Why Koreans Have Same Last Names | Kim? Lee? Park? Choi? 🇰🇷

Quick Fact: 1/5 of all Koreans have the last name, Kim.
Kim? Lee? Choi? Park?
You guys probably all have met or seen someone with the common Korean last names. Does this mean they are all related in someway or another? Or has Korea just been occupied by only a few family groups?
Why is it like this? Why has Korea become one of the countries with the least amount of last names? Let's find out!
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C O N T A C T :
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S O C I A L M E D I A
Instagram: / koreascouter
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[@privatefaces]

I love ur videos cuz there’s no bs. So many youtubers go on and on about their opinions and thoughts and begging people to subscribe. But when ur content is good, people will naturally follow.

[@overthemoon9941]

privatefaces ..Yes.he is to the point so informative very smart.... and not making vid about HIM..as so many other UT’ channels do! He explained some questions I was curious about mostly why so many Kim’s...🤔🤔good job sir, appreciate the information.

[@inquisitvem6723]

There are many "Smith" like in America and many "Nguyen" in Vietnam

[@PhuongNguyen-pm3ye]

what your point?

[@Usoda_]

@@PhuongNguyen-pm3ye Certain names are common in certain places.

[@Usoda_]

@Raylon Bender Rodriguez I was dumbing it down as someone didn't understand the point.

[@wildfire7268]

The descendents of the sun SONG JUNGI ( Song from eunjin) SONG HYEGYO (Song from seosan)

[@abzalm]

Kim is 3rd popular surname in Kazakhstan🇰🇿

[@user-hj5kx1vz4h]

he out here educating us 💖 thanks for the very informative video!! it had further deepened my knowledge of korean culture!

[@skateplusrice]

Korea scouter low key tryna hook it up for his Subin and Seokhyun jkjk

[@nikandra76]

Kieran. I thought same!

[@sufesa8597]

I feel like more than a half of K-Pop Industry is a Kim... 🤔 😶

[@sa5m225]

and Choi.

[@gorgeousg7296]

the most famous is kim jong un

[@sufesa8597]

@@sa5m225 Park and Lee also 😅

[@fanboytrash5710]

​@John Gill "Korean are incest" said someone who are probably white and named John Gill.

[@ocumstweezers]

Most Hip Hop artists come from the "Ice" or the 'Lil'' clans.There are probably a few million aspiring rappers named "Lil' Ice'

[@fsjukebox]

I really like your videos. Clear and informative, in a well-balanced format. Keep them coming!

[@Natsumi296]

It has been one of my biggest question eversince i was a kpop fan since 2010 and today has been answer thank you very much

[@saltycornchip]

Same

[@likeohmygod]

Yayy! This was a really nice video! I'm Korean-American, and I remember my mom explaining this to me for the first time. I was so confused lol, because I use the last name Yu/유씨 but I'm actually a Ryu/류씨. Turns out they kinda act interchangeably haha P.S. volume was a lot better this time! Thank you~

[@z.deutch1334]

Yu (also spelled Yoo or You, or sometimes Ryu or Ryoo) is the English transcription of several Korean surnames written as 유 or 류 in Hangul. Some of the family names written as Yoo are derived from the Chinese surnames劉 or 柳 (Liu) and 兪 (Yu). As of 2000, roughly a million people are surnamed Yoo in South Korea, making up approximately 2% of the population. Of those, the most common is Ryu (Hanja:柳, Hangul:류),[1] with more than six hundred thousand holders, whereas Yu (Hanja:兪, Hangul:유) accounts for about one hundred thousand.

[@xyzno1cancer]

Yeah Korean has that weird rule where if a Sino-Korean word that begins with ㄹ (r/l) starts a compound word, the ㄹ changes into a ㄴ (n), which in turn changes into an ㅇ (no sound) if the word's vowel is not a bright vowel (ㅏ or ㅗ). That's also why the surname Lee is 이 instead 리, Im/Lim (which has an L everywhere else Chinese characters have been used) is 임 instead of 림. That applies to common words too, like the word "female" is 여 in 여자 but 녀 in 소녀.

[@IlmiraAD]

This was very interesting and informative! I would like to see more videos like these about Korean culture.

[@alyschang6286]

I'm Korean American and this now makes so much more sense!! Thank you!!

