"Teacher, what's your name in Korean?"
…One possible answer, but not the most easily explained or accepted (though it does, by chance, conform to the two-syllable requirement), would be to look to the Biblical passage where the name "Jared" makes an appearance:
(15)마할랄렐은 육십 오세에 야렛을 낳았고(16)야렛을 낳은 후 팔백 삼십년을 지내며 자녀를 낳았으며(17)그가 팔백 구십 오세를 향수하고 죽었더라(18)야렛은 일백 육십 이세에 에녹을 낳았고(19)에녹을 낳은 후 팔백년을 지내며 자녀를 낳았으며(20)그가 구백 육십 이세를 향수하고 죽었더라 — 창세기5장15-20
The standard Korean transcription of the Hebrew trilateral YRD is 야렛 [ya.ret], while in English Bibles it's "Jared". The Hebrew trilateral has been proposed to be related to the meaning "descended" (i.e. God descends upon him [?]).
In fact, though, the use of "Biblical names" is not typical in Korea, even among the many hardcore Pentecostals. The Catholics, at least, generally baptize their kids with saints' names, but even these baptismal names are not the ones used legally or day-to-day. Instead, most everyone follows the traditional naming practices (which are essentially Chinese in origin). The use of non-hanja names (i.e. non-Chinese ones) is on the rise, but in most instances these non-Chinese names are still not Biblical in origin, but rather vaguely nationalistic "Pure Korean" names (e.g. common nouns, like the popular 이슬 [i.seul] for girls, meaning "dew").
Slightly less problematically, I generally translate my family name as simply 길 [gil]. This is an actual used family name in Korea [hanja: 吉]. I use it as translating the English common noun "way". This is not etymologically accurate in English, since my surname is in fact Welsh, not English. Nor is it etymologically accurate in Korean, since the family name "Gil" is not related to the Korean common noun "gil" = "way", but rather the term 길하다 [gil.ha.da = to be auspicious, to be fortunate]. Perhaps the double etymological inaccuracy cancels out, and it ends up being appropriate?
Hence, my "Korean name" might be: 길야렛 [gil.ya.ret]. Doesn't actually sound Korean, though.
Perhaps returning to the Hebrew trilateral, YRD [ירד], we could look for a hanja equivalent, and make that my name? There is 강하 [gang.ha, hanja 降下, meaning "fall down, descend"]. That sounds much more like a typical Korean name, 길강하 [Gil Gangha], and furthermore offers a parsable hanja form: 吉降下.
[daily log: walking, 7km]
