Jeon (surname)

Jeon (전), also often spelled Jun, Chun or Chon, is a common Korean family name. As of the South Korean census of 2000, there were 687,867 people with this name in South Korea. It can be written with three different hanja, each with different meanings and indicating different lineages.^[1]

• 全 (온전할 전 onjeonhal jeon, "whole"). This is the most common character, used by 493,419 people in 153,208 households according to the 2000 Census.^[1] The surname has a Baekje origin. It is also said that when Goryeo dynasty fell, many changed their royal surname Wang to Jeon (全) / Ok (玉) to avoid severe persecution by the succeeding Joseon dynasty.
• 田 (밭 전 bat jeon, "field"). This is the second-most common character, used by 188,354 people in 58,895 households.^[1] The surname has a Goryeo origin.
• 錢 (돈 전 don jeon, "money"). This is the least common character, used by 6,094 people in 1,883 households.^[1]

In a study by the National Institute of Korean Language based on 2007 application data for South Korean passports, it was found that 67% of people with this family name spelled it in Latin letters as Jeon in their passports, while 23% spelled it Jun, and 5% spelled it Chun. Rarer alternative spellings (the remaining 5%) included Chon, Cheon, Jean, Jeun, Jen, Jhun, and Zeon.^[2]