Mok is a surname in various cultures. It may be a transcription of several

Chinese surname Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and among overseas Chinese communities around the world such as Singapore and Malaysia. Written Chinese names begin with surnames, unlike th ...

s in their

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...

or Teochew pronunciations, a Dutch surname, a Hungarian surname, or a Korean surname.

Origins

Mok may transcribe the pronunciation, in different

varieties of Chinese Chinese, also known as Sinitic, is a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family consisting of hundreds of local varieties, many of which are not mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the more mountainous southeast of ...

, of some

s spelled as Mo or Mu in Pinyin (which reflects the

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language ...

pronunciation), including: *Mò (), spelled Mok based on its pronunciation in Cantonese ( zh, cy=Mohk, j=Mok6; IPA: ) or Teochew (

Peng'im (: ( Teochew) ( Swatow), : or , : or ) is a Teochew dialect romanisation system as a part of Guangdong Romanisation published by Guangdong Provincial Education Department in 1960. Tone of this system is based on Swatow dialect. The syste ...

: ; IPA: ). Additionally see *Mù (), homophonous with the first surname above in Teochew. According to Patrick Hanks, some Cantonese speakers in the United Kingdom and the United States also spell this name as Mok, though Muk is probably a more common transcription of the Cantonese pronunciation ( zh, links=no, cy=Muhk, j=Muk6; IPA: ). *Mù (), homophonous with the first surname above in Teochew. *Mù (), homophonous with the first surname above in Teochew. The Dutch surname Mok is a variant spelling of

Mock Mock is an imitation, usually of lesser quality Mock may refer to: Names * Mock (surname) *Mock, or Duncan Stump, a member of the band Mock & Toof *Mock, a character in the Japanese anime series '' Mock & Sweet'' Places *Mock, Washington, a gho ...

. The surname Mock might have originated from Moch, a clipping of Mochel. The Hungarian surname Mók was originally a given name. That given name might be a

hypocorism A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek: (), from (), 'to call by pet names', sometimes also ''hypocoristic'') or pet name is a name used to show affection for a person. It may be a diminutive form of a person's name, such as ''Izzy'' for I ...

of Mózes, which is the Hungarian form of the given names Moises or Moses. There is only one

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 the modern Korean surname Mok: (; ), meaning "harmonious". The bearers of this surname are almost all members of the . That clan is so named for its '' bon-gwan'' (clan hometown) of

Sacheon Sacheon () is a city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. Sacheon's chief fame comes from its being the site of two naval battles in the Seven Year War. The city as it now exists results from the merging of Sacheon-gun and Samcheonpo-si i ...

, South Gyeongsang Province, a city which became part of

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 ...

after the division of the Korean peninsula. Its members claim descent from , an official under Gojong of Goryeo. Historically, another hanja meaning "tree" (; ) had also been used as a surname by the Mok clan of

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (, ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BC to 660 AD. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. Baekje was founded by Onjo of Baekje, Onjo, the third son of Gogurye ...

, but this surname is no longer extant in the Korean peninsula.

Statistics

In the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, there were 421 people with the surname Mok as of 2007, up from 112 in 1947. The 2000 South Korean Census found 8,191 people in 2,493 households with the surname Mok; all but ten of those people stated that they were members of the Sacheon Mok clan. According to statistics cited by Patrick Hanks, there were 450 people on the island of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and nine on the island of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

with the surname Mok as of 2011; no bearers of the surname were recorded in Great Britain in 1881. The 2010 United States Census found 2,707 people with the surname Mok, making it the 11,597th-most-common name in the country. This represented an increase from 2,134 (13,137th-most-common) in the 2000 Census. In both censuses, about nine-tenths of the bearers of the surname identified as Asian, and five percent as

White White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

People

Cambodian surname

* Mok Mareth (; born 1948), Cambodian politician * Theavy Mok (; born 1963), Cambodian plastic surgeon

Chinese surname

* Mok Kwai-lan (; 1892–1982), fourth spouse of Lingnan martial arts grandmaster Wong Fei-hung *

Mok Chun Wah Mok Chun Wah (also transliterated as Mok Chun Wa, born 5 May 1929) is a former professional footballer. Born in British Hong Kong to ethnic Chinese parents, Mok represented the Republic of China (Taiwan) and spending his whole professional caree ...

