Tae, also spelled Tai or Thae, 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 masculine

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 used in many two-syllable Korean given names. As a family name, it is written with a

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, ...

meaning "great", while in given names, it may have a variety of meanings depending on the hanja used to write it.

As a family name

As a rare Korean family name, Tae is written with only one hanja, meaning "great" (). They are a noble clan directly descended from the royal family of the

Balhae Balhae ( ko, 발해, zh, c=渤海, p=Bóhǎi, russian: Бохай, translit=Bokhay, ), also rendered as Bohai, was a multi-ethnic kingdom whose land extends to what is today Northeast China, the Korean Peninsula and the Russian Far East. It wa ...

dynasty. The clan ancestor is

Dae Jung-sang Dae Jung-sang (?–698?), also known as Geolgeol Jungsang, was a key contributor to the founding of Balhae, and the father of Dae Jo-yeong, the actual founder of Balhae. Though much of the credit for the founding of Balhae went to his son, many h ...

, the father of the founder of Balhae,

Dae Jo-young Dae Joyeong (died 719) (; or in Korean) or Da Zuorong (大祚榮, 大祚荣, in Chinese), also known as King Go (; in Korean; Gao in Chinese), established the state of Balhae, reigning from 699 to 719. Life Early life Dae Joyeong wa ...

. The 2000 South Korean Census found 8,165 people with the family name Tae. In a study by the

National Institute of the Korean Language The National Institute of Korean Language is a language regulator of the Korean language. It was created on January 23, 1991, by Presidential Decree No. 13163 (November 14, 1990). It is based in Seoul, South Korea. The institute was originall ...

based on 2007 application data for South Korean passports, it was found that 28.5% of people with that surname spelled it in Latin letters as Tai in their passports, vs. 57.1% as Tae. People with this surname trace their origins to several ''

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 ...

'', including

Namwon Namwon (; ''Namwon-si'') is a city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. Namwon is about 50 minutes from the provincial capital of Jeonju, which is almost three hours away from Seoul. The official city flower is Royal Azalea () while the city tr ...

and Yeongsun in what is now South Korea and Hyeopgye in what is now North Korea. People with this family name include: * Tae Wan-son (born 1915 -1988), South Korean politician and businessman who served as minister of Construction Department. *

Tae Hyun-sil Tae Hyun-sil (born November 11, 1941) is a South Korean actress. Tae was born in Songjin, North Hamgyong province, Korea in 1941. While studying Film at Dongguk University, she was selected as a TV actress in a public recruit held by KBS. Whil ...

(born 1941), South Korean actress *

Thae Yong-ho Thae Yong-ho (, ; born 25 July 1962), also known by his pseudonym Tae Ku-min (), is a North Korean-born South Korean politician and former diplomat who is serving as a member of the National Assembly for the Gangnam district of Seoul. He was Nor ...

(born 1962), North Korean diplomat who defected to South Korea in 2016 *

Tae Yoon Tae Yoon (born 14 February 1992) is a South Korean footballer who currently plays as a goalkeeper for Carlos A. Mannucci in the Peruvian Segunda División. Besides South Korea, he has played in England, Portugal, India, and Peru. Career Unite ...

(born 1992), South Korean football player in India

In given names

Hanja

In given names, the meaning of "Tae" depends on the hanja used to write it. There are 20 hanja with this reading on the South Korean government's official list of hanja which may be used in given names; they are: # (클 태 ''keul tae''): "great" # (클 태 ''keul tae''): "exalted" # (게으를 태 ''ge-eureul tae''): "idle" # (거의 태 ''geo-ui tae'', 위태할 태 ''witaehal tae''): "almost", "dangerous" # (모습 태 ''moseup tae''): "form", "shape" # (일 태 ''il tae''): "to wash" # (바꿀 태 ''bakkul tae''): "to change" # (별 태 ''byeol tae''): "platform" # (아이 밸 태 ''ai bael tae''): "unborn child" # (나라 이름 태 ''nara ireum tae''): Tai, an ancient city-state in modern

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), Ning ...

, China # (볼기 칠 태 ''bolgi chil tae''): "to flog" # (이끼 태 ''ikki tae''): " lichen" # (밟을 태 ''balbeul tae''): "to trample" # (태풍 태, ''taepung tae''): "

typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...

