Kim (Korean surname)

	Kim
Hangul	김
Hanja	金
Revised Romanisation	Gim
McCune–Reischauer	Kim

Kim
	Faimily name
Pronunciation	Gim, Kim
Meanin	gowd
Region o origin	Korea
Leid(s) o origin	Korean

Kim, sometimes spelled Gim, is the maist common family name in Korea. The hanja uised fur the name (金) means "gowd," an, awthough the character is uisually pronooncit 금 [kɯm] geum, it is pronooncit 김 [kim] gim whan uised fur the faimily name an names o some ceeties, e.g. Gimhae (김해, 金海) an Gimpo (김포, 金浦). The surname is uised in Cheenae (as Jin) alang wi Cambodie an Vietnam, awthough it is less common in Vietnam.

Clans[eedit | eedit soorce]

As wi maist ither Korean faimily names, there is mony Kim clans, kent in Korean as bon-gwan (본관, 本貫), ilkane o whilk consists o individual Kim faimilies. Maist Kims belang ane o a few verra lairge clans. Even athin ilka clan, fowk in different faimilies isnae sib tae ilk anither. Thir distinctions is important, acause Korean law uised tae prohibit intermarriage in the same clan, nae maiter hou remote the relationship; thir days, housomeivver, anerlie thaim in a relationship o seicont cousins or closer is prohibitit frae marryin.

As wi ither Korean faimily names, the Kim clans is distinguisht bi the place frae whi they claim tae oreeginate. A vera lairge nummer o distinct Kim clans exists, besides thaim leetit here. The 2000 Sooth Korean census leetit 348 extant Kim lineages.