Im or Lim is a common

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 ...

. The surname is identical to the Chinese character of the same name. According to the initial law of the Korean language, both "Im" and "Lim" are interchangeable.

History

The first clan branch is the Supul Rim (수풀 림, meaning "Forest-Rim") and its

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, ...

character is 林. The Supul Rim or Lim or Im branch consists of two large clan houses; the first is Naju (early ''Hoijin'') and the second, which is the elder branch, is

Pyeongtaek Pyeongtaek () is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Located in the southwestern part of the province, Pyeongtaek was founded as a union of two districts in 940, during the Goryeo dynasty. It was elevated to city status in 1986 and is home to ...

. Members of this branch often write their names as both 임 (Im; more common) and 림 (Rim or Lim; initial law). The character 林 means "forest". The second clan branch is the Matgil Im (맡길 임) or Mateul Im (맡을 임) and its

character is 任. The Matgil Im/Mateul Im branch consists of one large clan house called Pungcheon Im clan and a smaller clan house called Jangheung (장흥). Members of this clan branch both write and pronounce their names as 임 (Im). The character 任 means "trusted/to bear, duty".

Romanization

When 林 (림 or 임) is romanized, it is spelled as "Rim" or "Im" in

McCune–Reischauer McCune–Reischauer romanization () is one of the two most widely used Korean language romanization systems. A modified version of McCune–Reischauer was the official romanization system in South Korea until 2002, when it was replaced by the Re ...

and

Revised Romanization of Korean Revised Romanization of Korean () is the official Korean language romanization system in South Korea. It was developed by the National Academy of the Korean Language from 1995 and was released to the public on 7 July 2000 by South Korea's Mini ...

, as "Lim". When 任 (임) is romanized, it is spelled as "Im" in

and

, or sometimes spelled "Yim". Statistics from the year 2000 show that there were 762,767 수풀 림 (林, Rim) and 172,726 맡길 임 (任, Im) in

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 ...

Notable people of the past

The following is a list of notable people of the past with the Korean family name Im/Lim/Rim. People should only be included in this list if they have their own Wikipedia articles or if they are discussed in a non-trivial fashion in Wikipedia articles on notable groups or events with which they are associated. Pratt's list contains 8 names.Pratt, p.548 * Im Sahong (1445–1506) * Im Kkeokjeong (fl. 1559-1562), leader of the Hwanghae peasant rebellion (Noklimdang). * Im Che (1549-1587), pen name "Paekho", poet of the Joseon period. * Im Gyeong-eop (1594 – 1646), general of the Joseon period, instrumental in protecting Korea from Manchu invasion. * Im Yunjidang (1721-1793), she wrote the ''Yunjidang Yugo''. * Im Sang-ok (1779–1885), a major ginseng trader of Joseon.

Notable people of the recent times

* Im Jae-hyuk, South Korean part-time actor *

Dami Im Dami Im ( , , ; born October 17, 1988) is a South Korean-born Australian singer and songwriter. She represented Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 held in Stockholm, Sweden with the song " Sound of Silence", placing second and ac ...

, Australian-Korean singer and songwriter * Im Chang-kyun (stage name I.M), South Korean rapper and member of boy group

Monsta X Monsta X (; stylized as MONSTA X) is a South Korean boy group formed through the reality survival program ''No.Mercy'' under Starship Entertainment. The group is currently composed of six members: Shownu, Minhyuk, Kihyun, Hyungwon, Joohon ...

* Im Chang-jung, South Korean actor and singer * Im Dong-hyun, South Korean archer * Im Heung-soon, South Korean artist and director * Im Jin-ah (stage name Nana), South Korean singer, actress, and model, member of After School * Im Kwon-taek, South Korean film director * Im Na-yeon, South Korean singer and member of girl group Twice * Im Sang-soo, South Korean film director *

Im Se-mi Im Se-mi (born May 29, 1987) is a South Korean actress. Career In January 2019, Im signed with new agency YNK Entertainment. On February 3, 2022, Im signed an exclusive contract with Noon Company, after her contract with YNK Entertainment has ...

, South Korean actress *

Im Si-wan Yim Si-wan (; born on December 1, 1988), known mononymously as Siwan, is a South Korean singer and actor. He is a member of the South Korean boyband ZE:A and its sub-group ZE:A Five. As an actor, he is best known for starring in the film ''The A ...

, South Korean singer and actor, member of boy group ZE:A * Im So-eun (stage name NC.A), South Korean singer * Im Soo-hyang, South Korean actress * Im Soo-jung, South Korean actress * Im Sung-han, South Korean television screenwriter * Danny Im (stage name Taebin), Korean-American singer and member of group 1TYM * Im Won-sik, Korean conductor, composer, and educator * Im Yoon-ah, South Korean singer and actress, member of girl group

Girls' Generation Girls' Generation (), also known as SNSD, is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. Originally a nine-piece e ...

* Lim Hyung-joo, South Korean operatic pop (popera) tenor and classical crossover singer * Lim Chang-yong, South Korean baseball pitcher *

Dong-Hyek Lim Dong-Hyek Lim (born July 25, 1984 in Seoul) is a South Korean classical pianist. Lim has previously studied with Arie Vardi at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hanover and received the Samsung Culture Scholarship and the Ezoe Scholarship ...

, South Korean classical pianist * Lim Dong-won, retired South Korean politician *

Lim Eun-ji Lim Eun-ji ( Korean: 임은지; born 2 April 1989) is a South Korean pole vaulter. She is the current South Korean national record holder in the event indoors and a former outdoor record holder. Having previously competed in the 100 metres hur ...

, South Korean pole vaulter * Lim Hyo-jun, South Korean short track speed skater, Olympic gold medalist * Lim Jae-beom (stage name Jay B), South Korean singer and actor, member of boy band Got7 * Im Hyun-sik, South Korean singer and member of boy band BtoB * Lim Jeong-hee, South Korean singer * Lim Jeong-hyun, South Korean guitarist * Lim Ju-hwan, South Korean actor *

Lim Na-young Lim Na-young (; born December 18, 1995), also known as Im Nayoung, known mononymously as Nayoung, is a South Korean singer, rapper and actress signed under Sublime Artist Agency. She was first known after participating in the survival show '' P ...

, South Korean singer, member of South Korean girl groups I.O.I and Pristin * Lim Seulong, South Korean singer and actor, member of boy group 2AM * Lim Sungbin (stage name Beenzino), South Korean rapper * Lim Yo-hwan, South Korean former professional StarCraft player * Rhim Ju-yeon, South Korean comics writer * Rim Jong-sim, North Korean Olympic weightlifter * Yim Bang-eun, South Korean badminton player *

Yim Soon-rye Yim Soon-rye (born January 1, 1961) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. She is considered one of the few leading female auteurs of Korean New Wave cinema. Career Education Born in 1961 in Incheon, Yim Soon-rye graduated from Han ...

, South Korean film director * Yim Sung-ah, South Korean professional golfer * Lim Young-woong, South Korean

trot The trot is a ten-beat diagonal horse gait where the diagonal pairs of legs move forward at the same time with a moment of suspension between each beat. It has a wide variation in possible speeds, but averages about . A very slow trot is someti ...

singer

Notes

References