Im (Korean surname)

Im
Hangul	,
Hanja	,
Revised Romanization	Im, Rim
McCune–Reischauer	Im, Rim

Rim
Family name
Pronunciation	Im (south official) Rim (north)
Meaning	forest
Region of origin	North and South Korea
Language(s) of origin	Korean
Related names	Lin

Im
Family name
Pronunciation	Im, Yim, Eem
Meaning	allow, appoint
Region of origin	North and South Korea
Language(s) of origin	Korean

Im or Rim is a common Korean family name equivalent either to the Chinese surname Lin or Ren depending on the clan branch.

The first clan branch is the Supul Rim (수풀 림, meaning Forest-Rim) and its Hanja character is 林. The Supul Rim branch consists of two large clan houses; the first is Naju (early Hoijin) and the second, which is the elder branch is Pyeongtaek. Members of this branch often write their names as both 임 (Im; more common) and 림 (Rim). The character 林 means "forest".

The second clan branch is the Matgil Im (맡길 임) or Mateul Im (맡을 임) and its Hanja character is 任. The Matgil Im/Mateul Im branch consists of one large clan house called Pungcheon (풍천) and a smaller clan house called Jangheung (장흥). Members of this clan branch both write and pronounce their names as 임 (Im). The character 任 means "trusted/to bear, duty".

When 林 (임/림) is romanized, it is usually spelled as "Rim", or occasionally as "Lim".

When 任 (임) is romanized, it is usually spelled as "Im", although is sometimes spelled "Yim".

Statistics from the year 2000 show that there were 762,767 수풀 림 (Rim/林) and 172,726 맡길 임 (Im/任) in South Korea.

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