Im (surname) explained

Lim, Yim, or Im (林)
Pronunciation:pronounced as /ko/ or pronounced as /ko/
Language origin:Chinese
Meaning:forest
Region:North and South Korea
Language:Korean
Variant:Lin
Hayashi
Yim or Im (任)
Pronunciation:pronounced as /ko/
Meaning:dependable, allow, appoint
Region:North and South Korea
Language:Korean
Im
Hangul:
Hanja:,
Rr:Im
Mr:Im

Im or Lim is a common Korean family name. The surname is identical to the Chinese character of the same name. According to the initial law of the Korean language, both "Im" and "Lim" are interchangeable.

History

The first clan branch is the Supul Rim (수풀 림, meaning "Forest-Rim") and its Hanja character is 林. The Supul Rim or Lim or Im branch consists of two large clan houses; the first is Naju (early Hoijin) and the second, which is the elder branch, is Pyeongtaek. Members of this branch often write their names as both 임 (Im; more common) and 림 (Rim or Lim; initial law). The character 林 means "forest".

The second clan branch is the Matgil Im (맡길 임) or Mateul Im (맡을 임) and its Hanja character is 任. The Matgil Im/Mateul Im branch consists of one large clan house called Pungcheon Im clan and a smaller clan house called Jangheung (장흥). Members of this clan branch both write and pronounce their names as 임 (Im). The character 任 means "trusted/to bear, duty".

Romanization

When 林 (림 or 임) is romanized, it is spelled as "Rim" or "Im" in McCune–Reischauer and Revised Romanization of Korean, as "Lim".

When 任 (임) is romanized, it is spelled as "Im" in McCune–Reischauer and Revised Romanization of Korean, or sometimes spelled "Yim".

Statistics from the year 2000 show that there were 762,767 수풀 림 (林, Rim) and 172,726 맡길 임 (任, Im) in South Korea.[1]

Notable people of the past

The following is a list of notable people of the past with the Korean family name Im/Lim/Rim. People should only be included in this list if they have their own Wikipedia articles or if they are discussed in a non-trivial fashion in Wikipedia articles on notable groups or events with which they are associated. Pratt's list contains 8 names.[2]

Notable people of the recent times

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 행정구역(구시군)/성씨·본관별 가구 및 인구 . January 22, 2006 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060907003534/http://kosis.nso.go.kr/cgi-bin/sws_999.cgi?ID=DT_1INOOSB&IDTYPE=3 . September 7, 2006 .
  2. Pratt, p.548