[@lantanagermany3507]

I wish this video would have existed when I researched about this matter a while ago because of Hyukjaes and Siwons royal ancestors ^^ Or the thing with Yoongi being from the same clan as Kyunghoon and surprisingly 'older' in the family tree... Really nice video and definitely easier to understand than what some websites provide~ I often wonder if there are any relations between idols, we don't know of yet...

[@x0xxx007i]

*Saw your notif and had to get here **_fast_* Your channel 💖

[@harumayxwataru]

Very interesting thank you :) In this day and age, I find it very convenient for Korean people to have the same name, because they are way harder to track on the internet (how am I supposed to sort 100s of Kim Jihyeons?)

[@BringBackCyParkVendingMachines]

Faustine Peyceré you mean inconvenient? An yes, I agree

[@harumayxwataru]

@@BringBackCyParkVendingMachines No it's convenient, I hate that people have a full access to my life just because my name is unique, while Korean people can hide easily without even getting an alias :)

[@lrc6217]

Gotta love Scout with these kfact vids

[@zamillazamri0203]

Being a Kpop fan for almost 15 years, I do know about this content but it always interesting to listen to your speech, you make it so clear. Btw, I love how Koreans can tell the hierarchy of themselves among the clan based on names. For example, how Min Yoongi (Suga) from BTS, is an uncle to Min Kyung Hoon of Buzz (permanent cast in Knowing Brother) even when Yoongi is younger than Kyung Hoon because of their name. It's a shame that in recent time the Koreans no longer used their historical naming system and opt for a more modern name. It is very interesting and fun in my opinion.

[@sunaleexo]

@ady george Ok but no one needed your opinion Btw Yoongi can be an uncle for Kyunghoon basically because several generations before them had 2-3 years of difference between each other when they had children, which is nothing on an individual level ; or even Yoongi could be a descendant of the eldest children of each generation and Kyunghoon could be a descendant of the youngests ; the point is until proven from a valid source, no one here knows what's the reason for their age gap so there really is nothing to start complaining about people's childbearing age.

[@D3R3KPlaysMC]

Sunalee it’s his opinion let it be

[@daybird1927]

Thank you for this video. It was very interesting. We have a lot more family names in Estonia than in Korea, but we are mostly named after trees, flowers, animals and landforms.

[@ryandang7346]

Ok ms donkey

[@croissant420]

Like what? Is there any example?

[@theguitar7411]

I’m very interested to hear Estonian last names. But we also have many surnames in Korea. Kim Park Lee are the most popular, but we also have Choi, Kang, Jeong, Jeon, Min, Ryu, Song, Han, Ha, Yoo, Yoon, Hong, Shin, Lim, Byun, Moon, Kwan, Kwon, Yang, Bu, An, Jin, Nam, Wang, Hwang, Gu and many, many more.

[@daybird1927]

@@theguitar7411 When most Estonians got their last names in the beginning of 19th century, Most people couldn't choose a name by themself, a name was given to them by Baltic German nobility. Names were given randomly and whatever the nobility liked. Some examples of Estonian last names (with translation to English): Tamm (Oak), Saar (Island), Sepp (Blacksmith), Mägi (Mountain), Kukk (Rooster), Rebane (Fox), Kask (Birch), Jõgi (River), Ilves (Linx), Pärn (Linden), Mets (Forest), Jänes (Rabbit), Hunt (Wolf), Susi (another word for a Wolf) and so on. We also use German (or German-sounding) names like Kumberg and Rosenberg, and Russian names like Ivanov, Mihhailov and Vassiljev. Russian names because we have a lot of second and third generation Russian-Estonians (Estonians whose parents came here from Russia during Soviet occupation and never left). A lot of Estonians changed their German-sounding surnames in 1918 when Estonia declared independence, so we don't have that many German names anymore. For example my great-grandfather's last name was originally Peetsmann (not sure it has a exact meaning, Mann means 'a man' in German tho) but changed it to Männistee (meaning 'pine road' in Estonian) My last name is Treier which sound German but means absolutely nothing. Unlike in Korea, in Estonia not many people who are NOT related to each other have the same last name. We have over 120 000 surnames but the population of Estonia is only 1.3 million * ä is pronounced as 'a' in word 'cat', õ is impossible to explain: it's somewhat like Russian letter "ы" but if you can't read cyrillic, it doesn't help much *

[@theguitar7411]

Daybird Oh, very interesting.

[@brocksaunders9275]

Being a huge genealogy follower/researcher, this is my cup of tea.

