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

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

s in their

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

or Teochew pronunciations, a

Dutch surname Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

, a

Hungarian surname Hungarian names include surnames and given names. Some people have more than one given name, but only one is normally used. In the Hungarian language, whether written or spoken, names are invariably given in the "Eastern name order", with the fa ...

, or a

Korean surname This is a list of Korean surnames, in Hangul alphabetical order. The most common Korean surname (particularly in South Korea) is Kim (Korean name), Kim (), followed by Lee (Korean name), Lee () and Park (Korean surname), Park (). These three sur ...

Origins

Mok may transcribe the pronunciation, in different

varieties of Chinese There are hundreds of local Chinese language varieties forming a branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages, Sino-Tibetan language family, many of which are not Mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the m ...

, of some

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

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l=Mandarin (bureaucrat), officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretch ...

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

Peng'im ( zh, s=潮州话拼音方案, t=潮州話拼音方案: ( Teochew) ( Swatow), : or , : or ) is a Teochew dialect romanization system as a part of Guangdong Romanization published by Guangdong Provincial Education Department in 1960. The ...

: ; IPA: ). Additionally see *Mù (),

homophonous A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning or in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (past tense of "rise"), or spelled differently, a ...

with the first surname above in Teochew. According to

Patrick Hanks Patrick Wyndham Hanks (24 March 1940 – 1 February 2024) was an English lexicographer, corpus linguist, and onomastician. He edited dictionaries of general language, as well as dictionaries of personal names. Background Hanks was educated a ...

, 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

Mok is a variant spelling of Mock. The surname Mock might have originated from Moch, a

clipping Clipping may refer to: Words * Clipping (morphology), the formation of a new word by shortening it, e.g. "ad" from "advertisement" * Clipping (phonetics), shortening the articulation of a speech sound, usually a vowel * Clipping (publications ...

of ''Mochel'' (

mohel A ( , Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazi pronunciation , plural: , , "circumciser") is a Jewish man trained in the practice of , the "covenant of male circumcision". A woman who is trained in the practice is referred to as a ''mohelet'' (plural: ''mo ...

). The

Mók was originally a given name. That given name might be a

hypocorism A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek ; 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 Isabel or ''Bob (given name), Bob'' fo ...

of Mózes, which is the Hungarian form of the given names Moises or

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

. There is only one

hanja Hanja (; ), alternatively spelled Hancha, are Chinese characters used to write the Korean language. After characters were introduced to Korea to write Literary Chinese, they were adapted to write Korean as early as the Gojoseon period. () ...

used to write the modern

Mok: (; ), meaning 'harmonious'. The bearers of this surname are almost all members of the . That clan is so named for its ''

bon-gwan Korean clans are groups of Koreans, Korean people that share the same Patrilineality, paternal ancestor. They are indicated by the combination of a ''bongwan'' () and a family name. Korean clans distinguish clans that happen to share the same fam ...

'' (clan hometown) of

Sacheon Sacheon (; ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. Sacheon's chief fame comes from its being the site of two naval battles in the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598), Seven Year War. ...

South Gyeongsang Province South Gyeongsang Province (, ) is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World Heritage Site Haeinsa, a Buddhist temple tha ...

, a city which became part of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

after the division of the Korean peninsula. Its members claim descent from , an official under

Gojong of Goryeo Gojong (1192–1259), personal name Wang Cheol, was the 23rd king of the Korean Goryeo dynasty, ruling from 1213 to 1259. Gojong's reign was marked by prolonged conflict with the Mongol Empire, which sought to conquer Goryeo, ending only to set ...

. Historically, another hanja meaning 'tree' (; ) had also been used as a surname by the

Mok clan Mok is a surname in various cultures. It may be a transcription of several Chinese surnames in their Cantonese or Teochew pronunciations, a Dutch surname, a Hungarian surname, or a Korean surname. Origins Mok may transcribe the pronunciation ...

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (; ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BCE to 660 CE. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. While the three kingdoms were in separate existence, Baekje had the h ...

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

Statistics

In the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, 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 north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and nine on the island of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

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 lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

. As of 2023 there is one Mok living in Oslo, Norway.