(; born 1929), Hong Kong footballer *

Mok Cheuk Wing Mok Cheuk Wing (born 2 February 1949) is a Hong Kong judoka. He competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics and the 1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters ...

(; born 1949), Hong Kong judo athlete * Mok Ying-fan (; born 1951), Hong Kong politician * Ngaiming Mok (; born 1956), Hong Kong mathematician * Warren Mok (; born 1958), Macau operatic tenor * Max Mok (; born 1960), Hong Kong actor *

Mok Ka Sha Mok Ka Sha (born 23 October 1962 in Guangdong) is a Hong Kong table tennis player who represented British Hong Kong at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Personal life Mok is married to former teammate Chan Kong Wah Chan Kong Wah (born 31 August 1 ...

(; born 1962), Hong Kong table tennis player *

Charles Mok Charles Peter Mok, JP (born 1964 in Hong Kong) is a Hong Kong-based Internet entrepreneur and IT advocate who formerly represents the Information Technology functional constituency on the Hong Kong Legislative Council. Mok founded HKNet in ...

(; born 1964), Hong Kong internet entrepreneur and politician * Hoyan Mok (; born 1969), Hong Kong actress who won the 1993 Miss Hong Kong Pageant * Karen Mok (; born 1970), Hong Kong actress and pop singer * Patricia Mok (; born 1971), Singaporean actress * Rosanda Mok (; born 1972), Hong Kong politician * Zandra Mok (; born 1973), Hong Kong television reporter and politician * Monica Mok (; born 1983), Beijing-born Australian actress *

Mok Ying Ren Dr. Mok Ying Ren (born 6 July 1988) is a triathlete and long-distance runner from Singapore. His best performances include a SEA Games gold medal in 2007 in the triathlon event, as well as a gold medal in the marathon event in 2013. He held the n ...

(; born 1988), Singaporean triathlete and long-distance runner *

Mok Hing Ling Mok Hing Ling ( zh, 莫慶靈) is a contemporary Chinese artist known for her modern ink paintings. Her works often explore themes of nature, utilizing innovative techniques including the use of a sponge to mimic natural textures. In 1973, Mok s ...

(), Chinese modern ink painter * May Mok (), Hong Kong sound effects editor *

Philip Mok Philip Mok Kwok-tai () is a professor of electrical engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He was named Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 2014 "for contributions to the design ...

(), Hong Kong professor of electrical engineering

Korean surname

* Mok Jin-seok (; born 1980), South Korean Go player *

Mok Un-ju Mok Un-ju (born 29 March 1981) is a North Korean former gymnast. She competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the ...

(born 1981), North Korean gymnast *

Yebin Mok Yebin Mok (born April 19, 1984) is an American former competitive figure skater. She is the 2002 Golden Spin of Zagreb silver medalist, won two bronze medals on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit, and placed fifth at the 2003 World Junior Champi ...

(born 1984), South Korean-born American figure skater

Other or unknown

Abraham Mok Abraham Mok (15 May 1888 – 29 February 1944) was a Dutch gymnast who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics. He is remembered as one of four members of that squad murdered during the Holocaust of the 1940s. Biography Athletic career Mok wa ...

(1888–1944), Dutch gymnast murdered in the Holocaust *

Jack Mok Jack Mok (born 1 February 1935) is a South African rower. He competed in the men's coxless four event at the 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olym ...

(born 1935), South African rower * Clement Mok (born 1958), Canadian graphic designer * Ken Mok (born 1961), American television producer * Al Mok, American computer scientist *

Desmond Mok Desmond or Desmond's may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Desmond'' (novel), 1792 novel by Charlotte Turner Smith * ''Desmond's'', 1990s British television sitcom Ireland * Kingdom of Desmond, medieval Irish kingdom * Earl of Desmond, Irish a ...

, Papua New Guinean rugby league player * Judith Mok, Dutch soprano

References

{{reflist

External links

Mok
on the "Genealogy" section of DutchJewry.org Chinese-language surnames Dutch-language surnames Hungarian-language surnames Korean-language surnames Jewish surnames Multiple Chinese surnames Cantonese-language surnames