The members of BTS recently talked about the possibilities of their group name having been something other than what it is now.

On the June 22 broadcast of Mnet’s “Yaman TV,” they revealed that there were a few other team names that were in the running before deciding on ‘Bangtan Boys.’

During the broadcast, one of the MCs asked, “What’s the meaning of ‘Bangtan Boys?’” J-Hope replied, “The meaning of ‘bangtan’ is to guard against something. So [our name] means that we will boldly defend our music and our value/worth.”

The MCs questioned, “’Bangtan’ doesn’t have anything to with [the last name] Bang?” referring to Bang Si Hyuk, producer and CEO of Big Hit Entertainment. In response, Suga explained, “Some people think that our name means ‘Boys Created by Bang Si Hyuk,’ but that’s not true.”

When asked if there were other names nominated before ‘Bangtan Boys,’ the members laughed and shared, “There was ‘Big Kids’ because our agency is ‘Big Hit,’ ‘Young Nation,’ and more.” After listing these possible names, J-Hope commented, “Hearing these other names makes me think that ‘Bangtan Boys’ is a lot better,” causing laughter.

After this, the MCs asked Jimin and Jungkook about why they are the only members who are using their real birth names.

Jimin answered, “I originally received a stage name. They gave me the name ‘Baby G,’ so I said I would use my real name.”

Jungkook shared, “I also use my birth name, but I had a stage name. It was Seagull.” Hearing this, Haha remarked, “The pronunciation needs to be paid attention to” and joked about how it sounds similar to offensive language.

Then Jungkook continued, “I’m from Busan and seagull (in Korean) is seagull in English.” Following this, Haha replied, “This is the first time I found out in my 37 years of life. That they are called seagulls” and made everyone laugh.

Who in the world came up with Seagull ? orz