Why is Lee a common last name in Korea?
“Those elites tended to adopt surnames that would make it plausible to claim that they had ancestors from China, then the country Koreans admired the most. When the long-oppressed common people, who hitherto had no surnames, were given the “privilege” of selecting one, they chose “noble” surnames like Kim and Lee.
What is the most common family name in Korea?
Kim
Currently, there are about 270 last names in Korea, but the five most popular – Kim, Lee (Yi), Park (Pak), Choi (Choe), and Chong (Jung, Chung) – make up more than 50 percent of the population, according to recent national censuses.
Why do Korean names start with Lee?
It literately means “plum trees”. This is a very common family name, probably because both China and Korea had a dynasty when “Lee/Li” was the royal family.
Why do Korean names start with Kim?
Because family names such as Lee and Kim were among those used by royalty in ancient Korea, they were preferred by provincial elites and, later, by commoners when plumping for a last name. (Many Korean surnames are formed from a single Chinese character.)
Are all Kims in Korea related?
But not even all those who are Kims by inheritance are the same. A basic unit of the Korean traditional kinship system is the clan, or bongwan, a group whose surname signifies a common geographical origin. Thus, different Kims can trace their lineage to different places, most notably Gimhae.
Is it illegal to marry someone with the same last name in Korea?
Traditionally, men and women who have the same surnames and “ancestral homes”, called dongseong dongbon (Hangul: 동성동본, Hanja: 同姓同本), are not permitted to marry. The rule, called honinbeop (Hangul: 혼인법, Hanja: 婚姻法), originated in China, and can be traced back at least to the late Joseon Dynasty in Korea.
Why do Koreans have 3 names?
Each Korean name usually consists of three syllables. The first is the family name while the second and third are the given name. For example, in the name KIM Min Su (김민수), KIM is the family name. The family name (or ‘surname’) is inherited patrilineally from one’s father and shared with other siblings.
How do you write Kim in Hangul?
Kim or Gim (Hangul: 김 ) is the most common surname in Korea. As of the South Korean census of 2015, there were 10,689,959 people by this name in South Korea or 21.5\% of the population. Kim is written as 김 (gim) in both North and South Korea. The hanja for Kim, 金 can also be transliterated as 금 (geum) which means “metal …
Is virginity important in Korea?
The majority view was that virginity should be kept until marriage, with 88.1\% of the group. For the survey of male students, 16.2\% admitted to having had coital experiences, mostly with their girlfriends (74.7\%).
Do brothers and sisters marry in Korea?
On 16 July 1997, the Constitutional Court of Korea ruled the article unconstitutional. The National Assembly of South Korea passed an amendment to the Article in March 2002, which came into force on 31 March 2005, and prohibited marriage only between men and women who are closely related.
Why do Korean names have a dash?
Koreans just like Chinese usually have two syllable first names. But some of them may hyphenate their names to make it easier to pronounce for westerners.