Yeon or less commonly Youn (연) is a

Korean surname 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 ...

. The name may correspond to the

Chinese surname Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and among overseas Chinese communities around the world such as Singapore and Malaysia. Written Chinese names begin with surnames, unlik ...

s Yan (燕, 延) or Lian (連). The hanja 延 is much more common than 燕 and 連. Yeon may also refer to the extinct surname (淵).

Origin

燕

燕 (제비 연 '' jebi yeon'') was the surname of the

Yeon clan The was a powerful noble clan of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. History They were one of the "Great Eight Families" (''Daeseongpaljok'', 大姓八族) of Baekje: (Sa (沙氏), Yeon (燕氏), Hyeop (劦氏), Hae (解氏), Jin (眞氏) ...

, one of the

Great Eight Families The Great Eight Families (, ) were eight noble families of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. They were the most powerful of the noble families and had been comrades in arms with the founding monarch Onjo of Baekje. They reached the pi ...

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (, ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BC to 660 AD. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. Baekje was founded by Onjo, the third son of Goguryeo's founder J ...

. This surname is extremely rare in the present-day with a few clans such as the Jeonju Yeon clan and the Jeongpyeong Yeon clan. The character literally means

barn swallow The barn swallow (''Hirundo rustica'') is the most widespread species of swallow in the world. In fact, it appears to have the largest natural distribution of any of the world's passerines, ranging over 251 million square kilometres globally. ...

. According to the 2015 census, 20 people had this surname.

延

延 (늘일 연 ') is the most common hanja character used for the surname "Yeon". The most common ''bon-gwan'' is the

Goksan Yeon clan Goksan Yeon clan () is one of the Korean clans. Their Bon-gwan is in Koksan County, North Hwanghae Province. According to the research held in 2015, the number of the Goksan Yeon clan was 33891. Yeon clan originated from Nanyang Commandery (; arou ...

(곡산 연씨), whose ancestor Yeon Gye-ryeong originated from

Hongnong Commandery Hongnong Commandery ( zh, 弘農郡), also known as Hengnong Commandery ( zh, 恒農郡), was a commandery of China from Han dynasty to Tang dynasty, located in modern western Henan and southeastern Shaanxi. Hongnong was established in 113 BC. Th ...

and later went to Goryeo. During the

Joseon dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and r ...

, the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

surname Nobu (延) was naturalized into Korean as Yeon. According to the 2015 census, 34,766 people had this surname.

連

The Naju Yeon clan uses the hanja character (連, 잇닿을 연 ''itdaeul yeon'') to denote their surname. They are the descendants of Yeon Ju, who contributed to the founding of

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unificat ...

. According to the 2015 census, 59 people had this surname.

淵 (Extinct)

Yeon (淵) was the surname of Yeon Gaesomun, a general of

Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC–668 AD) ( ) also called Goryeo (), was a Korean kingdom located in the northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula and the southern and central parts of Northeast China. At its peak of power, Goguryeo controlled mos ...

. It became extinct when this family emigrated to the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

, with the remaining family members changing their surname due to the naming taboo; the personal name of the first Tang emperor, Li Yuan (李淵) used the character, 淵 and it was illegal for one's surname to be the same as the emperor's name.

Notable people

* Yeon Gaesomun,

military leader * Yeon Ja-yu,

statesman and father of Yeon Gaesomun * Yeon Joon-seok, actor *

Yeon Jung-hoon Yeon Jung-hoon (born November 6, 1978) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for generational epic '' East of Eden'' (2008), crime procedural ''Vampire Prosecutor'' (2011-2012) and the domestically popular weekend drama ''Pots of Gold'' (2013 ...

, actor and television personality *

Yeon Sang-ho Yeon Sang-ho (born 25 December 1978) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. He gained international popularity for working his adult animated films ''The King of Pigs'' (2011) and '' The Fake'' (2013), and the live-action film '' Tr ...

, film director and screenwriter *

Kwangchul Youn Kwangchul Youn (born 1966) is a South Korean operatic bass and academic voice teacher. He made an international career based in Germany, from 1994 to 2004 at the Berlin State Opera. He has performed leading roles at international opera houses an ...

, South Korean operatic bass based in Germany

References

Korean-language surnames {{surname, Yeon