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Chaeyoung’s full legal name is Son Chae-young (Korean: 손채영, romanized as Son Chaeyoung). “Son” (손) is her family surname, and “Chae-young” (채영) is her given name. She performs under the mononym Chaeyoung, dropping her surname the way most K-pop idols do on stage. She was born on April 23, 1999, in Dunchon-dong, Gangdong District, Seoul, South Korea, and is the main rapper and a sub-vocalist of the girl group TWICE.
Ask any TWICE fan what “Chaeyoung” means, and most will say it’s simply her stage name. That’s true — but it’s only half the story. Behind the mononym that appears on album covers, concert banners, and music charts is a full legal identity rooted in Korean naming tradition: Son Chae-young, written in Hangul as 손채영.
Understanding her full name isn’t just trivia. It explains her family lineage, connects to her Catholic baptismal identity, and clarifies why English-language media sometimes spells her name differently across articles, subtitles, and official JYP Entertainment releases. This guide breaks down everything tied to Chaeyoung’s full name — her surname, given name, romanization variants, Korean naming structure, and how her identity has evolved from trainee to global solo artist by 2026.
Chaeyoung’s Full Name at a Glance
Chaeyoung’s identity operates on three layers, which is common for South Korean celebrities:
- Legal name: Son Chae-young (손채영)
- Stage name: Chaeyoung (채영)
- Religious name: Katarina (her Catholic baptismal name)
Each layer serves a different purpose. Her legal name appears on government documents, contracts, and formal credits. Her stage name is what fans, music charts, and JYP Entertainment use publicly. Her baptismal name is a private, faith-based identity tied to her Catholic upbringing rather than her entertainment career.
This layered naming approach isn’t unique to Chaeyoung. Nearly every member of TWICE performs under a shortened or adjusted version of their birth name — Jihyo, Nayeon, and Momo all follow the same pattern of dropping a surname for stage use.
Breaking Down “Son Chae-young”: Surname and Given Name Explained
Korean names follow a structure that’s the reverse of most Western names: surname first, given name second.
- Son (손) — This is her family surname. “Son” is a moderately common Korean surname, and in Chaeyoung’s case, it’s shared with her younger brother, Son Jeong-hoon.
- Chae-young (채영) — This is her given name, made up of two syllabic blocks. In Korean naming culture, most given names use two Hanja (Chinese-derived) characters, each carrying its own meaning, chosen by parents or grandparents for the qualities they wish to bestow on the child.
So when official documents, contracts, or detailed biographical write-ups refer to her, they use “Son Chae-young” in full — surname first, exactly as it would appear on her South Korean identification documents.
Why the Hyphen Matters
You’ll often see her given name written as “Chae-young” with a hyphen in formal transliteration, while her stage name drops the hyphen entirely to become “Chaeyoung.” This isn’t inconsistency — it reflects two different romanization purposes. The hyphenated version follows more traditional academic transliteration standards (seen on platforms like Wikipedia), while the unhyphenated version is the simplified, brand-friendly spelling JYP Entertainment uses for global promotion.
Why She Performs Under a Mononym
Dropping the “Son” surname for stage purposes is a deliberate branding choice common across the K-pop industry. There are a few practical reasons idols do this:
- Simplicity for global audiences. A single, easy-to-pronounce stage name is easier for international fans to remember and search for than a full Korean name.
- Group branding consistency. TWICE’s nine members are all known by first names or shortened names — Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu — creating a unified, symmetrical group identity where no member is set apart by using a surname.
- Distinctiveness. “Chaeyoung” alone is distinctive enough within the K-pop landscape (despite other idols sharing the same given name, such as former IZ*ONE and LE SSERAFIM member Sakura’s groupmate naming overlaps) that a surname isn’t necessary for recognition.
This is why you’ll never see “Son Chaeyoung” on a TWICE album tracklist or concert poster — but you will see it in legal contracts, court filings related to entertainment disputes, and long-form journalism that references her by her complete legal identity.
Romanization Variants
Because Korean uses Hangul, not the Latin alphabet, transliterating Korean names into English inevitably produces multiple “correct” spellings depending on which romanization system is used. For Chaeyoung, you’ll commonly encounter:
| Variant | Where You’ll See It |
| Son Chae-young | Most Western journalism, Wikipedia-style formal biography entries |
| Son Chaeyoung | Some fan wikis and profile databases |
| Son Chaeyeong | Revised Romanization of Korean (RR) standard, used in linguistically precise contexts |
| Son Ch’aeyŏng | McCune-Reischauer (MR) romanization, an older academic system |
| Chaeyoung | Her official public-facing stage name |
None of these are “wrong” — they simply reflect different transliteration conventions. If you’re citing her name for an academic paper, RR (“Chaeyeong”) is the linguistic standard. For everyday fan use and journalism, “Chaeyoung” or “Chae-young” are both accepted.
