, flows naturally in English-speaking mouths, and carries no awkward consonant clusters. Its softness and brevity have also attracted non-Korean parents drawn to East Asian names, making Jiwoo one of the quietly growing crossover names of the early twenty-first century.