K-Pop Group (G)I-dle Has a New Name, but Where Did That Name Come From?

One of K-pop's biggest acts just dropped some big news. (G)I-dle is no more, having renamed themselves i-dle in honor of their seven-year anniversary. The news that the group had changed its name left many fans confused, as some wondered whether there was a reason for the name change.

In addition to announcing their name change, they also announced that they would be dropping two albums in the month of May. Given all the news around the group, here's what we know about why they decided to change their name.

In an interview with The Star, Soyeon, the leader of the group, explained the origins of the original name. The name “Idle” (아이들) came to her while she was working on the group's second single, "Idle song," and she proposed it to their label, Cube Entertainment, and it ended up being selected after some internal deliberations.

Although it became the band's name, not everyone was thrilled. That's largely because while "Idle" means "children" in Korean, it means "lazy" in English.

As a result, they eventually added to the G, turning the full name into (G)I-dle, with the intention being for the G to be silent.

The I stood for individuality, meanwhile, the dash showed separation, and “Dle” (short for the plural form in Korean) was apparently supposed to represent the unique mix of personalities in the group.

While they haven't explained their recent name change,/it seems that they have ditched the G in part because they never wanted it to be part of their name. The group was originally formed with six members back in 2018: Soyeon, Miyeon, Minnie, Yuqi, Shuhua, and Soojin. Soojin left the group in 2021 following accusations of bullying, and the name change is not going to have an effect on the membership of the group or on how their music sounds.

Although it's clear that the girls were never all that invested in (G)I-dle as a name, fans aren't necessarily happier with the new name than they were with the old one.

"This is not making their name less confusing to my brain, unfortunately," one person wrote under a post about the name change on Reddit.

"You guys may downvote me into oblivion for this, but the GIDLE is more recognisable for a brand and rememberable, not sure why a brand would do this," another added.

Clearly, then, there are plenty of people who actually preferred the old name, even though it was almost impossible to pronounce in English. Idle certainly isn't a word most people like to be associated with, but it seems like the group is willing to ride with it anyway.

K-pop is a universe unto itself, and the name change probably won't hurt them with their biggest fans. Whether it makes their name less confusing or not is really up to the individual people who follow them closely.