Tae, also spelled Tai or Thae, is a rare

Korean family name 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 ...

. It is written with a

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. () ...

character meaning "great".

Clans

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,, , ) also rendered as Bohai or Bohea, and called Jin (; ) early on, was a multiethnic kingdom established in 698 by Dae Joyeong (Da Zuorong). It was originally known as the Kingdom of Jin (震, Zhen) until 713 when its name was changed ...

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 ...

, the father of the founder of Balhae, Dae Jo-young. 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 (NIKL; ) is a language regulator of the Korean language based in Seoul, South Korea. It was created on January 23, 1991, by Presidential Decree No. 13163 (November 14, 1990). It has previously gone by a ...

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 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 ...

'', including

Namwon Namwon (, ) 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 tree is the ...

and Yeongsun in what is now South Korea and Hyopgye in what is now North Korea.

Notable people

People with this family name include: * T'ae Kŭm-ch'wi (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1253–1260), Goryeo military commander, founder of the Yeongsun Tae clan * Tae Wan-son (born 1915 -1988), South Korean politician and businessman who served as minister of Construction Department. * Thae Byong-ryol (1916 - 1986), North Korean general *

Thae Jong-su Thae Jong-su (; born 20 March 1936) is a North Korean politician. He was a Vice Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and the director of the Munitions Industry Department of the WPK. He is a full member of the 7th Central Committee o ...

(born 1936), North Korean politician *

Tae Hyun-sil Tae Hyun-sil (; born November 11, 1941) is a South Korean actress. Tae was born in Songjin, Kankyōhoku Province, Korea under Japanese rule, Korea, Empire of Japan in 1941. While studying Film at Dongguk University, she was selected as a TV actr ...

(born 1941), South Korean actress * Thae Hyong-chol (born 1953), North Korean politician * Tae Yong-ho (born 1962), North Korean diplomat who defected to South Korea in 2016 *

Tae Hang-ho Tae Hang-ho (; born July 22, 1983) is a South Korean actor known for his work in film, television, musicals, and theater. He started his career in a theater company in 2008 and made his debut in 2009 with a theater play. Tae gained recognition ...

(born 1983), South Korean actor *

Tae Won-seok Tae Won-seok (; born June 10, 1989) is a South Korean actor. He is known for his roles in the television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a te ...

(born 1989), South Korean actor * Tae Yoon (born 1992), South Korean football player in India

References

{{surname Korean-language surnames

Clans

Notable people

See also

References