Her Korean Name in Hangul and Hanja
In Hangul, her full name is written as 손채영. Breaking it into individual syllable blocks:
- 손 (Son) — surname
- 채 (Chae) — first syllable of given name
- 영 (Young) — second syllable of given name
Korean given names are traditionally built from Hanja (Chinese characters) chosen for auspicious or meaningful qualities, though modern Korean naming has increasingly moved toward pure Hangul names without Hanja roots. Idol profile releases from JYP Entertainment have not publicly confirmed a specific Hanja breakdown for Chaeyoung’s given name, so it’s best treated as unconfirmed rather than assumed — a common gap for many modern Korean celebrities whose parents chose Hangul-only names.
Chaeyoung’s Catholic Baptismal Name: Katarina
An often-overlooked layer of Chaeyoung’s identity is her Catholic faith. She was raised Catholic, and her baptismal name is Katarina. Baptismal names are a standard part of Catholic tradition in South Korea, where practicing Catholics take on the name of a saint at baptism as a personal spiritual identity, separate from their legal or professional name.
This detail rarely appears in casual fan content but is documented in more thorough biographical coverage of her upbringing. It reflects the religious environment she was raised in and adds another dimension to how her full identity is constructed — legal name for documents, stage name for her career, and baptismal name for her faith.
Family Background Behind the Name
Chaeyoung’s surname, Son, is shared by her immediate family. She was born in Dunchon-dong, Gangdong District, Seoul, South Korea, on April 23, 1999, to a Christian family, and she has a younger brother, Son Jeong-hoon, born in 2000. Her brother’s name follows the same “Son” surname convention, confirming the family naming line.
Before her JYP Entertainment career began, Chaeyoung was interested in performing arts from a young age and worked as a child model for a kids’ magazine. She auditioned for JYP Entertainment on June 6, 2012, at age 13, officially becoming a trainee — a process that took nearly three years before she competed on the 2015 survival show Sixteen, where she was confirmed as a member of the newly formed TWICE.
Quick Biography Table
| Detail | Information |
| Full/Legal Name | Son Chae-young (손채영) |
| Stage Name | Chaeyoung (채영) |
| Baptismal Name | Katarina |
| Date of Birth | April 23, 1999 |
| Birthplace | Dunchon-dong, Gangdong District, Seoul, South Korea |
| Nationality | South Korean |
| Group | TWICE (JYP Entertainment) |
| Position | Main Rapper, Sub-Vocalist |
| Siblings | Younger brother, Son Jeong-hoon |
| Education | Hanlim Multi Art School (graduated Feb. 11, 2019, alongside Tzuyu) |
| Debut | October 20, 2015, with TWICE’s The Story Begins |
| Solo Debut | September 12, 2025, with Lil Fantasy Vol. 1 |
Note: Height and weight figures circulating online vary between fan-sourced profile sites and should be treated as approximate rather than officially confirmed by JYP Entertainment.
How Her Name Appears in Official Credits
Chaeyoung’s naming layers become especially visible when you look at her songwriting and production credits. As one of TWICE’s most creatively active members, she has written or co-written lyrics for dozens of the group’s songs since 2016, when she became the first TWICE member credited for lyric-writing on “Precious Love.” In these credits, she’s typically listed simply as Chaeyoung, consistent with her stage identity, rather than her full legal name.
Her 2025 solo debut, Lil Fantasy Vol. 1, and its lead single “Shoot (Firecracker),” also credit her under her stage name across streaming platforms and physical album packaging — reinforcing that “Chaeyoung” functions as her complete public-facing artistic brand, separate from the legal “Son Chae-young” used in contracts and formal documentation.
By 2026, amid reports that several TWICE members — including Chaeyoung — were exploring individual agency representation for solo work while remaining committed to group activities, her name continues to carry weight both as a legal identity tied to new business arrangements and as an established creative brand built over a decade in the industry.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Chaeyoung’s real name? Her real, legal name is Son Chae-young (손채영). “Chaeyoung” is her stage name, used publicly instead of her full name.
Why doesn’t Chaeyoung use her surname “Son” as an idol? Like most K-pop idols, she performs under a shortened stage name for branding simplicity and consistency with her fellow TWICE members, who are also known by first names alone.
Is “Chae-young” spelled with a hyphen or not? Both are correct. “Chae-young” with a hyphen follows traditional transliteration of her given name’s two syllables, while “Chaeyoung” without a hyphen is the simplified spelling used for her stage name and branding.
What does Chaeyoung’s baptismal name mean? Her baptismal name, Katarina, reflects her Catholic upbringing. Baptismal names are separate from a person’s legal or stage name and are used within a religious context.
Does Chaeyoung have any siblings with the same surname? Yes. She has a younger brother, Son Jeong-hoon, who shares the family surname “Son.”
Conclusion
Chaeyoung’s full name — Son Chae-young — carries far more context than a simple name search suggests. It reflects Korean naming conventions, her family lineage, her Catholic background, and the deliberate branding choices that shape how K-pop idols present themselves to a global audience.
While “Chaeyoung” is the name millions of ONCE (TWICE’s fandom) know from music charts and world tour stages, “Son Chae-young” remains the legal identity behind the artist — a reminder that every stage name tells only part of a much fuller personal story.