Korean Names

Korean names consist of a family name followed by a given name. Most Korean given names are comprised of two syllables, though some only have one.

The three most common family names in Korea are 김 (Kim), 이 (Yi, often written Lee), and 박 (Park). Together, these three names account for around 45% of the population.
Family name groups are divided by patrilineal decent into branches or clans. (There are about 280 such branches of Kim). Until recently, it was illegal for people of the same branch to marry, no matter how distantly related. Branches are usually identified by a place name where the clan is said to have originated, such as ‘Kyeongju Kim’.
Common Korean family names:

김     이     박        최              정        조         장
Kim  Yi    Pak    Choe   Cheong   Cho   Chang

윤       신      한         홍      유       강       송
Yun   Sin   Han   Hong   Yu   Kang   Song

 

Korean given names are typically comprised of Sino-Korean characters, 한자 (hanja), traditionally chosen with the help of a fortune-teller. Some parents now give their children names that can only be written in the Korean alphabet, 한글 (hangeul).

 

Hangul Day (한글)

Hangul Day — also called Hangul Proclamation Day or Korean Alphabet Day — is a Korean national commemorative day marking the invention and the proclamation of hangul (한글), the native alphabet of the Korean language, by King Sejong the Great. It is observed on October 9 in South Korea and on January 15 in North Korea. In North Korea, the day is calledChosun-gul Day.

According to the Sejong Sillok (세종실록;世宗實綠), King Sejong proclaimed publication of Hunmin Jeongeum (훈민정음;訓民正音), the document introducing the newly created alphabet which was also originally called by the same name, in the ninth month of the lunar calendar in 1446. In 1926, the Hangul Society celebrated the octo-sexagesimal (480th) anniversary of the declaration of hangul on the last day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar, which is on November 4 of the Gregorian calendar. Members of the Society declared it the first observance of «Gagyanal» (가갸날). The name came from «Gagyageul» (가갸글), an early colloquial name for hangul, based on a mnemonic recitation beginning «gagya geogyeo» (가갸거겨). The name of the commemorative day was changed to «Hangullal» in 1928, soon after the term «hangul», coined originally in 1913 by Ju Si-gyeong, became widely accepted as the new name for the alphabet. The day was then celebrated according to the lunar calendar.

In 1931, the celebration of the day was switched to October 29 of the Gregorian calendar. In 1934, arose the claim that they must assume that the Julian calendar was used in 1446, so the date was again changed to October 28.

The discovery in 1940 of an original copy of the Hunmin Jeongeum Haerye, a volume of commentary to the Hunmin Jeongeum that appeared not long after the document it commented upon, revealed that the Hunmin Jeongeum was announced during the first ten days (sangsun; 상순; 上旬) of the ninth month. The tenth day of the ninth month of 1446 of the lunar calendar in 1446 was equivalent to October 9 of the Julian calendar. After the South Korean government was established in 1945, Hangul Day was declared as a legal holiday to be marked on October 9, on which governmental workers are excused from work.

Its legal status as a holiday was removed in 1991 because of pressure from major employers to increase the number of working days, along with the introduction of the Korean United Nations Day. However, Hangul Day still retains a legal status as a national commemoration day. The Hangul Society has campaigned to restore the holiday’s former status, but with little impact.

North Korea celebrates the equivalent Chosŏn’gŭl Day on January 15 to mark the day in 1444 (1443 in lunar calendar), which is believed to be that of the actual creation of Hunmin Jeongeum.