Kim (Korean surname)

Kim
Pronunciation[kim][1]
Language(s)Korean
Origin
MeaningGold, iron, metal
Region of originKorea
Kim
Hangul
Hanja
Revised RomanizationGim
McCune–ReischauerKim

Kim (Korean; Hanja) is the most common surname in Korea. As of the 2015 South Korean census, there were 10,689,959 people by this name in South Korea or 21.5% of the population. Although the surname is always pronounced the same, dozens of different family clans (bon-gwan) use it. The clan system in Korea is unique from the surname systems of other countries.[2][3] Kim is written as (gim) in both North and South Korea. The hanja for Kim, , can also be transliterated as (geum) which means 'gold, metal, iron'. While romanized as Kim by 99.3% of the population, other rare variant romanizations such as Gim, Ghim, and Kin consist of the remaining 0.6%.[4]

  1. ^ King, Ross; Yeon, Jaehoon (2015). "2.2 Korean Names". Elementary Korean Second Edition. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 9781462914548.
  2. ^ "본관 (本貫)" [Family Origin]. Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (in Korean). Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  3. ^ "2015년 인구주택총조사 전수집계결과 보도자료" [Results of the 2015 Census of Population and Housing survey]. Korean Statistical Information Service. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  4. ^ 성씨 로마자 표기 방안: 마련을 위한 토론회 [Plan for romanisation of surnames: a preparatory discussion]. National Institute of Korean Language. 25 June 2009. p. 60. Retrieved 11 April 2023.

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