Seong, also spelled Song or Sung, is an uncommon

Korean family name This is a list of Korean surnames, in Hangul alphabetical order. Note: (S) denotes South Korea. (N) denotes North Korea. The most common Korean family name (particularly in South Korea) is Kim, followed by Lee and Park. These three family na ...

, a single-syllable

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 (''seo ...

, as well as a common element in two-syllable Korean given names. The meaning differs based on the hanja used to write it.

Family name

The family name Seong is written with only one hanja, meaning "succeed" or "accomplish" (). The 2000 South Korean Census found 167,903 people with this family name, up by six percent from 158,385 in the 1985 census. This increase was far smaller than the fifteen percent growth in the overall South Korean population over the same period. They traced their origins to only a single ''

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 ...

'',

Changnyeong County Changnyeong County (''Changnyeong-gun'' 창녕군) is a county in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. In the early Three Kingdoms period, Changnyeong was the seat of Bihwa Gaya, a member of the Gaya confederacy which was later conquered ...

. This was also the place where they formed the highest concentration of the local population, with 2,360 people (3.61%). 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 67.4% of people with this surname spelled it in Latin letters as Sung in their passports. The Revised Romanisation spelling Seong was in second place at 29.4%. Rarer alternative spellings (the remaining 3.2%) included Seung, Shung, and the Yale Romanisation spelling Seng.

Government and politics

* Seong Sam-mun (1418–1456), Joseon Dynasty official * Seong Seung (died 1456), Joseon Dynasty official *

Seong Huian Seong Hui-an (Hangul: 성희안, Hanja: 成希顔; 1461 – 1513) was a Korean Joseon Dynasty politician and Neo-Confucianism Philosopher served as Chief State Councillor during the reign of King Jungjong in 1513 until his death . He was one of t ...

(1461–1513), Joseon Dynasty official *

Seong Hon Seong Hon (1535 – 1598) was a Korean philosopher, poet, and politician during the Joseon Dynasty. He was a Neo-Confucianist scholar who was a close friend of the scholar Yi I (Yulgok) and an older contemporary of Yi Hwang (Toegye), leader of th ...

(1535–1598), Joseon Dynasty official * Ui-bin Seong (1753–1786), Joseon Dynasty concubine *

Sung Jusik Sung Jusik (Korean: 성주식; Hanja:成周寔; 1891 - 1959) is a Korean soldier, socialist independence activist at the time of Korea under Japanese rule and politician of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. In the time of Korea under ...

(1891–1956), Korean independence activist, later a North Korean politician * Seong Hye-rang (born 1935), North Korean defector *

Sung Yun-mo Sung Yun-mo (; born 27 June 1963) is a South Korean politician previously served as the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy under President Moon Jae-in from 2018 to 2021. Before promoted to Minister, he was President Moon's first C ...

(born 1963), South Korean politician * Sung Jae-gi (1967–2013), South Korean activist

Popular culture

Sung Dong-il Sung Dong-il (born April 27, 1967) is a South Korean actor. Sung made his acting debut in theater in 1987, then was recruited at the 1991 SBS open talent auditions. He rose to fame as the comic, Jeolla dialect-speaking character "Red Socks" in ...

(born 1964), South Korean actor * Sung Ji-ru (born 1968), South Korean actor * Sung Hyun-ah (born 1975), South Korean actress * Sung Si-kyung (born 1979), South Korean ballad singer * Sung Yu-ri (born 1981), South Korean pop singer * Sung Yu-bin (born 2000), South Korean actor

Sport

* Sung Nak-woon (1923–1986), South Korean football forward *

Seong Nak-gun Seong Nak-gun (born 26 February 1962) is a South Korean sprinter. He competed in the men's 4 × 100 metres relay at the 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly ...

(born 1962), South Korean sprinter * Sung Han-kook (born 1963), South Korean badminton player * Sung Jung-a (born 1965), South Korean basketball player * Sung Kyung-hwa (born 1965), South Korean handball player * Sung Hee-jun (born 1974), South Korean long jumper * Sung Han-soo (born 1976), South Korean football forward (K League 1) * Sung Jong-hyun (born 1979), South Korean football defender (K League 1, China League One) * Sung Kyung-mo (born 1980), South Korean football goalkeeper (K League 1) * Sung Min (swimmer) (born 1982), South Korean swimmer * Sung Hyun-ah (footballer) (born 1982), South Korean football forward * Seong Kyung-il (born 1983), South Korean football goalkeeper (K League 1) * Sung Si-bak (born 1987), South Korean short track speed skater * Seong Se-hyeon (born 1990), South Korean curler * Sung Ji-hyun (born 1991), South Korean badminton player *

Sung Eun-ryung Sung Eun-ryung (born 14 April 1992 in Seoul) is a South Korean luger. Sung competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics for South Korea. In the Luge at the 2014 Winter Olympics – Women's singles, Women's singles she placed 29th. She was also a part o ...

