Origins of Korean Surnames: From Royal Symbols to Everyone’s Names

Who Were We When We Only Had Names?

• When and how Korean surnames began
• Why Kim, Lee, and Park are especially common
• The 2,000-year social transformation reflected in the surname before my name

You may have wondered about the origins of Korean surnames. The one or two characters before our given names, which we take for granted, actually represent a grand epic spanning 2,000 years of Korean history. It is a story about power and politics, social ambition and survival, and the formation of national identity.

To understand this long journey, we delve into three pivotal scenes: the myth of Park Hyeokgeose, founder of Silla; the political strategy of Goryeo’s founder Wang Geon; and the story of the slave “Subong,” who spent his life buying his own name. Following these stories, you will realize that Korean surnames are not mere titles but mirrors reflecting the changes of their times.

Chapter 1: The Birth of Surnames as Symbols of Kings and Nobles

Tracing the origins of Korean surnames leads us to the mysterious era of myths. The “Samguk Sagi” and “Samguk Yusa” record that surnames emerged alongside the early kings of Silla.

• Park (朴) clan founder Park Hyeokgeose: Born from a purple egg, which resembled a gourd, hence the surname ‘Park.’
• Seok (昔) clan founder Seok Talhae: Found in a box guarded by magpies, deriving the surname ‘Seok’ from the character for magpie (鵲).
• Kim (金) clan founder Kim Alji: Discovered in a golden box in the forest, earning the surname ‘Kim’ (gold).

However, unlike these mythical narratives, contemporary inscriptions (epigraphs) show no evidence of surname use. People identified themselves by groups or regions, such as “someone from Saryangbu.”

So why were surnames needed? Early surnames were primarily strategic tools to express national identity on the diplomatic stage with China. Like the Go (高) clan of Goguryeo and the Buyeo (扶餘) clan of Baekje, surnames were privileges and external symbols reserved for kings and the highest aristocracy.

Ultimately, the myths of Park Hyeokgeose and Kim Alji are better understood not as historical facts but as parts of “founding myths” created by Goryeo historians to legitimize and sanctify the ruling class’s power.

Chapter 2: A Tool for Unification, Goryeo’s Surname Policy

After ending the turmoil of late Silla, Goryeo’s founder Wang Geon faced the difficult task of uniting powerful local aristocrats nationwide. To solve this, he introduced the innovative bestowal of surnames (Saseong, 賜姓) policy.

Saseong was a system where the king granted surnames to meritorious subjects or influential groups, forging strong bonds.

The most dramatic example is the birth of the Andong Kwon (權) clan. Kim Haeng, a powerful figure from Gochang who aided Wang Geon in the war against Later Baekje, was granted the surname ‘Kwon’ (權), meaning “the way of weighing situations.”

Furthermore, in 940, Wang Geon implemented the Toseong Bunjeong (土姓分定) policy, assigning local aristocrats their home regions as their bon-gwan (origin place) and granting them local surnames. This was not a mere name bestowal but a sophisticated form of social engineering for state governance.

[Insight] The Uniqueness of the Korean Surname-Bon-gwan System Wang Geon’s creation of the ‘surname-bon-gwan’ system established a uniquely Korean identity, distinct from China or Japan, by strongly linking clans to specific regions. This was more than a name; it was a powerful social mechanism signifying that an individual’s roots were connected to a state-recognized territory.

In the end, Korea’s distinctive ‘surname-bon-gwan’ system was the product of a ruler’s meticulous governance technique to unify fragmented powers into one national system.

Chapter 3: The Ladder of Social Mobility, Commercialization of Surnames in Joseon

Surnames, once symbols of the ruling class in Goryeo, became even stronger barriers of social status in Joseon. Legally, surnames were exclusive to the yangban (aristocratic) class; most commoners and slaves could not have surnames.

However, the Imjin and Byeongja invasions shook this rigid social order. As state finances collapsed, the court issued Gongmyeongcheop (空名帖), selling official positions and yangban status for money or grain. Simultaneously, economically ruined yangban began selling spots in genealogies through jokbo (family register) sales.

This massive social change is vividly reflected in the life of the slave ‘Subong (壽奉).’ In 1678, he was a slave without a surname. Forty years later, in 1717, he paid to leave slavery and registered under the name ‘Kim Subong (金壽奉).’ His descendants eventually attained the status of ‘Yuhak (幼學),’ meaning Confucian scholars, by the mid-19th century.

[Experience] The Weight of a Single Character in a Name The 200 years it took Subong’s descendants to achieve ‘Yuhak’ status shows that acquiring a single character in a name was a desperate struggle that could change a family’s fate. It implies that surnames were more than titles—they were proofs of personal dignity and social existence. What is so natural to us today was once a lifelong dream for someone.

Subong’s story is a microcosm of the ‘status inflation’ that shook late Joseon society. As surnames, once exclusive to a few elites, became commodities, the population with surnames rose from 20% in the late 17th century to over 70% by the late 19th century. Paradoxically, the commercialization of surnames internally undermined Joseon’s caste system.

Chapter 4: Finally for Everyone, the Universalization of Surnames in Modern Times

The decisive moment when everyone legally obtained surnames was the enactment of the Minjeok Law (民籍法) in 1909. This was the first law mandating all citizens to register their surnames and bon-gwan for modern population management.

With this law, lower classes such as slaves and butchers without surnames faced a life-changing choice.

• Most common choice: Adopt the surname of their former masters.
• Other choices: Take the surname of a prominent local family or choose common surnames with good meanings.

This is the most important reason why today Kim (金), Lee (李), and Park (朴) are overwhelmingly common. These surnames belonged to the most representative yangban families of the Joseon era, who had the largest numbers of slaves and tenant farmers.

Ultimately, the Minjeok Law, a tool of modernization, granted surnames equally to all but paradoxically imprinted premodern power structures into modern population statistics.

Conclusion

The path surnames have traveled on the Korean Peninsula is a grand testimony to how personal identity intertwines with national history.

• Key Summary

  1. Symbols of Power: Early surnames were sacred privileges enjoyed only by kings and top aristocrats.
  2. Tools of Unification: Goryeo’s founder Wang Geon granted surnames and bon-gwan to control local lords and unify the nation.
  3. Universal Rights: With the collapse of the caste system in late Joseon and the enforcement of the modern Minjeok Law, surnames finally became the right of all citizens.

Now, look again at the surname before your name. Within those one or two characters lie myths, struggles, and aspirations. My name is our history.

What story does your surname hold? Why not take this opportunity to talk with your family about the roots of your lineage?