Hyun
Pronunciation/hjʌn/
Origin
Word/nameKorean
MeaningDifferent depending on Hanja
Other names
Alternative spellingHyeon, Hyon, Hyoun
Hyun
Hangul
현
Hanja
賢, 炫, 玄, 顯, and others
Revised RomanizationHyeon
McCune–ReischauerHyŏn
IPA[hjʌn]

Hyun, also spelled Hyeon or Hyon, Hyoun, is a Korean surname, a single-syllable Korean given name, and an element in many two-syllable Korean given names.[1] As given name meaning differs based on the hanja used to write it. There are 42 hanja with the reading "hyun"[2] on the South Korean government's official list of hanja which may be used in given names.

As a surname

Overview

The family name Hyun is written with only one hanja (玄; 검을 현 geomeul hyeon) meaning "dark" or "mysterious". The 2000 South Korean Census found 81,807 people and 25,547 households with this family name.[3] In a study by the National Institute of the Korean Language based on 2007 application data for South Korean passports, it was found that 80.5% of people with this surname spelled it in Latin letters as Hyun in their passports. Another 14.9% spelled it as Hyeon, and 2.2% as Hyoun. Rarer alternative spellings (the remaining 2.4%) included Heon and Hyean.[4]

Clans

The surviving bon-gwan (origin of a clan lineage, not necessarily the actual residence of the clan members) as of 2000 included:

Family seal of the Yeonju Hyon clan
  1. Yeonju (Nyongbyon County), North Pyongan Province: 59,096 people and 18,686 households.[3] Yeonju is an old name of Nyongbyon County, and is located in territory which became part of North Korea after the division of Korea. The clan members claim descent from Hyeon Dam-yun (현담윤; 玄覃胤), who held the position of munha sirang pyeongjangsa (문하시랑평장사; 門下侍郞平章事) in the Secretariat-Chancellery under Myeongjong of Goryeo (r. 1170–1197).[5][6]
  2. Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province: 4,938 people and 1,438 households.[3] They are a branch of the Yeonju clan, claiming descent from Hyeon Dam-yun via Hyeon Gyu (현규; 玄珪), who held the position of gunsu (군수; 郡守) for Gobu County (고부군; 古阜郡), Jeolla Province (today Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province) under Sejong of Joseon (r. 1418–1450).[7][8]
  3. Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province: 3,534 people and 1,099 households.[3] They claim descent from Hyeon Myeong (현명, 玄命), an official under Injo of Joseon (r. 1623–1649).[9]
  4. Yeongju, North Gyeongsang Province: 1,724 people and 531 households.[3]
  5. Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province: 1,261 people and 376 households.[3] They are a branch of the Yeonju clan, claiming descent from Hyeon Dam-yun via his son Hyeon Deok-yu (현덕유; 玄德裕), who was also an official under Myeongjong of Goryeo.[10]
  6. Other bon-gwan: 12,343 people and 3,387 households.[3]
  7. Unknown bon-gwan: 172 people and 30 households.[3]

People

People with the surname Hyun include:

As a given name

As name element

Many names containing this syllable have been popular for newborn children in South Korea, for newborn girls in the 1950s through the 1990s, and for newborn boys from the 1980s up through the 2010s:[11]

Newborn boys
Newborn girls

Other given names containing this element include:

First syllable
Second syllable

People[edit]

People with the single-syllable given name Hyun include:

Entertainers[edit]

  • Joo Hyun (born Joo Il-choon, 1943), South Korean actor
  • Woo Hyun (born 1964), South Korean actor
  • Lee Hyun (born 1983), South Korean singer

Footballers[edit]

  • Cho Hyun (born 1974), South Korean midfielder (K-League)
  • Choi Hyun (born 1978), South Korean goalkeeper (K-League)
  • Yoo Hyun (born 1984), South Korean goalkeeper (K-League)
  • Park Hyun (born 1988), South Korean midfielder (K-League Challenge)
  • Kim Hyun (footballer) (born 1993), South Korean striker (K-League 2)

Other[edit]

  • Choe Hyon (1907–1982), North Korean general and politician
  • Yoon Hyun (born 1966), South Korean judo practitioner
  • Joh Hyun (born 1969), South Korean novelist
  • Jung Hyun (born 1994), South Korean baseball player
  • Chung Hyeon (born 1996), South Korean tennis player
  • Na Hyun, South Korean screenwriter and director

Fictional characters[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ List of Korean given names
  2. ^ 대법원 인명용 : 네이버 한자사전 "현"
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "행정구역(구시군)/성씨·본관별 가구 및 인구" [Family names by administrative region (district, city, county): separated by bon-gwan, households and individuals]. Korean Statistical Information Service. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  4. ^ 성씨 로마자 표기 방안: 마련을 위한 토론회 [Plan for romanisation of surnames: a preparatory discussion]. National Institute of the Korean Language. 25 June 2009. p. 61. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  5. ^ 연주현씨(延州玄氏) [Yeonju Hyeon clan]. Academy of Korean Studies, Digital Encyclopedia of Korean Rural Literature. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  6. ^ "연주 현씨" [Yeonju Hyeon clan]. JoongAng Ilbo. 20 February 1982. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  7. ^ "연주 현씨(延州玄氏)" [Yeonju Hyeon clan]. Bucheon: Jokbo Library. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  8. ^ "성주현씨(星州玄氏)" [Seongju Hyeon clan]. Bucheon: Jokbo Library. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  9. ^ "경주현씨(慶州玄氏)" [Gyeongju Hyeon clan]. rootsinfo.co.kr. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  10. ^ "창원 현씨" [Changwon Hyeon clan]. Academy of Korean Studies, Digital Encyclopedia of Rural Korean Literature. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i "한국인이 가장 줗아하는 이름은 무엇일까?". babyname.co.kr. Retrieved 2012-11-09.
  12. ^ a b c d 이진희 (Yi Jin-hui) (2009-01-28). "너도 민준이니… 어! 또 서연이야". Hankook Ilbo. Archived from the original on January 22, 2011. Retrieved 2012-10-27.
  13. ^ a b "남자 → '민준' 여자 → '서연' 가장 많아". Law Times. 2010-01-20. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
  14. ^ 2011년 인기 이름 리포트 (in Korean). Johnson's Baby Center. Archived from the original on 2013-10-23. Retrieved 2013-10-22.
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