[@mightytaiger3000]

Love your content! Finally something educational and more thorough instead of videos of snacks and K-pop music video reactions.

[@teohtiffanyable]

Both of my parents have a Family Tree Journal/family history book :) my mum is Korean, and at my grandma 's place, we have these really thick books, vol1-6. They release them every 10 years or so and send it to my grandma! On the latest edition which was 10years ago, there are all my family member's names and my names in it. I am under Emerald Dragon Clan :D, and I thought it was really cool when I found out the system 15years ago. On the other hand, my dad's family history book also had clan, and one of our ancestors was a Chieftain! (Clan Chief/leader) The Scottish clan system is quite interesting as well! Each clan have their out tartans.

[@VenusNikita1]

Really interesting. Would love to watch more videos explaining different parts of Korean culture. Thank you! 👍

[@holoinfinity4691]

This is very interesting! I'm a Korean-American, but didn't know about this. I kinda always wondered about this. I'm not sure, but I've heard quite a bunch of people with last name of Lim. My dad's side is from Ansan, while my mom's family name is Choi from Incheon.

[@BriC655]

I feel so smart. Thank you Scouter 😁

[@mjparker16]

hope you get a lot of subscribers especially international kpop fans out there, thank you for every informative vidoes you made, it helps us to know more about Korean culture, news and everything, pls make more more vidoes for us know more about korea, culture, anything and happenings there with our beloved kpop artists

[@DK-zn3zf]

So concise and well-explained!!

[@Kathie6767]

This was so interesting and educational! As usual you did a fantastic job breaking it down! This video was such a great subject and treat to watch. Your like the history teacher people WANT to listen to!!!! Keep up the great work and great video!👍

[@SceneAndHeardPodcast]

Have you ever thought about teaching as a career? I know, technically that's what you do on youtube, but I mean a classroom setting. You are very good at it. Great video by the way.

[@atyuhajain1879]

I love these kind of videos they are so informative also pls make a video for what eventually happened to the main scandal and the people involved.

[@Jezidka]

Wow this was really informative. Thank you

[@Iridys]

Very interesting and informative. I hadn’t really thought about it until I saw the title of this video and then thought, “You know what...yea! Why is that so?” Thanks for answering a question I didn’t know I had.

[@winteriscoming4407]

the identity system for name is really interesting...tbh i even dont know about the family heritage because of my family never talked about it in very specific way...they just told me about the ancestors but no specific record like you explained in korea...i think your government civil administration is really good

[@vickispong1371]

Thanks, always wondered. Very interesting.

[@defsoul606]

Thank you for uploading this video. This is so informative since im so curious about this topic. Well im always curious about Korea and korean people and their tradition.. I really love SK.

[@siennadiaries]

I needed this, I recently saw that BTS' Jungkook and one of the members of Loona come from the same Jeon clan and I was so confused. Thank you for this! 💜

[@accc9090]

Interesting. This was your second video I've watched and I'm liking your subjects.

[@runningfromabear8354]

My family tree has a diverse number of surnames. I've thought the parts of my family ancestry from small villages or regions would probably interrelate, because historically in Europe people married cousins a lot. Apparently not. I suppose my ancestors weren't wealthy enough to attempt to keep wealth in the family. But I like the diversity of surnames in my lineage from the very common: White, Cooper, Brown, Taylor, Turner, Davis, Anderson to the more unusual: Dankworth, Ogden, Pauncefoot, Mugwich, Crockwell, O'Mongain, Bittadon. It's cool that Korean's can track their roots with their surnames, but there's something just fun about going through my family tree and looking at these funny names.

[@ally.s6634]

I subscribed to your channel when I saw your first seungri video, your videos are very educational and now one of my favorite channels ❤️

[@layandrews241]

Mygosh, this is what I've been looking for! Been watching Kdrama on Netflix nonstop and got curious about Korea's name specifically last name which everyone shares the same. In my country, some were able to retain indigenous last name and some were hispanisized like KATAKUTAN to CATACUTAN. But majority have Hispanics last name.

[@nopsychedelic]

You are amazing! Thanks for explaining. I’m very interested about your culture, maybe some day I will visit South Korea! 🤗 If one day you make a helpful video for us, foreigners, about stuff we should know and tips about socializing etc, that would be awesome.

