Geun, also spelled Gun, Keun, or Kun, is a rare

Korean family name This is a list of Korean surnames, in Hangul alphabetical order. Note: (S) denotes South Korea. (N) denotes North Korea. The most common Korean family name (particularly in South Korea) is Kim, followed by Lee and Park. These three family nam ...

, a single-syllable

Korean given name A Korean name (Hangul: ; Hanja: ) consists of a family name followed by a given name, as used by the Korean people in both South Korea and North Korea. In the Korean language, ''ireum'' or ''seongmyeong'' usually refers to the family name (''se ...

, and an element in some two-syllable names.

Family name

As a family name, Geun is written with one hanja, meaning "axe" (; 도끼 근), also the name of the unit of weight sometimes called "

catty The catty, kati or , pronounced as jin in Mandarin and gan in Cantonese, is a traditional Chinese unit of mass used across East and Southeast Asia, notably for weighing food and other groceries in some wet markets, street markets, and sh ...

" in English. It has one ''

bon-gwan Bon-gwan (or Bongwan) is the concept of clan in Korea, which is used to distinguish clans that happen to share the same family name (clan name). Since Korea has been traditionally a Confucian country, this clan system is similar to ancient Chine ...

'':

Cheongju Cheongju () is the capital and largest city of North Chungcheong Province in South Korea. History Cheongju has been an important provincial town since ancient times. In the Cheongju Mountains, specifically in the one where Sangdang Sanseong is ...

Chungcheongbuk-do North Chungcheong Province ( ko, 충청북도, ''Chungcheongbuk-do''), also known as Chungbuk, is a province of South Korea. North Chungcheong has a population of 1,578,934 (2014) and has a geographic area of located in the Hoseo region in the s ...

, in what is today

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. The fffhf 2000 South Korean census estimated that there were 242 people with this family name.

Given name

Hanja

As a given name or name element, the meaning of "geun" differs based on the

hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, ...

used to write it. There are 18 hanja with this reading on the South Korean government's official list of hanja which may be registered for use in given names; they are: # (가까울 근): nearby # (부지런할 근): diligent # (뿌리 근): roots # (도끼 근): axe # (겨우 근): only # (매흙질할 근): to plaster with

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand ( particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–si ...

# (맑을 근): clean, pure # (무궁화 근): ''

Hibiscus syriacus ''Hibiscus syriacus'' is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It is native to Korea, and south-central and southeast China, but widely introduced elsewhere, including much of Asia. It was given the epithet ''syriacus'' ...

'' flower # (아름다운 옥 근): beautiful jade # (여자의 자 근): # (힘줄 근): tendon # (힘 근): strength # (은근할 근): subtle # (미나리 근): water parsley # (제비꽃 근): pansy # (뵐 근): see # (주릴 근): starve # (삼갈 근): abstinence, prudence

People

People with the single-syllable given name Geun include: *

Kwon Geun Gwon Geun (1352–1409) was a Korean Neo-Confucian scholar at the dawn of the Joseon dynasty, and a student of Yi Saek. He was one of the first Neo-Confucian scholars of the Joseon dynasty, and had a lasting influence on the rise of Neo-Confu ...

(1352–1409), early Joseon Dynasty Neo-Confucian scholar *

Ri Gun Ri Kun (; or ;) is the Director General of the North American Affairs Bureau of the Foreign Ministry of North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the ...

, North Korean diplomat

As name element

Korean given names containing the element "geun" include: *

Dong-geun Dong-geun, also spelled Dong-keun, is a Korean masculine given name. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 24 hanja with the reading "dong" and 18 hanja with the reading "geun" on the South Korea ...

Jae-geun Jae-geun, also spelled Jae-keun or Jae-kun, is a Korean masculine given name. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 20 hanja with the reading " jae" and 18 hanja with the reading "geun" on the So ...

Soo-geun Soo-geun, also spelled Swoo-geun, is a Korean masculine given name. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 34 hanja with the reading "soo" and 18 hanja with the reading " geun" on the South Korean ...

Young-geun Young-geun, also spelled Young-keun or Yung-keun, is a Korean masculine given name. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 34 hanja with the reading " young" and 18 hanja with the reading " geun" ...

* Sang-geun

References