Gun (Korean name) explained

Hangul:	건
Mr:	Kŏn
Rr:	Geon
Koreanipa:	/kʌn/

Gun, also spelled Geon, Kŏn, Keon, Gon, Kuhn, or Kun, is a single-syllable masculine Korean given name, as well as an element in some two-syllable given names. The meaning differs based on the hanja used to write it.

Hanja

There are 15 hanja with this reading, and variant forms of two of those, on the South Korean government's official list of hanja which may be used in given names; they are:^[1]

1. : "to construct"
   • (variant)
2. : "sky"
   • : "dry"
   • (variant)
3. : "object", "matter"
4. : "strong"
5. : "towel"
6. : "respect"
7. : "door latch"
8. : "key"
9. : "error"
10. : "sinew"
11. : "cripple"
12. : "wane"
13. : "to pick"
14. : name of a body of water^[2]
15. : "follow"

People

People with this name include:

• Yi Geon (1909–1990), prince of the Korean Empire, later a naturalised Japanese citizen
• Kang Kon (1918–1950), Korean military leader in Northeast China
• Goh Kun (born 1938), South Korean politician, Prime Minister from 1997 to 1998 and 2003 to 2004
• Shin Kuhn (1941–2015), 25th director of South Korea's National Intelligence Service
• Cui Jian (born 1961), Chinese rock musician of Korean descent
• Yoo Gun (born Jo Jeong-ik, 1983), American-born South Korean actor
• Heo Keon (born 1988), South Korean football midfielder
• Park Gon (born 1990), South Korean football defender
• Lee Geon (footballer) (born 1996), South Korean football winger

As a name element

In the 2000s, one given name containing this element, Kun-woo, was a popular name for newborn baby boys in South Korea.^[3] Other given names containing this element include:

• Dong-gun
• Yoo-gun

See also

• List of Korean given names

Notes and References

1. Web site: 인명용 한자표. Table of hanja for use in personal names. Supreme Court. South Korea. 2. August 2007. 2013-10-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20170829123222/http://help.scourt.go.kr/nm/img/hanja/hanja.pdf. 29 August 2017.
2. Specifically, the old name of the South Xinbu River (Chinese: 南新埠河) in Jingmen City, Hubei. See Web site: 建水. cidianwang.com. 26 May 2018.
3. News: 남자 → '민준' 여자 → '서연' 가장 많아 . Law Times . 2010-01-20 . 2011-09-19 . 2012-04-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120426085405/http://www.lawtimes.co.kr/LawNews/News/NewsContents.aspx?serial=50907 . dead .