Tae, also spelled Tai or Thae, is a rare

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 masculine

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 ...

, and an element used in many two-syllable Korean given names. As a family name, it is written with a

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, ...

meaning "great", while in given names, it may have a variety of meanings depending on the hanja used to write it.

As a family name

As a rare Korean family name, Tae is written with only one hanja, meaning "great" (). They are a noble clan directly descended from the royal family of the

Balhae Balhae ( ko, 발해, zh, c=渤海, p=Bóhǎi, russian: Бохай, translit=Bokhay, ), also rendered as Bohai, was a multi-ethnic kingdom whose land extends to what is today Northeast China, the Korean Peninsula and the Russian Far East. It ...

dynasty. The clan ancestor is Dae Jung-sang, the father of the founder of Balhae, Dae Jo-young. The 2000 South Korean Census found 8,165 people with the family name Tae. 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 28.5% of people with that surname spelled it in Latin letters as Tai in their passports, vs. 57.1% as Tae. People with this surname trace their origins to several ''

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 ...

'', including

Namwon Namwon (; ''Namwon-si'') is a city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. Namwon is about 50 minutes from the provincial capital of Jeonju, which is almost three hours away from Seoul. The official city flower is Royal Azalea () while the city tr ...

and Yeongsun in what is now South Korea and Hyeopgye in what is now North Korea. People with this family name include: * Tae Wan-son (born 1915 -1988), South Korean politician and businessman who served as minister of Construction Department. *

Tae Hyun-sil Tae Hyun-sil (born November 11, 1941) is a South Korean actress. Tae was born in Songjin, North Hamgyong province, Korea in 1941. While studying Film at Dongguk University, she was selected as a TV actress in a public recruit held by KBS. Whi ...

(born 1941), South Korean actress *

Thae Yong-ho Thae Yong-ho (, ; born 25 July 1962), also known by his pseudonym Tae Ku-min (), is a North Korean-born South Korean politician and former diplomat who is serving as a member of the National Assembly for the Gangnam district of Seoul. He was Nor ...

(born 1962), North Korean diplomat who defected to South Korea in 2016 * Tae Yoon (born 1992), South Korean football player in India

In given names

Hanja

In given names, the meaning of "Tae" depends on the hanja used to write it. There are 20 hanja with this reading on the South Korean government's official list of hanja which may be used in given names; they are: # (클 태 ''keul tae''): "great" # (클 태 ''keul tae''): "exalted" # (게으를 태 ''ge-eureul tae''): "idle" # (거의 태 ''geo-ui tae'', 위태할 태 ''witaehal tae''): "almost", "dangerous" # (모습 태 ''moseup tae''): "form", "shape" # (일 태 ''il tae''): "to wash" # (바꿀 태 ''bakkul tae''): "to change" # (별 태 ''byeol tae''): "platform" # (아이 밸 태 ''ai bael tae''): "unborn child" # (나라 이름 태 ''nara ireum tae''):

Tai Tai or TAI may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tai (comics) a fictional Marvel Comics supervillain *Tai Fraiser, a fictional character in the 1995 film ''Clueless'' *Tai Kamiya, a fictional character in ''Digimon'' Businesses and organisations ...

, an ancient city-state in modern

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

, China # (볼기 칠 태 ''bolgi chil tae''): "to flog" # (이끼 태 ''ikki tae''): "

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...

" # (티타늄 태 ''titanyum tae''): "

titanium Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...

" # (옥 무늬 태 ''ok munui tae''): "jade pattern" # (복어 태 ''bugeo tae''): "

blowfish Tetraodontidae is a family of primarily marine and estuarine fish of the order Tetraodontiformes. The family includes many familiar species variously called pufferfish, puffers, balloonfish, blowfish, blowies, bubblefish, globefish, swellfis ...

" # (벗을 탈 ''beoseul tae''): "to undress" # (아름다울 태 ''areumdaul tae''): "beautiful" # (미칠 태 ''michil tae''): "to arrive"

As name element

Given names containing this element include: ;First syllable * Tae-min * Tae-hee * Tae-ho *

Tae-hyun Tae-hyun, also spelled Tae-hyeon, is a Korean masculine given name. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 20 hanja with the reading " tae" and 35 hanja with the reading " hyun" on the South Kore ...

* Tae-joon *

Tae-soo Tae-soo is a Korean male given name. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 20 hanja with the reading " tae" and 34 hanja with the reading " soo" on the South Korean government's official list of h ...

* Tae-suk * Tae-sung * Tae-won * Tae-hyung ; * Tae-woo * Tae-wook *

Tae-woong Tae-woong is a Korean masculine given name. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 20 hanja with the reading " tae" and two hanja with the reading "woong" on the South Korean government's official ...

* Tae-yeon *

Tae-yong Tae-yong is a Korean masculine given name. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 20 hanja with the reading " tae" and 24 hanja with the reading " yong" on the South Korean government's official ...

* Tae-young * Tae-il * Tae-ri * Tae-ha ;Second syllable * Hyun-tae *

Ji-tae Ji-tae is a Korean male given name People with this name include: *Justin Chon (born 1981), Korean American actor whose middle name is Jitae *Yoo Ji-tae (born 1976), South Korean actor and film director Fictional characters with this name include ...

* Joon-tae * Ki-tae * Kyung-tae * Young-tae * Min-tae

References

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

As a family name

In given names

Hanja

As name element

See also

References