Most Common/Prevalent

Korean Last Names/Surnames

Contrary to common belief, it has been reported that there are more than 280 Korean last names/surnames in use. However, as expected, a few last names/family names dominate within the South Korean population - of course, it is noted that each family name is divided into one or more clans. According to the 2000 data from the South Korean National Statistical Office (based on the 2000 total population figure of approximately 46 million), the following are the ten most common surnames/family names:

1) Kim​​ (9,925,949 people)

2) Lee/Rhee (6,796,227)

3) Park/Pak (3,895,121)

4) Chung/Jung (2,230,611)

5) Choi (2,169,704)

6) Cho (1,347,730)

7) Kang (1,169,805)

8) Yoo/Yu/Ryu (1,040,984)

9) Yoon (948,600)

10) Chang/Jang (943,257)

​It is noted that the top 3 surnames/family names make up nearly 45% of the total South Korean population.

​For a complete list on this topic, please refer to the following link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_South_Korean_surnames_by_prevalence