Myung

Myung, also spelled Myeong, Myong, or Myoung, is a Korean family name, a single-syllable Korean given name, and an element in some two-syllable Korean given names. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write it.

Myung
Hangul	명
Hanja	Family/given: 明 Given name only 名命鳴銘溟暝椧皿瞑茗 蓂螟酩慏洺眀䳟冥
Revised Romanization	Myeong
McCune–Reischauer	Myŏng

Family name

The surname Myeong is derived from the Chinese surname Ming, written with the hanja 明, meaning "bright" or "brilliance".^[1] The 2000 South Korean census estimated that 26,746 people had this family name.^[2] In a study by the National Institute of the Korean Language based on 2007 application data for South Korean passports, it was found that 62.1% of people with this surname spelled it in Latin letters as Myung in their passports. The Revised Romanisation spelling Myeong was in second place at 18.9%, while another 16.2% used the spelling Myoung. Rarer alternative spellings (the remaining 2.8%) included Myeoung.^[3]

People with this family name include:

• Ming Yuzhen (1328–1366), Ming Xia Dynasty emperor, founder of several Myung clans
• Myoung Bok-hee (born 1979), South Korean handball player, Olympic silver medalist
• Myong Cha-hyon (born 1990), North Korean football player
• Myong Dong-chan (1948–1999), North Korean football player
• Myung Hyung-seo (born 2001), South Korean singer, member of CLASS:y
• Myung Jaehyun (born 2003), South Korean rapper and singer-songwriter, member of BoyNextDoor
• Myung Jae-nam (1939–1999), South Korean hapkido practitioner
• Myung Ji-yun (born 1975), South Korean actress
• John Myung (born 1967), American bassist, founder of Dream Theater
• John Myung, American accountant and poker player
• Myung Jun-jae (born 1994), South Korean football player
• Myung Kwang-sik (1940–2009), South Korean hapkido practitioner
• Myung Kyungjae (born 1968), South Korean biologist
• Myung Rye-hyun (born 1929), North Korean football manager
• Myung Se-bin (born 1975), South Korean actress
• Myung Tae-kyun (born 1970), South Korean businessman and journalist

Given name

Hanja

There are 19 hanja with the reading "myeong" on the South Korean government's official list of hanja which may be registered for use in given names.^[4]

1. 名 (이름 명 ireum myeong): "name"
2. 命 (목숨 명 moksum myeong): "life"
3. 明 (밝을 명 balgeul myeong): "bright"
4. 鳴 (울 명 ul myeong): "cry", "chirp"
5. 銘 (새길 명 saegil myeong): "inscription"
6. 溟 (바다 명 bada myeong): "sea"
7. 暝 (저물 명 jeomul myeong): "to darken"
8. 椧 (홈통 명 homtong myeong): "drainpipe"
9. 皿 (그릇 명 geureut myeong): "dish"
10. 瞑 (눈 감을 명 nun gameul myeong): "to close one's eyes"
11. 茗 (차 싹 명 cha ssak myeong): "tea plant"
12. 蓂 (명협 명 myeonghyeop myeong):
13. 螟 (멸구 명 myeolgu myeong): "leafhopper"
14. 酩 (술 취할 명 sul chwihal myeong): "drunk"
15. 慏 (너그러울 명 neogeureoul myeong): "generous"
16. 洺 (강 이름 명 gang ireum myeong): name of a river
17. 眀 (밝을 명 balgeul myeong): "bright"
18. 䳟 (초명새 명 chomyeongsae myeong): a legendary bird
19. 冥 (어두울 명 eoduul myeong): "dark"

People

People with the single-syllable given name Myung include:

• Yun Myŏng (fl. 15th century), Joseon Dynasty scholar-official

As name element

One name containing this element, Myung-sook, was the fifth-most popular name for newborn girls in South Korea in 1950.^[5] Names containing this element include:

• Myung-hee (unisex)
• Myung-hoon (masculine)
• Myung-hwa (feminine)
• Myung-hwan (masculine)
• Myung-jun (masculine)
• Myung-ok (feminine)
• Myung-soo (masculine)
• Myung-sook (feminine)
• Myung-soon (feminine)
• Myung-yong (masculine)
• Jung-myung (masculine)

See also

• List of Korean family names
• List of Korean given names