(born 1992), South Korean luger *

Seong Eun-jeong Seong Eun-jeong (born 31 October 1999) is a South Korean professional golfer. Before turning professional, she won the 2016 U.S. Women's Amateur. Her win granted her exemptions into several majors on the LPGA Tour from 2016 to 2017. At the 201 ...

(born 1999), South Korean professional golfer * Sung Nak-so, South Korean table tennis player

Other

* Seong Baek-in (born 1933), South Korean Tungusologist * Dan Keun Sung (born 1952), South Korean electronic engineer * Wonyong Sung (born ), South Korean professor of electronic and information engineering *

Jung Mo Sung Jung Mo Sung (born 1957) is a Roman Catholic lay theologian trained in theology, ethics, and education. He works within the paradigm of liberation theology and can be considered a "next generation" theologian-practitioner. He has served as a ...

(born 1957), South Korean-born Brazilian theologian * Doris Sung (born 1964), American educator of Korean descent * Seung-Yong Seong (born 1965), South Korean immunologist *

Kiwan Sung Kiwan Sung (born 1967) is a Korean poet and musician. He is noted for his avant-garde, experimental poems in the literary world. He aims to write poetry that is completely different from any preexisting poems and has tried many experimental atte ...

(born 1967), South Korean poet * Hugh Sung (born 1968), American classical pianist of Korean descent *

Shi-Yeon Sung Shi-Yeon Sung (born 1975, in Busan) is a South Korean classical conductor. In 2006, she became the first woman to win first prize in the Sir Georg Solti International Conductors' Competition. In 2007, she won second prize in Bamberg's Gustav Mah ...

(born 1975), South Korean classical conductor * Steve Sung (born 1985), South Korean poker player * Mikyung Sung (born 1993), South Korean double bass player * Lea Seong, South Korean fashion designer

Fictional characters

*Seong Chun-hyang, the title character of the folk tale ''

Chunhyangjeon ''Chunhyangjeon'' (춘향전; 春香傳; lit. ''The Story of Chunhyang or'' ''The Tale of Chunhyang'') is one of the best known love stories and folk tales of Korea. It is based on the pansori '' Chunhyangga'', the most famous of the five survivin ...

'' *

Seong Mi-na The following is a comprehensive list of characters from the ''Soulcalibur'' series of video games, beginning with ''Soul Edge'' (''Soul Blade'') in 1995. Overview The ''Soulcalibur'' series is a weapon-based fighting game franchise developed b ...

, in Japanese fighting game series ''Soul'' *Sung Jinwoo, protagonist of the South Korean light novel and manhwa, ''

Solo Leveling ''Solo Leveling'', also alternatively translated as ''Only I Level Up'' (), is a South Korean web novel written by Chugong. It was serialized in Kakao's digital comic and fiction platform KakaoPage beginning on July 25, 2016, and was later pub ...

'' *Seong Gi-hun, the main character of the television series ''

Squid Game ''Squid Game'' () is a South Korean survival drama television series created by Hwang Dong-hyuk for Netflix. Its cast includes Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Wi Ha-joon, HoYeon Jung, O Yeong-su, Heo Sung-tae, Anupam Tripathi, and Kim Joo-r ...

In given names

Hanja

, regulations of the

Supreme Court of Korea The Supreme Court of Korea () is the highest ordinary court in the judicial branch of South Korea, seated in Seocho, Seoul. Established under Chapter 5 of the Constitution of South Korea, the Court has ultimate and comprehensive jurisdicti ...

permit the following 24 hanja with the reading Seong, plus six variant forms, to be registered for use in given names. Ten characters from the table of

basic hanja for educational use Basic Hanja for educational use ( ko, 한문 교육용 기초 한자, hanmun gyoyukyong gicho Hanja) are a subset of Hanja defined in 1972 (and subsequently revised in 2000) by the South Korean Ministry of Education for educational use. Students a ...

: # (): "family name" # (): "character", "personality" # (): "accomplish" #* ''(variant)''This variant uses in place of the hook stroke used in the standard form.This is officially listed as a separate character in Schedule 1 of the regulations, rather than a variant form in Schedule 2 of the regulations. # (): "castle" #* ''(variant)'' # (): "sincere" #* ''(variant)'' # (): "abundant" #* ''(variant)'' # (): "to observe" # (): "sage" # (): "voice" # (): "star" Fourteen characters from the table of additional hanja for name use: # (): name of a kind of jade # (): "beautiful" # (): "brightness of jade" # (): "to realise" # (): "to awaken" # (): "library" # (): "

orangutan Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genu ...

