Cheon (Korean surname)

Cheon, also spelled Chun or Chon, is an uncommon Korean surname. It is written with either of two hanja:

  • Ilcheon Cheon () meaning "thousand". This is the more common character, used as a surname by 103,811 people in 32,229 households in South Korea, according to the 2000 census.[1]
  • Haneul Cheon (), meaning "heaven". The 2000 census found 8,416 people in 2,668 households who used this character to write their surname.[1]
Cheon
Hangul
Hanja
or
Revised RomanizationCheon
McCune–ReischauerCh'ŏn

In a study by the National Institute of Korean Language based on 2007 application data for South Korean passports, it was found that 50% of people with this family name spelled it in Latin letters as Cheon in their passports, while 42% spelled it Chun, and 3.5% spelled it Chon. Rarer alternative spellings (the remaining 4.5%) included Choun and the Yale romanization Chen.[2]

People with this surname include:

Entertainment edit

Sportspeople edit

  • Cheon Eun-bi (born 1992), South Korean field hockey player who competed at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics
  • Cheon Eun-suk (born 1969), South Korean basketball player
  • Cheon Hui-ju (born 1975), South Korean speed skater
  • Cheon In-sik (born 1968), South Korean sprint canoer
  • Cheon Ju-hyeon (born 1977), South Korean speed skater
  • Cheon Min-ho (born 1987), South Korean sport shooter
  • Cheon Seong-tae (born 1943), South Korean rower
  • Cheon Seul-ki (born 1989), South Korean field hockey player who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics

Writers edit

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See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b 행정구역(구시군)/성씨·본관별 가구 및 인구 [Family names by administrative region (district, city, county): separated by bon-gwan, households and individuals]. Korean Statistical Information Service. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  2. ^ 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. 61. Retrieved 31 December 2021.