Someone tell MacDonald to stand up straight!
Why is there so little diversity in Korean surnames?
I am of Dutch heritage and Napoleonic law was instituted in Europe (conquered nations) approx. 1820 requiring new names. This also made the govt the main record keeper, not the church. I can traced my name back to 5 clans who chose our name. A family could pick the name together or an individual could. Names could not be duplicated within the “county” level of govt. Some picked colorful names like “outhouse” “stuck in pants” thinking it would not last but then they were stuck with the name, you know how govt bureaucracy is.
I have a friend from China whose last name is Lee. He notes that “Lee,” spelled in various ways, is also found in Korea, Vietnam, England, Ireland, Norway and German-speaking countries.
Actual names are Gim, Ee, and Bak/Pak but Koreans are awesomely tolerant of westernized spellings and stuff.
Because it’s short and easy to spell.
Nice pic
One high school where I have substitute taught has a lot of Korean-Americans, and I have had classes where half the students were named Kim. At another school in the same district which has a lot of Gujaratis from India, I have taught classes where half or more of the students had the last name Patel.
And still no sighting of Kim Jong Un.
The surnames of the German Jews are a special case, as they were introduced later, in the late 18th to early 19th century, per fiat.[8] The Prussian authorities imposed made-up and sometimes derogatory names. For instance, the name “Waldlieferant” (lit.: forest supplier) was “created” to ridicule a Jewish timber trader. Even way more offensive espressions (”Afterduft”; lit.: anus odor) were in use. This is by no means the rule, though; on the contrary, those surnames most quickly recognized as probably Jewish in origin are distinctly poetical ones, probably as they were made-up choices by the people themselves (e.g. Rosenzweig). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_namee
Because it fits nicely into those little oval shirt patches...
Lacism.
Is “Grant” common in North Korea? That could be a clue.
Next article: Why so many Indians are called Patel. Then why so many Americans are called Smith.
Knowing the family-clan background is still important, if only to try to be sure someone is not marrying someone who is too closely related to them; and so many still go through the process of checking their own and their prospective spouse’s genealogy as best as possible.
5.56mm