" # (): "reed" # (): "rotting meat" # (): "property", "valuables" # (): "victory" # (): "bright" #* ''(variant)'' #* ''(variant)''This variant form is not yet encoded in Unicode. #: "sharp hearing"This character is part of the

CJK Unified Ideographs Extension B CJK Unified Ideographs Extension B is a Unicode block A Unicode block is one of several contiguous ranges of numeric character codes ( code points) of the Unicode character set that are defined by the Unicode Consortium for administrative and ...

block and might not be displayed or printed properly. It consists of the ear radical and a character meaning "star" (). # (): "red horse"

People

People with the monosyllabic given name Seong include: *Seong Gi (died 108 BC), Gojoseon general killed during the

Han conquest of Gojoseon The Han conquest of Gojoseon was a campaign launched by Emperor Wu of Han China against Wiman Joseon between 109 and 108 BCE. It resulted in the fall of Gojoseon and the establishment of the Four Commanderies of Han in the northern half of the ...

Seong of Baekje Seong of Baekje (also ''Holy King'', died 554) (r. 523–554) was the 26th king of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He was a son of Muryeong of Baekje and is best known for making Buddhism the state religion, moving the national ca ...

(–554), 26th king of Baekje *

Seong of Balhae Seong, also spelled Song or Sung, is an uncommon Korean family name, a single-syllable Korean given name, as well as a common element in two-syllable Korean given names. The meaning differs based on the hanja used to write it. Family name The fa ...

(died 795), 5th ruler of the kingdom of Balhae *

Jin Xing Jin Xing (; born August 13, 1967) is a Chinese ballerina, modern dancer, choreographer, actress, founder and artistic director of the contemporary dance company Shanghai. She is a transgender celebrity. Early life Jin was born in 1967 in Shen ...

(; born 1967), Chinese ballet dancer of Korean descent

As name element

Many names starting with this element have been popular names for newborn baby boys in earlier decades, according to South Korean government data: *1940: Sung-ki (9th place) *1950:

Sung-soo Sung-soo, also spelled as Seong-soo, Seong-su, or in North Korea as Song-su, is a Korean masculine given name. The meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 27 hanja with the reading "seong, sung" and 6 ...

(3rd place) and

Sung-ho Sung-ho, also spelled Seong-ho, is a Korean masculine given name. The meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 27 hanja with the reading " sung" and 49 hanja with the reading " ho" on the South Korean ...

(6th place) *1960:

(1st place) and

(7th place) *1970:

(2nd place), Sung-jin (3rd place), Sung-hoon (5th place), and Sung-min (8th place) *1980: Sung-min (2nd place) and Sung-hoon (6th place) *1990: Sung-min (3rd place) and Sung-hyun (4th place) Other names containing beginning with this element include: * Sung-chul (masculine) *

Sung-ha Sung-ha, also spelled Seong-ha, is a Korean masculine given name. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 27 hanja with the reading " sung" and 24 hanja with the reading "ha" on the South Korean go ...

(masculine) * Seong-han (unisex) * Sung-hee (unisex) * Seong-ja (feminine) *

Sung-keun Seong-geun or Sung-keun, also spelled Song-gun, is a Korean masculine given name. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 27 hanja with the reading "seong" and 18 hanja with the reading "geun" on t ...

(masculine) * Seong-gyeong (unisex) *

Sung-mi Sung-mi, also spelled Seong-mi or Song-mi, is a Korean feminine given name. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 27 hanja with the reading "Seong, sung" and 33 hanja with the reading "mi" on the ...

(feminine) * Sung-nam (masculine) *

Sung-sook Sung-sook, also spelled Song-suk, is a Korean feminine given name. Its meaning depends on the hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as ...

(feminine) * Sung-woo (masculine) * Sung-yong (masculine) Other names ending with this element include: * Dae-sung (masculine) *

Hae-seong Hae-seong, also spelled Hae-sung, is a Korean masculine given name. Its meaning varies based on the hanja used. There are 23 hanja with the reading "hae" and 27 hanja with the reading " seong" on the South Korean government's official list of han ...

(masculine) *

Hee-sung Hee-sung, also spelled Hee-seong, is a Korean unisex given name. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 24 hanja with the reading " hee" and 27 hanja with the reading " sung" on the South Korean g ...

(unisex) *

Hye-sung Hye-sung, also spelled as Hye-seong, or in North Korea as Hye-song, is a Korean unisex given name. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 16 hanja with the reading " hye" and 27 hanja with the re ...

(unisex) *

Il-sung Il-sung, also spelled Il-seong, is a Korean masculine given name. It was the fifth-most popular name for baby boys in 1940, according to South Korean government data. One common pair of hanja used to write the name () may also be read as a Japa ...

(masculine) *

Jae-sung Jae-sung, also spelled Jae-seong, is a Korean masculine given name. Its meaning depends on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 20 hanja with the reading "Jae (Korean name), jae" and 27 hanja with the reading "seong" on th ...

(masculine) * Jin-sung (unisex) * Oh-seong (masculine) * Tae-sung (masculine) * Woo-sung (masculine)

Notes

References

{{given name, type=both Korean-language surnames