Woo (Korean name)

Woo
Hangul	우
Hanja	Family/given: 於 禹 Given name only: 于宇右牛友雨憂又尤遇 羽郵愚偶優佑祐瑀寓堣 隅玗釪迂䨒旴盂禑紆芋 藕虞雩扜圩慪燠㥥俁邘 盓
Revised Romanization	U
McCune–Reischauer	U

Woo, also spelled Wu or U, is a Korean family name, a single-syllable Korean given name, and an element in some two-syllable Korean given names.

Family name

As a family name, Woo may be written with either of two hanja (禹 and 於). Each has one bon-gwan: for the former, Danyang, Chungcheongbuk-do, and for the latter, Mokcheon-eup (목천읍), Dongnam-gu, Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do, both in what is today South Korea.^[1] The 2000 South Korean census found 180,141 people with these family names.^[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 97.0% of people with this surname spelled it in Latin letters as Woo in their passports, while only 1.6% spelled it as Wu. Rarer alternative spellings (the remaining 1.4%) included U and Wo.^[3]

People with these family names include:

• Woo Jang-choon (1898–1959), Korean-born Japanese botanist
• Woo Yong-gak (born 1929), North Korean commando held in South Korea as one of the unconverted long-term prisoners
• U Tong-chuk (born 1942), North Korean politician
• Woo Bum-kon (1955–1982), South Korean police officer and spree killer
• Meredith Jung-En Woo (born 1958), South Korean-born American political scientist
• Woo Hee-young (born 1963), South Korean footballer
• Sung J. Woo (born 1971), South Korean-born American writer
• Woo Sung-yong (born 1974), South Korean footballer
• Woo Chul (born 1978), South Korean swimmer
• Woo Sun-hee (born 1978), South Korean handball player
• Woo Seung-je (born 1982), South Korean footballer
• Woo Seung-yeon (1983–2009), South Korean actress
• Woo Seung-jae (born 1986), South Korean wrestler
• Kevin Woo (born 1991), American singer of Korean descent
• Masta Wu (born Woo Jin-won in 1978), South Korean rapper (YG Ent. solo artist/duo YMGA, underground rapper, a producer on SMTM3, soon to have own label)
• Zico (rapper) (born Woo Ji-ho, 1992), South Korean rapper, member of Block B
• Hyelim (full name Woo Hye-lim, born 1992), South Korean singer, member of Wonder Girls
• Woo Joo-sung (born 1993), South Korean footballer
• Woo Haram (born 1998), South Korean diver

Given name

There are 41 hanja with the reading "woo" on the South Korean government's official list of hanja which may be registered for use in given names; they are listed in the table at right.^[4]

In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, some names containing this element were popular for newborns in South Korea, including:^[5][6][7][8]

Masculine Hyun-woo (5th place in 1980, 2nd place in 1990, 3rd place in 2008, 5th place in 2009) Kun-woo (6th place in 2008, 7th place in 2009) Shi-woo (4th place in 2011)

Feminine Ji-woo (8th place in 2008, 4th place in 2009, 5th place in 2011)

Other names containing this element include:

First syllable Woo-jin Woo-sung

Second syllable Byung-woo Chang-woo Chul-woo Jin-woo Jung-woo Min-woo

Sang-woo Seung-woo Sung-woo Sun-woo Tae-woo Yeon-woo

See also

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

References

1. "한국성씨일람" [List of Korean surnames]. Kyungpook National University. 2003-12-11. Retrieved 2013-10-30.
2. "성씨인구분포데이터 (Surname population and distribution data)". South Korea: National Statistics Office. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
3. 성씨 로마자 표기 방안: 마련을 위한 토론회 [Plan for romanisation of surnames: a preparatory discussion]. National Institute of the Korean Language. 25 June 2009. p. 60. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
4. "인명용 한자표" [Table of hanja for use in personal names] (PDF). South Korea: Supreme Court. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
5. "한국인이 가장 줗아하는 이름은 무엇일까?". babyname.co.kr. Retrieved 2012-11-09.
6. 이진희 [Yi Jin-hui] (2009-01-28). "너도 민준이니… 어! 또 서연이야". Hankook Ilbo. Retrieved 2012-10-27.
7. "남자 → '민준' 여자 → '서연' 가장 많아". Law Times. 2010-01-20. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
8. 2011년 인기 이름 리포트 (in Korean). Johnson's Baby Center. Retrieved 2013-10-22.