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Why is 1 in 5 Koreans named Kim?

In South Korea's 2015 census, 21.5% of people were named Kim. Together with Lee and Park, three surnames covered about 45% of the population. Part of the reason is that many Koreans once had no surname at all, and when they took one, they often chose the most common names around them.

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The numbers

South Korea's 2015 census counted surnames for the whole population. The three largest were:

That is 44.6% for three names. You will also see them spelled Gim, I or Yi or Rhee, and Bak. The spelling changes, the name does not.

Many Koreans had no surname

For much of Korean history a surname was a mark of status. In the early Joseon period (the 1400s and 1500s), the lowest-status groups, including enslaved people, made up roughly half the population, and they went by a given name only. A record of an enslaved person lists a name, not a surname plus a name.

Over roughly three centuries in the late Joseon period, as more people left that status, they took surnames.

1909: a surname for everyone

In 1909 a new household registration law required everyone to register a surname and a clan origin. People who still had none had to pick one, and many simply took the big names around them: Kim, Lee or Park. Korea's encyclopedia describes this directly: people copied the large surnames that were common near them.

So the dominance of three names is not only a story of a few families growing very large. Many people chose those names.

Same surname, different families

Because so many people share a surname, Koreans also record a clan origin, called bon-gwan (본관), usually a place name. A Kim from Gimhae and a Kim from Gyeongju belong to different lines. When two people share a surname, the clan origin is the real family question.

Curious what your own name would look like in Korean? Try the Korean name generator, which picks a common surname and a given name with a meaning.

FAQ

What percentage of Koreans are named Kim?

About 21.5% in South Korea's 2015 census, roughly 10.7 million people.

Why do so many Koreans share the same surname?

For centuries about half the population had no surname. When surnames became universal, especially after the 1909 registration law, many people took the common names around them, such as Kim, Lee and Park.

Are all Koreans named Kim related?

No. Koreans record a clan origin (bon-gwan), usually a place name. Kims from different clan origins are different families.

Sources

Written by the Korea in Time team. Each fact above is checked against the sources listed. Found a mistake? Tell us.

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