Yoo (Korean name)

Ryu / Yoo
Hangul	류, 유
Hanja	, , ,
Revised Romanization	Ryu, Yu
McCune–Reischauer	Ryu, Yu

Yoo — also spelled Ryu or Yu or You or Ryoo — is the English transcription of several Korean surnames written as or in Hangul. Some of the family names written as Yoo are derived from the Chinese surnames 劉 or 柳 (Liu) and 兪 (Yu). As of 2000, roughly a million people are surnamed Yoo in South Korea, making up approximately 2% of the population. Of those, the most common is Ryu (Hanja:柳, Hangul:류), with more than six hundred thousand holders, whereas Yu (Hanja:兪, Hangul:유) accounts for about one hundred thousand.

The family name Yoo can be represented by any of the four Hanja: 柳(류), 劉, 兪 and 庾, each with a different meaning. In Korean, only the character 柳 specifically refers to 류 (Ryu) or 유 (Yoo), whereas the characters 劉, 兪 and 庾 refers to 유 (Yu) and is spelled as such; because of its (두음 법칙).

Surname: Hanja: / , Hangul:유,류 Pinyin: Liú. A very common surname, as it was used by the ruling family of the Han Dynasty.

Notable 柳 (Ryu) clans include the Munhwa Ryoo and the Pungsan Ryoo.

According to Chinese legend, Yoo is an ancient Chinese surname. The ancestors of the surname were closely linked with the ancient sage-king named Yu Shun. In Korea, the Yoo lineage traces to the Xia, Han, and Joseon dynasties. Holders of the surname Yu or Yoo had a reputation for charity and diligence. Some sources indicate the existence of as many as 230 clans, but only about twenty have been be positively documented, several of Chinese origin.

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