Yeon or less commonly Youn (연) is 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 ...

. The name may correspond to the

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 Yan (燕, 延) or

Lian Lian may refer to: Fiction * Gao Lian (''Water Margin''), a character in the ''Water Margin'' series of novels * Lian the Great (, ''Dalian''), a figure in Chinese mythology * Jia Lian, a character in the novel ''Dream of the Red Chamber'' Peop ...

(連). The hanja 延 is much more common than 燕 and 連. Yeon may also refer to the extinct surname (淵).

Origin

燕

燕 (제비 연 '' jebi yeon'') was the surname of the Yeon clan, one of the

Great Eight Families The Great Eight Families (, ) were eight noble families of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. They were the most powerful of the noble families and had been comrades in arms with the founding monarch Onjo of Baekje. They reached the pin ...

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 ...

. This surname is extremely rare in the present-day with a few clans such as the Jeonju Yeon clan and the Jeongpyeong Yeon clan. The character literally means

barn swallow The barn swallow (''Hirundo rustica'') is the most widespread species of swallow in the world, occurring on all continents, with vagrants reported even in Antarctica. It is a distinctive passerine bird with blue upperparts and a long, deeply f ...

. According to the 2015 census, 20 people had this surname.

延

延 (늘일 연 ') is the most common hanja character used for the surname "Yeon". The most common ''bon-gwan'' is the

Goksan Yeon clan Goksan Yeon clan () is one of the Korean clans. Their Bon-gwan is in sinpyong County, North Hwanghae Province. Yeon clan originated from Nanyang Commandery (; around present-day Nanyang, Henan), China. Their founder was who served as ''Menxia S ...

(곡산 연씨), whose ancestor Yeon Gye-ryeong originated from Hongnong Commandery and later went to Goryeo. During the

Joseon dynasty Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

, the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

surname Nobu (延) was naturalized into Korean as Yeon. According to the 2015 census, 34,766 people had this surname.

連

The Naju Yeon clan uses the hanja character (連, 잇닿을 연 ''itdaeul yeon'') to denote their surname. They are the descendants of Yeon Ju, who contributed to the founding of

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean state founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korea, Korean Peninsula until the establishment of Joseon in 1392. Goryeo achieved what has b ...

. According to the 2015 census, 59 people had this surname.

淵 (Extinct)

Yeon (淵) was the surname of

Yeon Gaesomun Yeon GaesomunSome Chinese and Korean sources stated that his surname was Yeongae () and personal name was Somun (), but the majority of sources suggest a one-syllable surname and a three-syllable personal name. (; 594–666) was a powerful mili ...

, a general of

Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC – 668 AD) (; ; Old Korean: Guryeo) also later known as Goryeo (; ; Middle Korean: 고ᇢ롕〮, ''kwòwlyéy''), was a Korean kingdom which was located on the northern and central parts of the Korea, Korean Peninsula an ...

. It became extinct when this family emigrated to the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

, with the remaining family members changing their surname due to the naming taboo; the personal name of the first Tang emperor, Li Yuan (李淵) used the character, 淵 and it was illegal for one's surname to be the same as the emperor's name.

Notable people

(594–666),

military leader * Yeon Gyu-jin, South Korean actor * Yeon Ja-yu,

statesman and father of Yeon Gaesomun * Yeon Joon-seok (born 1995), South Korean actor *

Yeon Jung-hoon Yeon Jung-hoon (born November 6, 1978) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for generational epic '' East of Eden'' (2008), crime procedural ''Vampire Prosecutor'' (2011-2012) and the domestically popular weekend drama ''Pots of Gold'' (2013 ...

(born 1978), South Korean actor and television personality * Kwangchul Youn (born 1966), South Korean operatic bass based in Germany * Yeon Sang-ho (born 1978), South Korean film director and screenwriter *

Steven Yeun Sang-yeop Yeun (; born December 21, 1983), known professionally as Steven Yeun ( ), is an American actor. His accolades include two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and a Br ...

(born 1983), American actor

References

{{surname, Yeon Korean-language surnames