Cheon (Korean surname)

Cheon
Hangul
천
Hanja
千 or 天
Revised RomanizationCheon
McCune–ReischauerCh'ŏn

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

  • Ilcheon Cheon (千) 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 (天), meaning "heaven". The 2000 census found 8,416 people in 2,668 households who used this character to write their surname.[1]

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:

  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.