Yang (Family Name, Last Name, Surname)

There are four Hanja (Chinese characters) used for the Korean surname “Yang” (梁, 楊, 樑, 襄). Among these, most Koreans with this surname have the 梁 or 楊 character. Among the Korean population, the surnames “Yang” written as 樑 and 襄, are rarely found in the population. According to data from Statistics Korea (통계청), approximately 530,554 people in Korea bore the surname “Yang” as of 2015.

The Yang (梁) Surname

The surname “Yang” written in this form accounts for approximately 87% of people with the surname Yang in Korea. Unlike the surname “Yang” (楊), the original Chinese pronunciation is “Ryang.” However, the initial sound rule (두음 법칙) in the Korean language alters the spoken pronunciation to “Yang.” As of 2015, the population of Koreans with the Yang (梁) surname was 460,600 people, making it the 24th most common surname in Korea.

Eulna Yang (양을나·良乙那) is regarded as a progenitor and one of the three ancestral founders (the “Three Gods” 三神人) of Jeju Island. Among Koreans bearing the Yang (梁) surname, the Jeju Yang Clan (제주 양씨) accounts for 142,211 individuals, while the Namwon Yang Clan (남원 양씨) accounts for 307,724. It has been genetically confirmed, through Y-DNA analysis (Y-chromosome markers that trace paternal lineage), that the Namwon Yang clan is a direct descendant of the Jeju Yang clan. The Namwon, Chungju, and Naju branches of the Yang clan originated from the Jeju Yang clan.

However, a distinctive feature is that the Namwon Yang clan, which separated from Jeju Island and settled on the mainland early on, accounts for the majority of those bearing the Yang surname. Those with this family origin mainly reside in Jeju Island and the Honam (호남) region (the southwestern part of the Korean Peninsula), whereas they are relatively uncommon in the Yeongnam (영남) region (the southeastern part of the Korean Peninsula).

Character Form and Meaning

When writing the surname Yang (梁)—which means “beam” or “lintel” (a wooden beam placed atop two pillars)—it is common in Korea and the greater Chinese cultural sphere for people with this surname to write the character with the 刃 (“In” meaning "blade") component at the upper right. However, the printed form of the character uses 刅 (“Chang” meaning “to originate”), which has two dots on the upper right.

The Yang (楊) Surname

As of 2015, the population of people with the Yang (楊) surname is 69,101, and the places of family origin for this surname are Cheongju, Anak (안악; in present-day North Korea), Joonghwa, Milryang, and Namwon. The original pronunciation is “Yang,” unlike the surname Yang (梁), whose original pronunciation is “Ryang.” The population is mainly concentrated in Gyeonggi-do and Seoul.