{{Infobox Korean name/auto | hangul = %_영자 }}
'''Young-ja''', also spelled '''Yeong-ja''', is a Korean given name. According to South Korean government data, it was the most popular name for baby girls born in 1940.<ref name="babyname.co.kr1940">{{cite web|url=http://www.babyname.co.kr/menu01_09.php?standard=&val=&PAGE_NO=2|script-title=ko:한국인이 가장 줗아하는 이름은 무엇일까?|trans-title=What are the names that South Koreans like the most?|publisher=babyname.co.kr|access-date=2012-11-09|archive-date=2013-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020214127/http://www.babyname.co.kr/menu01_09.php?standard=&val=&PAGE_NO=2|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The syllable "ja" is generally written using a hanja meaning "child" (子). In Japan, where this character is read ''ko'', it was originally used as suffix for the names of girls in the aristocracy. The practice of adding ''-ko'' to girls' names spread to the lower classes following the 1868 Meiji Restoration.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wB9pAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA318|last=O'Neill|first=P.G.|author-link=Patrick Geoffrey O'Neill|title=Collected Writings of P.G. O'Neill|publisher=Routledge|page=318|year=2014}}</ref> Names containing this character, such as Soon-ja and Jeong-ja, became popular when Korea was under Japanese rule from 1910 to 1945, but declined in popularity afterwards.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hankyung.com/news/app/newsview.php?aid=2007032017291&sid=010620&nid=006<ype=1|script-title=ko:가장 흔한 이름은? 男 영수→민준ㆍ女 영자→서연|trans-title=Most common names? Boys: Yeong-su → Min-jun; Girls: Yeong-ja → Seo-yeon|work=Korea Economic Daily|date=20 March 2007|access-date=2012-12-04}}</ref> By 1950 there were no names ending in "ja" in the top ten.<ref name="babyname.co.kr">{{cite web|url=http://www.babyname.co.kr/menu01_09.php?cate1=14&name=|script-title=ko:한국인이 가장 줗아하는 이름은 무엇일까?|trans-title=What are the names that South Koreans like the most?|publisher=babyname.co.kr|access-date=2012-11-09|archive-date=2013-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020201918/http://www.babyname.co.kr/menu01_09.php?cate1=14&name=|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==People== People with this name include: *Young-ja Lee (composer) (born 1936), South Korean music educator and composer *Jung Hye-sun (born Jung Young-ja, 1942), South Korean actress *Kim Young-ja (born 1949), South Korean volleyball player *Young-ja Cho (born 1951), South Korean sculptor *Lee Young-ja (handballer) (born 1964), South Korean team handball player and Olympic medalist *Yang Young-ja (born 1964), South Korean table tennis player *Lee Young-ja (comedian) (born 1968), South Korean comedian *Park Yeong-ja (born 1975), South Korean rower *Chang Yeong-ja, South Korean financier, one of the principals in the 1982 Lee–Chang scandal
Fictional characters with this name include: *Yeong-ja, the titular character of the 1975 South Korean film ''Yeong-ja's Heydays''<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.sbs.co.kr/news/endPage.do?news_id=N1003564588&plink=ORI&cooper=NAVER|script-title=ko:신생아 인기 이름 '민준·서연'…드라마 영향?|trans-title=Popular names for newborns: Min-jun and Seo-yeon ... the effect of TV dramas?|publisher=Seoul Broadcasting System|date=9 May 2016|access-date=6 December 2017|quote=지난 1975년에 개봉한 영화 <영자의 전성시대>입니다. 주인공 이름인 '영자'는 당시 가장 흔한 이름 가운데 하나였죠. 실제로, 1940년대 태어난 여자들에게는 '영자' 그리고 남자들에게는 '영수'라는 이름이 가장 많았습니다. 그러나 시대가 바뀌면서 좋아하는 이름도 달라졌죠.}}</ref>
==See also== *List of Korean given names
==References== {{reflist}}
{{given name}}
Category:Korean given names