Seon, also spelled Sun, is an uncommon

Korean family name This is a list of Korean surnames, in Hangul alphabetical order. Note: (S) North–South differences in the Korean language, denotes South Korea. (N) North–South differences in the Korean language, denotes North Korea. The most common Korean fa ...

, as well as an element in

Korean given name A Korean name (Hangul: ; Hanja: ) consists of a family name followed by a given name, as used by the Korean people in both South Korea and North Korea. In the Korean language, ''ireum'' or ''seongmyeong'' usually refers to the family name (''seon ...

s. Its meaning differs based on the

hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, wh ...

used to write it.

Family name

As a family name, Seon may be written with either of two hanja, one meaning "to announce" () and the other meaning "first" (). Each has one ''

bon-gwan Bon-gwan (or Bongwan) is the concept of clan in Korea, which is used to distinguish clans that happen to share the same family name (clan name). Since Korea has been traditionally a Confucian country, this clan system is similar to ancient Chinese ...

'': for the former,

Boseong Boseong County (''Boseong-gun'') is a county in South Jeolla Province, South Korea. Boseong is famous for its green tea leaves, with 26.71 hectares of land dedicated to its production. It is also the birthplace of the Korean independence activ ...

Jeollanam-do South Jeolla Province (; ''Jeollanam-do''; ), also known as Jeonnam, is a province of South Korea. South Jeolla has a population of 1,902,324 (2014) and has a geographic area of located in the Honam region at the southwestern tip of the Korean ...

, and for the latter, Jinseong,

Jinju Jinju () is a city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It was the location of the first (1592) and second (1593) Sieges of Jinju by Japanese forces during the Imjin War. The Republic of Korea Air Force Education and Training Command is ...

Gyeongsangnam-do South Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상남도, translit=Gyeongsangnam-do, ) is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World H ...

, both in what is today

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. The 2000 South Korean census found 38,849 people with these family names. In a study by the

National Institute of the Korean Language The National Institute of Korean Language is a language regulator of the Korean language. It was created on January 23, 1991, by Presidential Decree No. 13163 (November 14, 1990). It is based in Seoul, South Korea. The institute was originall ...

based on 2007 application data for South Korean passports, it was found that 60.7% of people with this surname spelled it in Latin letters as Sun in their passports, while another 39.2% spelled it as Seon. People with this family name include: * Sun Dong-yeol (born 1963), South Korean baseball player * Sun Mi-sook (born 1968), South Korean volleyball player * Sun So-eun (born 1988), South Korean swimmer *Sun Yein (born 1996), stage name Sunyoul, South Korean singer, member of UP10TION * Sun Mu, 20th-century Korean painter * Sun Mi (born 1992), South Korean singer. Changed her name to Lee Sun-mi

Given name

There are 41 hanja with the reading "seon" on the South Korean government's official list of hanja which may be registered for use in given names; they are listed in the table at right. People with the single-syllable name Seon include: *

Seon of Balhae Dae Insu, also known as King Seon (r. 818–830) was the 10th king of the kingdom of Balhae. He restored national strength, and is remembered today as the last of the great Balhae rulers before its fall. Background Dae Insu was a 4th-generati ...

(fl. 818–830), 10th King of Balhae * Kim Seon (fl. 10th century), minor lord of the early Goryeo Dynasty *

Jeong Seon Jeong Seon ( ko, 정선) (1676 – 20 April 1759) was a Korean landscape painter, also known by the pen name Kyomjae. His ''cha'' was Wonbaek and another ''ho'' was Nangok. His works include ink and oriental water paintings, such as ''Inwangjes ...

(1676–1759), Joseon Dynasty landscape painter * Sunwoo Sun (born Jung Yoo-jin, 1975), South Korean actress *

Chloe Kim Chloe Kim (born April 23, 2000) is an American snowboarder and two-time Olympic gold medalist. At the 2018 Winter Olympics, she became the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboarding gold medal when she won gold in the women's snowboard halfpi ...

(Korean name Kim Seon, born 2000), American snowboarder of Korean descent Given names containing this element include: ;First syllable * Sun-hee * Sun-hwa * Sun-mi *

Seon-ok Seon-ok, also spelled Sun-ok or Son-ok, is a Korean feminine given name. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 41 hanja with the reading " seon" and five hanja with the reading " ok" on the South ...

Sun-woo Sun-woo, also spelled Seon-u, Sŏn-u, or Seon-woo, is a Korean surname and unisex given name. It may also be written without the hyphen after the 'n', particularly when used as a surname. Surname As a surname, Sun-woo is written with the hanja . ...

* Sun-young ;Second syllable * Ha-sun * Hee-sun * Jin-sun *

Kwang-seon Kwang-seon, also spelled Kwang-sun, is a Korean masculine given name. The meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 13 hanja with the reading "kwang" and 41 hanja with the reading " seon" on the South Ko ...

* Kyung-sun * Mi-sun *

Min-sun Min-sun is a Korean unisex given name. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 27 hanja with the reading "min" and 41 hanja with the reading " seon" on the South Korean government's official list ...

* Nam-seon

References

{{given name Korean-language surnames Korean given names

Family name

Given name

See also

References