[@AlM22]

Yeah, this is so interesting! Because I've heard stuff about this before like in 방탄소년단 there are 3 members with the last name 김. 석진 & 태형 both said they're 광산김씨 whereas 남준 said he's a 강릉김씨. And 민규 from 세븐틴 is also a 광산김 - he was on the radio he called his mother to ask and she confirmed. But then 구준회 from 아이콘 was on the radio and he is 능성 구씨 so they told him to give a message to other 능성 구's but he said there's only 1 구 line anyway. Lol I guess because it's a more rare/less common family name? But it's cool to see the difference between his name and then the 김's like I mentioned, who have many different origin lines!

[@iGNONERA]

You explained it so well! Thank you!

[@jlastre]

Most of what I know about Korea comes from dramas, movies, or KZbin although I've had Korean friends. One of my favorite dramas is _Oh My Geum Bi_ . The main male character, in defending his (adopted) daughter from a fellow student's mother, mentioned that less than 1% of people used surnames in the Joseon era (and that the woman was probably a descendant of slaves). Always thought that fascinating and one of the biggest reason Koreans have the same last names. My last name is very rare even among Hispanics/Latinos/people of Spanish descent. So I've always felt lucky in that regard.

[@Naamy19X9]

Thanks for explaining this/it brought more clarity into something i had wondered about it and was trying to explore. My exploration started when I couldn't understand why one Kim guy said he was not related to another (ikon guys- there are 4 Kims in that idol group). When I looked into it, I was shocked to note that two Kims could get married. I saw something about clans but didn't fully understand how they operate since things are somewhat different in South Africa where I come from and live. In South Africa, you can't get married to someone with the same last name and more importantly, clan name. However, our clan names are adopted by many families I.e. people with different surnames (maybe 4 or 8) would have the same clan name (based on the belief that we have the same common ancestor ). So even if I don't share a surname with someone, if we have the same clan name, i cannot marry nor days them.

[@MsBlueMarshmallows]

genius. thank you for this very very informative and easily understandable video!

[@skteam-z6n]

i love this channel man. great authentic stuff. good content.

[@charlieshinco.]

한국사람인데 외국인들 이거 궁금해할까봐 쳐봤는데 나오네요 ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 화이팅~~~~

[@sojournme8058]

Korean scouter is an amazing eloquent presentor 😘

[@rymchad4883]

That's was very educational and interesting thank you

[@burrem5766]

This is so educational! Very very interesting video~ thank you!

[@eirinitsermentseli1027]

Great content man! Such an interesting video and much more helpful than trying to understand things like that through Wikipedia. Consider doing one about the honorifics used in Korea!

[@wordzmyth]

I understand more now! So after asking the name a person can tell you about their clan and place of origin. So in New Zealand Maori culture after someone asks your name if you are Maori they will ask about your Iwi (clan). Even if you are not Maori they ask exactly where you are from, and that helps track family relationships. We are such a small country this conversation often ends with, yes I know your neighbour, or I have a relative that lives near you! Or I went to school with someone in your family.

[@thejamaican67]

Really interesting well posted and thought out video

[@alliebean3235]

id love to get your insight on why there’s only one 민 clan, even though they’re considered 양반? afaik there’s been 민 empresses and queens and court officials, but they’re one of the few last names w only one clan, which is rly interesting to me!

[@M33pblub]

I learn more from you the watching BBC documentaries!!! Much love and stay awesome. 😁 I have the top 1 and 2 most common surnames in Sweden and its a bit poop. Everyone thinks am related to anyone sharing the same name.

[@claudiacaterrumbus5067]

Finally, I've been wondering about this for so long😂😂😂

[@naping]

I thought it would be something along those lines, thanks for the video!

[@goulash75]

That was a brilliant rundown of Korean family names. Now I have to go find out what branch of Parks my kids belong to... ㅋㅋㅋ

[@normancross1515]

You did a very skillful job explaining this. Thank you! 💝

[@zehraparlak3842]

Very interesting ! thanks for the explanation:)

[@oohkalanzi]

I love it when he says Smith in Korean

[@vivrbn]

Would you know, do a lot of people in Korea study genealogy? Thanks for this explanation. Very informative :)

[@hr1meg]

What a great video!

[@cnamis]

This video was really informative ✨

[@yoitzo]

I absolutely loved this... I want to ask my parents about my last name now. Also your friends are gorgeous

[@Kathie6767]

True that!

