Where did the BTS boys get their nicknames from?

BTS goes by more than one name: Bangtang Boys, Beyond the Scene, my heart and soul mates. Take your pick. It only makes sense that big personalities can’t be wrapped up in one package. They need a variety of monikers to encompass the talent that is them. Not only does the band have more than one name they go by, but each bandmate has a host of pet names too. 

Moonchild, Mochi, Grandpa Yoongi, Kookie: you wouldn’t believe the amount of names the BTS Army comes up with. After all, everyone knows that beyond the K-pop trainee part when they’re coronated at their debut, K-pop stars don’t pick their own nicknames. Their nicknames come to them. Some of these nicknames the bandmates adore, and others. . . . not so much. 

Either way, they’ve got a bunch of nicknames and you’ve just got to hear them. We’ll tell you about our favorite BTS nicknames and the backstories behind them. Get ready to laugh and vomit from the gooeyness. Some of these are so affectionate they’ll make you go “aw” and “blech” at the same time. We get it though. They’re pretty easy to love. 

RM’s nicknames 

RM’s real name is Kim Nam-joon. He used to be called Rap Monster, thus the initials RM, but he felt he outgrew that stage name and formally changed it RM in November of 2017. RM says the initials of his stage name can stand for multiple things, including “Real Me.” 

Because RM is much more a night person than he is a morning person, fans also call him Moonchild. His Japanese fans call him Namu because his name is pronounced Na-mu-jun instead of Nam-joon in Japanese. One of our favorite nicknames of his is probably God of Destruction. He earned this nickname because of how awfully clumsy he’s proven himself to be. 

Jin’s nicknames

Jin’s real name is Kim Seok-jin. He has nicknames like Worldwide Funny Guy and Worldwide Handsome for obvious reasons, but Mad-nae is probably the most creative. Jin is known for being a child at heart even though he’s the oldest BTS member. The nickname Mad-nae was created by taking the Korean word for youngest (maknae) and the Korean word for oldest (mad-hyung) and putting them together. 

Suga’s nicknames

If you ask us, Suga’s real name, Min Yoongi, is pretty fun to say as it is, but he did decide to take a stage name. You might think the name Suga refers to a sweet temperament, but it’s actually taken from the basketball position he used to play in school. Suga used to play as a shooting guard and the first two syllables of this position are pronounced suga in Korean. 

Suga also earned the name Minstrodamus because of his spot on ability to make predictions that come true. Suga has made multiple predictions about awards and achievements BTS would get and many of them come true. Earning their first daesang and being number one on Billboard Charts are only two of the predictions that have come to fruition. And of course, we can’t forget Suga’s nickname Grandpa Yoongi. 

Suga sometimes says and does things like an old man. One Quora fan commented: “He is a sleepy boy. Also his mood varies often. He can get grumpy easily and cuss you out if you wake him up. But behind his grumpy and savage facade he is truly a cute and funny man. The other reason is because he is very wise. Also old men and women can be cute that is why they get away with having grumpy and savage attitudes.”

JHope’s nicknames

JHope’s real name is Jung Hoseok, which is where his nickname Seokie comes from. Adding an ‘i’ to the end of a name is a great way to make nicknames in general, so JHope also ended up with the name Hobi. If you haven’t heard a native-Korean speaker pronounce his name you might be a little confused as to where the ‘Hob’ comes from. Hope often sounds more like ‘hob’ if Korean is your first language, thus ‘Hobi”.

Jimin’s nicknames

Jimin’s real name is Park Jimin. He preferred it over the proposed stage name ‘Baby G’. He probably has the least amount of nicknames of the bunch, but that doesn’t mean we love him less. Mochi is one of Jimin’s cutest nicknames. He received this nickname because of his signature pout. It’s said that Jimin cheeks get so soft and squishy that it’ll remind you of the sweet, puffy Japanese treat called mochi. 

As an ode to Jimin’s performance abilities fans also call Jimin the Fairy of the Group. Like a fairy wielding magical powers, Jimin will mesmerize you whenever he’s in the spotlight on stage. 

Jungkook’s nicknames

Jungkook’s full name is Jeon Jungkook. He’s the other BTS member who stuck with his real name for his K-pop stage name. Kookie is probably the nickname you’ll hear for Jungkook the most often. It’s a clear riff off his name and just so happens to remind you of the similarity between him and the sweetness of a cookie. 

Golden Maknae is Jungkook’s other popular nickname. Maknae in Korean means youngest and golden refers to how talented he is. Jungkook got this name because he’s seen as the most multi-talented member of BTS. Jungkook was also nicknamed Bunny by fans because of how cute he looks when he smiles. Grins from him at fan meets and concerts have had girls swooning and cooing. 

V’s nicknames 

V’s real name is Kim Taehyung which is where his nickname TaeTae comes from. As a nickname that’s cute and easy to say, we get it. V is also sometimes called Mong-tae (meaning BlankTae) because of the fact he often wears a blank expression. We don’t know if we’d say V quite has a case of RBF, but it’s pretty darn close. 

One of V’s other nicknames is CGV. Fans crowned him with this nickname because they wanted to convey that his good looks are so good they must be computer generated. The last nickname we’d like to mention is Vante. V goes by Vante whenever engaging in any of his visually artistic endeavors. With this persona, V gets to show off the side of him that loves photography and painting. 

Did we miss any of your favorite nicknames? Tell us about it in the comments and explain why it’s the best.