Kim (Korean surname)

Kim
Family name
Pronunciation	Kim, Gim
Meaning	Gold, iron
Region of origin	Korea
Language(s) of origin	Korean

Kim
Hangul
Hanja
Revised Romanization	Gim
McCune–Reischauer	Kim

Kim (occasionally romanized as Gim) is the most common surname in the Korean Peninsula, accounting for nearly 22% of the population. Kim is written as "김" gim in Korean. ("김" solely by itself has no specific meaning unless specified by its underlying hanja or derived from context.) The hanja for Kim can also be transliterated as Hangul: geum "metal, iron, gold".

The name Kim came from the Chinese word for Gold (金): Jin, Kam, Sinn, or Kim.

Within the population that share the surname Kim, families are not immediately related to each other. These distinctions are important, since Korean law prohibits intermarriage in the same clan, no matter how remote the relationship; now, however, only those in a relationship of second cousins or closer are prohibited from marrying.

As with other Korean surnames, the Kim clans are distinguished by the region of Korea from which they claim to originate. The 2000 South Korean census listed 348 extant Kim lineages.

The Uiseong Kim (Hangul: , hanja: ) Clan traces its lineage back to the last prince of Silla, who later became a Monk.

There are two Andong Kim clans (Hangul: 안동김씨; Hanja: 安東金氏) distinguished as Gu (Hangul: 구; Hanja: 舊) and Shin (Hangul: 신; Hanja: 新) that have 2 separate progenitors.

Some of the notable Gu Andong Kim clan members were General Kim Si-min and Prime Minister Kim Sa-hyeong, who was involved with the Gangnido map.

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Wikipedia