[@80Ggirl]

Very interesting video ✌🙌 thanks for sharing

[@bucoybrown]

Nice summary - I’ve never wanted to ask someone about this, so this was an easy way to get a personal explanation!

[@tteokbokki02]

Really interesting. Thank you!✨

[@Tursiz]

honestly even after watching I still don't understand why wouldn't these clans that split from the main branch just change their name entirely or why they didn't make surnames from nicknames or from their trade, like in Europe (potter, smith etc)

[@toodledoo82]

Tursiz because family and heritage mattered and they were your social status. Also the central government kept record of your heritage and required you have identification (wooden blocks with names on them) so they couldn’t change it radically

[@anonymousanthropoid]

this was so interesting holy shit thank you

[@kp-gbuniqueinterest]

you did a good job. I have a hard time explaining this to people.

[@toter80]

0:36 A pop up sound with no animation on screen. I've been lied to!!!

[@goldberrys]

This was very interesting. Thank you for always putting out such great content!! I would love to learn more.

[@pinkypiggy0]

that's so interesting!! thanks for sharing

[@Tini0072712]

Mr. Sohn I love your videos. Your themes are interesting and informativ. Thank you very much ❤️🌹🇰🇷🇦🇹

[@raggmopp857]

Good information. I don't know why foreigners would automatically assume people with the same family name are related. In the US you wouldn't even consider that for people with names like Jones, Johnson, or Smith. They are common names. In actuality, you can't trace the family of any person with an English name. You would have to literally trace their genealogical records. If you think about it, this means Korean names are more accurate than English ones.

[@MewDenise]

In old Sweden, we got our surnames depending on the name of our father. Isabella Svensdotter (Isabella the daughter of Sven) or Klas Johansson (Klas the son of Johan). People with higher status got their surnames thanks to family titles like.. Smed (Blacksmith) Kämpe (Fighter). Others got their surname depending on the name of the place they came from like a town or village, or even the name of their house.

[@BedriyeAboud]

This was so informative and easy to follow! Thanks

[@luvsdvds]

Thanks for this video. Very informative. :)

[@Meyra_]

Can you also make a video about choosing a Korean name for newborns/foreigners? I keep hearing it is quite complex. Thank you 🇰🇷🇹🇩💎✨

[@Olssonricky]

Coming from sweden and watching korean drama, having a name from my favo show Dong Yi would be something if I were alive back in the day.

[@melonramune]

thank you for this. my mother is half korean with the last name park. this makes me only 1/4 korean park family but i was still interested.

[@mporvichova]

Very interesting topic. I know for sure that in my homeland there is only about 20 people with my last name and all of them are my relatives. There is about 40 or so more in neighbouring country (my grandmother is from there and we have her last name because she never married) and they are also all my relatives. Our last name is very rare and therefore anyone with it is almost certainly related to me. On the other hand the most common last name is Nový or Novák which basically means someone new.

[@BTY091319]

This was highly informative!

[@funnyhulagrl]

Thank you! That helps me👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@pambarab5506]

That was really interesting. Thank you!

[@starlanceleo]

Very informative, thank you. :)

[@hanywhiskey]

you are so educational ❤ thank you!

[@alanchien1968]

Nice video bro but u forgot to mention how that one hangul character can correspond to more than one hanja character. For example the last name Jeong (정) can be any of these hanja characters 鄭, 丁, 程. So the number of last name got reduce by a large amount when people start to use hangul to write their names

[@anro_gaming]

i learn something from youtube today, thanks...though i cant really understand or relate to it 🤣

[@azileea]

Since I first watched your videos you've reminded me of Shownu of Monsta X but it's even more funnier now since he's also a Son XD

[@tammytmw]

Very interesting video. Thank you for the education video.

[@sarahmadiha7685]

Very informative. Thank you . But do u ever blink?

[@lazykitten12]

This was so informative!!

[@rheaalino8795]

Super informative thank you for this video :)

[@seriamendito7384]

Wow......Thank You for Showing and Explaining this was very Interesting.

[@culatergaterlionwarrior4148]

Wow you answered my question about Korean last names

[@gsilverstone]

Very informative! You're a great storyteller!! 👍🏼

[@fiorellageno3797]

That was so informative!

[@medar.1002]

Thank you for the video, it was interesting

[@clairufo]

Awesome information!

[@gerardelodie6629]

Very interesting video as usual. 😁