There Is An Absurd Number Of K-Pop Groups With Fewer Or More Members Than Their Names Suggest
When it comes to K-Pop group names, there are some that make more sense than others. Some group with numbers in their name, such as GOT7, SF9, and UP10TION, include the number of members that they have in their title. Other groups, however, don’t match this line of logic, and there are more of them than you may realize.
The first group that probably comes to you when you think of this conundrum is SEVENTEEN. Though they have an explanation for the name “SEVENTEEN” despite having 13 members (13 members + 3 units + 1 group = 17), the reality is, they were supposed to have 17 members. However, four of the trainees that were at Pledis Entertainment originally to debut in the group ended up moving on to other things.
Another popular group that fits this description is DAY6. Now, DAY6 did actually debut originally with 6 members, one member, Junhyeok, left DAY6 only five months after they debuted, leaving them with 5 members. Of course, since then, Jae has also left the group and leaves them with four members currently.
On a bit of a funnier note, NCT 127 doesn’t currently have 127 members, though fans have joked that that might end up becoming reality in the future, given how the group is growing. The number 127 refers to the longitude coordinate of Seoul, where they are promoting.
AB6IX is another group with 6 in their name, but not six members. They do have fewer members now than when they debuted — four currently — but even at their biggest, they had just five. Their name is short for “Absolute Six”, which included the original five members and their fandom together.
Though CIX‘s name isn’t spelled like the number 6, you still might expect the group to have six members, right? That isn’t the case, though! There are five members in the group, and CIX is short for “Complete in X”.
This is another one that’s a bit of a joke, but T1419 does not, in fact, have 1,419 members! The numbers in their name stand for the ages the nine members were at when the group was formed, between 14 and 19.
BAE173 also does not actually have 173 members, of course. They have nine members, and their name stands for “Before Anyone Else” with the number 1 (meaning perfection) and 73 (which is a lucky number).
GHOST9 did actually debut with 9 members, but unfortunately, Dongjun and Taeseung left a year after the group debuted, leaving them with 7. They still kept the name, though!
MAP6 is another group whose name is quite confusing! They’ve always only had five members, and the actual meaning behind their name is unclear.
Finally, 4MINUTE is the only group on this list who actually had more members than their name would imply. Throughout their run together, there were five members in the group, and their name meant that the members would “captivate the fans with their charms within 4 minutes”, and also that they would always try their best in every minute.
