Why Do All Koreans Have the Same Last Names? (Featuring Harvard Ph.D.)

from Smith to Kardashian from Johnson to Becerra it's impossible to know how much there is exactly but it's estimated that there are 1.5 million to 2 million unique surnames in the United States alone in Korea however we do know exactly how much in 2015 there were 286 surnames used in Korea and I don't know about you guys but in a country of 51 million people that doesn't seem like a lot of variety in fact Korea seems to be dominated by the big three no not that be these big 3 Kim he puck in fact it's estimated that there were ten million six hundred eighty nine thousand nine hundred sixty seven individuals with the last name Kim or approximately twenty point six percent that's one in five Koreans with the last name Kim 14.1% had the last name Lee then 8.1% had the last name puck which would mean forty two point eight percent of Koreans would have the last name Kim e Epoque that's nearly half of the Koreans in the whole entire world I mean let's think about it just how many Kim's do we know [Music] [Music] the rest of the top ten are Chu Zhang Cong Joel Yuen Chung and him if we compare that to the United States the number one last name is Smith with 2.4 million people or 0.7 3 percent of the population ah combining the top 3 last names Smith Johnson and Williams that would only be one point six percent of the US population for a name to be held by one-fifth of the population that's that's pretty insane to think about so how exactly did it get this way why does everyone in Korea have the same last names are all Kim's related right off the bat are all Kim's ease and PAC's related first and foremost absolutely not each surname has a different story but let's take a closer look at Kim to understand we have to go back no way back all the way back to the first kings of the Korea for two kingdoms kya and Sheila the royal family for both kingdoms had the last name Kim the Shilla Kingdom which was from 57 BC to 935 AD and the kya kingdom ruled for 40 to 80 until 562 when they were absorbed by the Shilla Kingdom in fact first king of the unified Shilla kingdom was King mu mu of SIA his birth name kimbap Min Kim became a highly sought-after and famous last name but actually up until the last couple centuries surnames were very very rare last names were reserved for special people like royalty or people in the upper class so how did commoners get a last name like Kim there were three ways that Koreans got their last names gifted the first but a very uncommon way is that Kings would grant common people surnames as a mark of favor by the king sometimes the king would award someone a surname in traditional times only the elite had surnames commoners gradually acquired surnames and slaves that didn't get surnames till right toward the end of the Choson period Kings giving surnames it happened more in the courtier period the cordial King long gone and his successors gave the name Wang to people that they were close to in the Choson period we've got a few cases of surnames being awarded yeah sometimes the king would award someone a name genealogy books this method would have been extremely extremely rare but it happened the Korean word for genealogy or genealogy book is truthful there's a popular misconception out there in Korea that the Koreans would buy their way into Chuck ville and that did happen occasionally but not that often really there are many who say that troppo is an unreliable source because so many people have bought their way in and that's largely untrue because you can verify from different editions of the Chowk Paul prior to the 20th century what the lines were and you can see if someone has added in and the idea that you had to buy your way into a chalk board to get a name is completely false you've got the stuff yeah I got my stuff I got lead and pop [Music] hey what's your problem I don't want well what do you want I want the census however the third way was the easiest and by far the most common method which was registering during the census which took place every three years you can get a name by just registering with the census each time the census was taken and we see in the census records that a person without a surname will show up with the surname and so it was no big deal to acquire a surname it didn't require a purchase it didn't require getting into a troppo it was just a matter of registering with the government on the triennial every three year census registration over the five hundred years of the joseon dynasty commoners gradually took on last names and in the last hundred years of the dynasty even some slaves took on surnames but commoners and slaves did not make new names they adopted many of the common names that we see today like Kim E Pok it had grown so large commoners could take on these prestigious names in order to hide their lower class upbringing it all became so widespread that pretty much nobody with the last name Kim was related by blood the class-based system similar to the caste system in India or the social class system in medieval Europe ended in 1894 this meant that last names were available to everyone not just the royalty or the rich so of all the last names to choose from why did they pick Kim well Kim and Korea means gold there was a name that inspired a name that brought prestige power and honor it was the last name of Kings if you had the last name Kim iya Epoque you were an important person people look to you with respect in the beginning the name Kim became much like a status symbol for early Koreans much like how commoners in Europe although rare could be knighted or owning a sword in feudal Japan or owning a car in the early 1900s these would all be imports and status symbols it would be to modern-day equivalent of owning a pair of air pods or toilet paper and later in the early 1900s during the Japanese occupation pretty much everyone had to pick up a last name 55% of the people ended up with the last names Kim yee-hah check and tong and seven more popular last names Joe Cong Yulin M Chung Chien and Yu brings the total to 70 percent of the population twelve surnames that are all very common this is unlike any other country in the world the fact that there are so many Kim's so many E's so many Park in Korea I've been arguing lately this is one of the signs of Korean historic stability and peace the the idea is that in Korea you have this great concentration of names and Koreans don't realize this is unusual they they're used to it they think we're all lots of kids lots of ease lots of process the way it is but that's not the way it is in other countries and I think it's because when the kya dynasty fell the Shilla dynasty fell they were never destroyed that aristocracy continued on from kya in to Shilla from Shilla into chorion from koryo into the present day that's why Kimmy and Pok are the most common names because they're the royal names of the earlier dynasties so I think it's a symbol of the peaceful history in the stable history of Korea hey guys my name is Paul Becerra and I hope you guys like the video if you did remember to subscribe that would really help us out and also special special thanks to dr. mark Peterson remember to check his channel as well [Music]

Channel: Rice Squad

Views: 965,769

Keywords: 하버드, 하버드 박사, 김씨, 기씨 21%, 이씨, 박씨, 성씨, 부계사회, 유교, 안정, 평화, 안정된 사회, 평화스로운역사, 왕조, 가야, 신라, 고려, 조선, Frog Outside the well, Harvard, Kim Seokjin, BTS, Kim Namjoon, Kim Taehyung, Jennie Kim, Jisoo, RM, Last names, korean last names, kim, park, lee, park Chaeyoung, Kim Dahyun, Kim Lip, Kim Jiwoo, Kim Hyunjin, Jo, Gang, Yun, Im, Jang, Shin, Yu, choi, jung, Gaya, Silla, Paul Bacera

Id: 4VVCbApZ4bg

Length: 8min 33sec (513 seconds)

Published: Wed May 13 2020