People

Cambodian surname

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

Chinese surname

Mok Kwai-lan Mok Kwai-lan (; October 15, 1892 – November 3, 1982) was the fourth spouse of Lingnan martial arts grandmaster Wong Fei-hung. Early life Mok was born on October 15, 1892, a native of Nanhai in Guangdong. When Mok was a child, she was adopte ...

(; 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 care ...

(; born 1929), Hong Kong footballer * Mok Cheuk Wing (; born 1949), Hong Kong judo athlete * Mok Ying-fan (; born 1951), Hong Kong politician *

Ngaiming Mok Ngaiming Mok (; born 1956) is a Hong Kong mathematician specializing in complex differential geometry and algebraic geometry. He is currently a professor at the University of Hong Kong. After graduating from St. Paul's Co-educational College in H ...

(; born 1956), Hong Kong mathematician *

Warren Mok Warren Mok () is a Hong Kong-based Macau operatic tenor who has performed many leading roles since his European debut in 1987 at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He has a repertoire of 50 operatic roles, including Calaf in ''Turandot'', Cavaradossi in ''T ...

(; born 1958), Macau operatic tenor *

Max Mok Max Mok ( zh, t=莫少聰; born 2 December 1962 in Hong Kong; also credited as Benny Mok, Benny Mok Siu-chung and Max Mok Siu-chung) is a Hong Kong actor and singer. Mok was recruited by the Shaw Brothers Studio and has been a major film star si ...

(; born 1960), Hong Kong actor * Mok Ka Sha (; born 1962), Hong Kong table tennis player *

Charles Mok Charles Peter Mok Nai-kwong, Justice of Peace, JP (born 25 October 1964) is a Hong Kong–based Internet entrepreneur and Information technology, IT advocate who formerly represents the Information Technology (constituency), Information Techno ...

(; 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 Karen Joy Morris (; born 2 June 1970), better known as Karen Mok, is a Hong Kong actress and singer. She is considered one of the leading East Asian pop singers and actresses with a career spanning three decades. Mok is the first female Hong Kong ...

(; born 1970), Hong Kong actress and pop singer *

Patricia Mok Patricia Mok Siu Leng (born 17 October 1971) is a Singaporean comedian, host and actress, best known for her comedic roles on ''Comedy Night'' during her stint as a JTeam artist until 2012. She was a full-time Mediacorp Mediacorp Pte. Ltd. ...

(; born 1971), Singaporean actress * Rosanda Mok (; born 1972), Hong Kong politician *

Zandra Mok Zandra Mok Yee-tuen ( ; born 23 August 1970) is one of the first political assistants appointed by the Government of Hong Kong in 2008. She was re-appointed as the political assistant to the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, to assume office on 13 ...

(; born 1973), Hong Kong television reporter and politician *

Monica Mok Monica Mok () is a Chinese-born Australian model and film actress. She was nominated for the Best New Performer award at the 28th Hong Kong Film Awards The Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA; ), founded in 1982, is an annual film awards ceremony in H ...

(; born 1983), Beijing-born Australian actress * Mok Ying Ren (; born 1988), Singaporean triathlete and long-distance runner * Mok Hing Ling (), Chinese modern ink painter * May Mok (), Hong Kong sound effects editor * Philip Mok (), Hong Kong professor of electrical engineering

Korean surname

Mok Jin-seok Mok Jin-seok (born 20 January 1980) is a professional Go player. Biography Mok Jin Seok became a professional Go player in 1994 when he was 14 and reached 9 Dan, the highest level, in 2005. He is called 'Goe dong' by media, which means a Bo ...

(; born 1980), South Korean Go player * Mok Un-ju (born 1981), North Korean gymnast * Yebin Mok (born 1984), South Korean-born American figure skater

Other or unknown

* Abraham Mok (1888–1944), Dutch gymnast murdered in the Holocaust * Jack Mok (born 1935), South African rower *

Clement Mok Clement Mok (born 1958) is a graphic designer and author. Mok founded several design-related businesses — Studio Archetype (acquired by Sapient), CMCD and NetObjects, Inc. In 1997, Mok recruited George Chen in a photoshoot for an early ...

(born 1958), Canadian graphic designer * Ken Mok (born 1961), American television producer * Al Mok, American computer scientist * 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 Surnames of Jewish origin Multiple Chinese surnames Cantonese-language surnames