The Origin and Development of Korean Names

우리 성명(姓名)의 생성 발달에 대하여

This paper examines the history of Korean names, focusing on the structural characteristics and the literal meanings of those for kings and ordinary people. Roughly speaking, the Korean surname system traces its source to China. Historical records show that the Chinese were already using their family names around 1000 B.C. After a millennium or so, the Korean began to follow suit. Initially, however, surnames were in regular use among kings and their kin only: it was not until the late Shilla dynasty, around A.D. 800, that the commoners began to have Heir surnames. And yet, surnames still tended to be limited to men of noble birth, until around A.D. 1000. Though the Korean surname system may be said to have its origin in Chinese, there are no lack of native surnames that have as long a history, e.g., Hae, Bak, Sok, Sol, Ul, and Ol. Typical surnames of Chinese origin that are found during the late Shilla dynasty, around A.D. 900, include Jang (as in Jang Bogo) and Choi (as in Choi Chiwon). Unlike those of Chinese origin, typical Korean names during the age of Three Nations tended to allude to nature or natural phenomena, as can be witnessed in Bit 'light,' Balgum 'bright,' Nuri 'world,' and Soidori where soi means 'steel' and dol 'stone,' Other surnames abound that have to do with river, stream, field, prairie, and so on. King Muryong's original name was Sama, a variant of som 'island,' indicating where he was born. A person skilled in archery was called Jumong or Hwalbo. Baembo was so called because he 'crawls like a snake, baem,' In these last two examples, bo, as well as its variant bu, functions as a suffix, and is also found in Cochilbu, Isabu, Babo, Nolbu, Hungbu, etc. The tradition of using this kind of native Korean names has gradually disappeared, giving place to the names of Chinese style-although very recently we see an on-going movement toward using native names.