Woo (Korean name)

Woo, also spelled Wu or Wo, Ou, U, is an uncommon Korean surname, a single-syllable Korean given name, and an element in many two-syllable Korean given names. As given name meaning differs based on the hanja used to write it. There are 60 hanja with the reading "woo"[1] on the South Korean government's official list of hanja which may be registered for use in given names.

Woo
Pronunciation/wu/
Origin
Word/nameKorean
MeaningDifferent depending on Hanja
Other names
Alternative spellingWu, Wo, Ou, U
Woo
Hangul
우
Hanja
宇, 雨, 優, 愚, 友, and others
Revised Romanizationu
McCune–Reischaueru
IPA[u]

As a Surname

As a surname, 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.[2] The 2000 South Korean census found 180,141 people with these family names.[3] 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.[4]

People

People with these family names include:

  • U Tak (1262-1342), Korean Confucian scholar during the Goryeo dynasty
  • Woo Jang-choon (1898–1959), Korean-born Japanese botanist
  • Woo Yong-gak (1929–2012), 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
  • Hyo-Won Woo (born 1974), South Korean composer
  • Woo Sung-yong (born 1974), South Korean footballer
  • Woo Chul (born 1978), South Korean swimmer
  • Woo Sun-hee (born 1978), South Korean handball player
  • Masta Wu (born Woo Jin-won, 1978), South Korean rapper with YG Entertainment
  • 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
  • Woo Do-hwan (born 1992), South Korean actor
  • Woo Hye-lim (born 1992), South Korean singer and member of Wonder Girls
  • Zico (rapper) (born Woo Ji-ho, 1992), South Korean rapper, member of Block B
  • Woo Joo-sung (born 1993), South Korean footballer
  • Woo Ji-yoon (born 1996), South Korean musician and former member of Bolbbalgan4
  • Woo Won-jae (born 1996), South Korean rapper
  • Woo Jin-young (born 1997), South Korean singer and member of D1CE
  • Woo Ha-ram (born 1998), South Korean diver

As a given name

People

People with the single-syllable given name U or Woo include:

  • Choe U (1166–1249), military leader of Goryeo
  • Wang U (1079–1122), the personal name of King Yejong of Goryeo
  • Wang U (1365–1389), the personal name of King U of Goryeo
  • Yi U (1912–1945), member of the Korean Imperial household and grandson of Emperor Gojong
  • Park Woo (born 1972), South Korean wrestler

First syllable
Masculine

Second syllable
Masculine
Unisex
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See also

References
  1. 대법원 인명용 : 네이버 한자사전 "우"
  2. "한국성씨일람" [List of Korean surnames]. Kyungpook National University. 2003-12-11. Retrieved 2013-10-30.
  3. "성씨인구분포데이터 (Surname population and distribution data)". South Korea: National Statistics Office. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  4. 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.
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