6 SM Entertainment Artists Who Rejected The Stage Names That Lee Soo Man Chose For Them

SM Entertainment is known for being a powerhouse of visuals and talents, and a lot of them also have really cool stage names! Some of them, however, have quite a story behind the names that they finally ended up debuting with! Here are 6 idols who ended up rejecting the stage names given to them by Lee Soo Man, and are promoting with different names instead!

1. H.O.T.’s Tony An

For H.O.T.’s Tony An, Lee Soo Man initially proposed the name “Pickle”, because he believed it really fit well with his “fresh” image! The name was eventually vetoed, and he debuted with the name “Tony” which was originally his English name!

2. Super Junior’s Leeteuk

Super Junior’s leader Leeteuk had quite a few recommendations for a stage name!

The first one was “Kangsu”, meaning “precipitation”. This name was one of the contenders because Lee Soo Man intended for Leeteuk to bring the “rain to the music industry”.

The second one was “Shin-i”, meaning the one that God has sent.

And the third and final one, which was what he finally went with, was “Leeteuk”, which meant a “special kid”!

3. Super Junior’s Shindong

Super Junior’s Shindong first stage name suggestion came from his birth name, Shin Donghee. The name was “Woo-dong” because it also suited his image!

The second suggestion given by Lee Soo Man was “Dong-chun”. “Dong-chun” was actually the name of a Korean circus group active at the time, and the name was put up for consideration because Lee Soo Man believed in Shindong’s amazing talents!

The last name that was propositioned was “Shin-don”, which was ultimately rejected because there was an MBC drama of the same name airing at the time. “Shin-don” was ultimately modified to “Shindong”, and he has truly made that name his own!

4. Super Junior’s Kyuhyun

Super Junior’s maknae was also originally supposed to debut with another name!

Kyuhyun was given the name “Gwi-hyun” at first, because Lee Soo Man believed that the name “Kyuhyun” was a difficult one to pronounce. The name also meant “precious”, and he believed it would suit Kyuhyun very much! Their manager, however, caught wind of it, and immediately opposed the name, and Kyuhyun debuted with his birth name instead!

5. TVXQ

Initially, for TVXQ, Lee Soo Man also suggested three names for them!

The first one was “The Five Viscera and the Six Entrails”, signifying how the five members of the band would not leave out anyone, just like the internal organs.

The second name that was suggested was “Swordsman”, and Lee Soo Man was inspired by the movie of the same name released at the time. “Swordsman” was eventually rejected because when it was written, the script was not aesthetically appealing. The group then went with the third and last suggestion, “Dong Bang Shin Ki”, meaning “Rising Gods of the East”!

6. EXO’s Sehun

EXO‘s maknae Sehun was initially supposed to debut with the name “Se-eul”, but he eventually debuted with his birth name instead!