In K-pop, being a fan comes with a name. A fandom name is the official title an artist's company announces for the fan community: BTS fans are ARMY, BLACKPINK fans are BLINK, SEVENTEEN fans are CARAT, Stray Kids fans are STAY. The name marks membership — using it means you belong.
Names arrive through official channels, sometimes after fan suggestions or votes, and they usually carry wordplay. fromis_9's Flover folds 'flower' into 'lover'; ILLIT's GLLIT rhymes the fandom into the group's own name; aespa simply calls its fans MY. The wordplay is the point: the name binds the fandom to the artist's identity.
Artists then use the name constantly — and officially. Stray Kids titled a 2026 mini live 'STAY 8irthday Party,' a birthday event held in the fandom's name. ILLIT's official channel titles content directly to GLLIT. When a group speaks to camera, the first word is usually the fandom's name, not 'fans.'
A quick reference from groups covered on K-POP PULSE: ARMY (BTS), BLINK (BLACKPINK), CARAT (SEVENTEEN), STAY (Stray Kids), ONCE (TWICE), MOA (TOMORROW X TOGETHER), ENGENE (ENHYPEN), MY (aespa), DIVE (IVE), FEARNOT (LE SSERAFIM), MIDZY (ITZY), NSWER (NMIXX), BRIIZE (RIIZE), ATINY (ATEEZ), NCTzen (NCT), ZEROSE (ZEROBASEONE), Flover (fromis_9), GLLIT (ILLIT), KISSY (KISS OF LIFE), MONSTIES (BABYMONSTER), My Day (DAY6), WEVE (ONEWE), EYEKONS (KATSEYE).