" # (티타늄 태 ''titanyum tae''): "

titanium Titanium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resista ...

" # (옥 무늬 태 ''ok munui tae''): "jade pattern" # (복어 태 ''bugeo tae''): "

blowfish Tetraodontidae is a family of primarily marine and estuarine fish of the order Tetraodontiformes. The family includes many familiar species variously called pufferfish, puffers, balloonfish, blowfish, blowies, bubblefish, globefish, swellf ...

" # (벗을 탈 ''beoseul tae''): "to undress" # (아름다울 태 ''areumdaul tae''): "beautiful" # (미칠 태 ''michil tae''): "to arrive"

As name element

Given names containing this element include: ;First syllable * Tae-min *

Tae-hee Tae-hee is a Korean unisex given name. The meaning of the name depends on the hanja chosen. There are 20 hanja with the reading " tae" and 25 hanja with the reading "hee" on the South Korean government's official list of hanja which may be used i ...

Tae-ho Tae-ho is a Korean masculine given name. The meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 20 hanja with the reading " tae" and 49 hanja with the reading " ho" on the South Korean government's official list ...

Tae-hyun Tae-hyun, also spelled Tae-hyeon, 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 " tae" and 35 hanja with the reading " hyun" on the South Kore ...

Tae-joon Tae-joon is a Korean male given name. People with this name include: *Choi Tae-joon (born 1991), South Korean actor *Park Tae-joon (1927–2011), South Korean general and businessman *Ryu Tae-joon (born 1971), South Korean actor and singer See a ...

Tae-soo Tae-soo is a Korean male given name. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 20 hanja with the reading " tae" and 34 hanja with the reading "soo" on the South Korean government's official list of ha ...

Tae-suk Tae-suk, also spelled Tae-seok or Tae-sok, is a Korean masculine given name. Its meaning depends on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 20 hanja with the reading " tae" and 20 hanja with the reading " suk" on the South Kor ...

Tae-sung Tae-seong, also spelled Tae-sung or Thae-song, 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 " tae" and 27 hanja with the reading "seong" on ...

Tae-won Tae-won is a Korean masculine given name. The meaning of the name differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable. There are 20 hanja with the reading " tae" and 35 hanja with the reading " won" on the South Korean government's official li ...

* Tae-hyung ; * Tae-woo *

Tae-wook Tae-wook, also spelled Tae-uk, is a Korean masculine given name. Its meaning depends on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 20 hanja with the reading " tae" and 11 hanja with the reading "wook" on the South Korean governmen ...

Tae-woong Tae-woong 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 " tae" and two hanja with the reading "woong" on the South Korean government's official ...

* Tae-yeon *

Tae-yong Tae-yong 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 " tae" and 24 hanja with the reading " yong" on the South Korean government's official ...

Tae-young Tae-young is a Korean unisex given name. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 20 hanja with the reading " tae" and 34 hanja with the reading " young" on the South Korean government's official lis ...

Tae-il Tae-il 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 " tae" and ten hanja with the reading " il" on the South Korean government's official li ...

* Tae-ri * Tae-ha ;Second syllable *

Hyun-tae Hyun-tae, also spelled Hyeon-tae, is a Korean masculine given name. Its meaning depends on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 35 hanja with the reading " hyun" and 20 hanja with the reading " tae" on the South Korean gove ...

Ji-tae Ji-tae is a Korean male given name People with this name include: * Justin Chon (born 1981), Korean American actor whose middle name is Jitae *Yoo Ji-tae (born 1976), South Korean actor and film director Fictional characters with this name includ ...

Joon-tae Joon-tae 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 " tae" and 34 hanja with the reading " joon" on the South Korean government's official l ...

* Ki-tae *

Kyung-tae Kyung-tae is a Korean masculine given name. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 54 hanja with the reading "kyung" and 20 hanja with the reading " tae" on the South Korean government's official ...

Young-tae Young-tae is a Korean masculine given name. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 39 hanja with the reading " young" and 20 hanja with the reading " tae" on the South Korean government's officia ...

* Min-tae

References

{{given name, type=both Korean-language surnames Korean masculine given names

As a family name

In given names

Hanja

As name element

See also

References