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Most common Korean surnames

How many people in South Korea have each surname, from the 2015 census.

The table lists Korean surnames by the number of people counted in Statistics Korea’s 2015 Population and Housing Census, as transcribed in Wikipedia’s List of Korean surnames. It covers the 191 surnames in that table.

The three most common — 김 Kim, 이 Lee and 박 Park — account for 22,189,284 people, 44.7% of the 49,614,556 people counted under these 191 surnames.

Most Korean surnames have one syllable: 13 of the 191 have two (남궁, 황보, 제갈, 사공, 선우, 서문).

The Latin spelling is the usual one given in the table (Kim, Lee, Park), not the Revised Romanization. The hanja is the first one listed for the surname; many surnames can be written with more than one.

In South Korea both partners keep their own names when they marry. Children usually take the father’s surname, and since 2008 the law also allows the mother’s (Wikipedia: Korean name).

No.SurnameUsual spellingHanjaPeople (2015)
1김Kim金10,689,967
2이Lee李7,307,237
3박Park朴4,192,080
4정Jung鄭2,407,601
5최Choi崔2,340,582
6조Cho趙1,453,971
7강Kang姜1,269,290
8장Jang張1,021,107
9윤Yun尹1,020,564
10임Im林1,015,200
11신Shin申986,001
12유Yoo柳963,498
13한Han韓773,537
14오O吳763,334
15서Seo徐752,233
16전Jeon全749,266
17권Kwon權706,212
18황Hwang黃697,475
19안An安685,688
20송Song宋683,521
21홍Hong洪558,994
22양Yang梁530,554
23고Ko高471,429
24문Moon文464,047
25손Son孫457,356
26배Bae裵400,669
27백Baek白382,447
28허Heo許326,782
29노Roh盧315,372
30남Nam南275,659
31심Shim沈272,049
32하Ha河233,106
33주Ju朱232,063
34구Gu具208,550
35곽Kwak郭203,365
36성Seong成199,160
37우Woo禹195,729
38차Cha車194,788
39진Jin陳186,310
40민Min閔171,799
41류Ryu柳163,994
42나Na羅161,015
43지Ji池160,147
44엄Um嚴144,660
45변Byeon卞138,802
46채Chae蔡131,757
47원Won元130,174
48방Bang方129,559
49천Cheon千121,927
50공Kong孔92,340
Show all 191 surnames
No.SurnameUsual spellingHanjaPeople (2015)
51현Hyun玄88,831
52여Yeo呂80,672
53함Ham咸80,659
54염Yeom廉69,428
55석Seok石60,607
56추Chu秋60,561
57도Do都57,946
58소So蘇53,856
59설Seol薛45,692
60선Seon宣42,842
61마Ma馬39,196
62길Gil吉38,173
63연Yeon延34,850
64위Wi魏32,191
65표Pyo表30,749
66명Myung明29,110
67기Ki奇29,062
68반Ban潘28,223
69라Ra羅25,974
70왕Wang王25,581
71금Geum琴25,472
72옥Ok玉25,107
73육Yook陸23,455
74인In印22,363
75맹Maeng孟22,028
76제Je諸21,988
77모Mo牟21,912
78남궁Namgung南宮21,313
79탁Tak卓21,099
80국Kook鞠20,768
81어Eo魚18,929
82경Kyung慶16,958
83은Eun殷16,927
84편Pyeon片16,689
85용Yong龍15,276
86예Ye芮13,587
87봉Bong奉12,959
88사Sa史10,998
89부Bu夫10,604
90황보Hwangbo皇甫10,427
91가Ga賈9,950
92복Bok卜9,538
93태Tae太9,073
94목Mok睦8,859
95형Hyeong邢7,328
96계Kye桂6,641
97피Pi皮6,578
98두Du杜6,428
99감Kam甘6,024
100동Dong董5,936
101호Ho扈5,853
102빈Bin賓5,782
103제갈Jegal諸葛5,735
104음Eum陰5,604
105온On溫5,418
106사공Sagong司空4,488
107시Si施4,354
108범Beom范3,838
109선우Sunwoo鮮于3,648
110승Seung承3,430
111좌Jwa左3,383
112팽Paeng彭2,935
113간Kan簡2,525
114상Sang尙2,416
115갈Gal葛2,086
116서문Seomun西門2,044
117견Kyeon甄1,684
118단Dan段1,632
119순Sun荀1,237
120당Dang唐1,146
121창Chang昌1,095
122옹Ong邕967
123화Hwa化915
124빙Bing氷763
125종Jong鍾681
126대Dae大669
127풍Pung馮651
128궁Gung弓572
129엽Yeop葉571
130아A阿529
131평Pyeong平515
132독고Dokgo獨孤502
133내Nae乃374
134판Pan判278
135리Ri李240
136초Cho楚236
137매Mae梅201
138궉Gwok鴌183
139낭Nang浪181
140동방Dongbang東方180
141필Pil弼174
142묵Muk墨172
143근Geun斤170
144점Jeom占158
145해Hae海155
146탄Tan彈149
147랑Rang浪125
148만Man萬124
149운Un雲118
150돈Don頓117
151곡Gok曲101
152야Ya夜77
153섭Seop葉75
154자Ja慈75
155후Hu侯74
156로Ro路67
157포Po包57
158담Dam譚47
159림Rim林47
160수Su隋47
161삼Sam森38
162학Hak郝35
163요Yo姚29
164총Chong叢27
165교Gyo橋26
166애Ae艾24
167영Yeong榮24
168묘Myo苗21
169관Gwan關20
170등Deung滕20
171뇌Noe雷19
172려Ryeo呂19
173뢰Roe雷19
174증Jeung增18
175독Dok獨17
176미Mi米16
177보Bo寶16
178비Bi丕16
179무Mu武15
180란Ran欒10
181산San山9
182난Nan欒8
183망절Mangjul網切8
184어금Eogeum魚金8
185다Da多7
186무본Mubon武本6
187번Beon樊6
188완Wan阮6
189등정Deungjeong藤井5
190탕Tang湯5
191황목Hwangmok荒木5

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