Choi (Korean name)

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Choi
Hangul:
최
Hanja:
崔
Revised Romanization: Choe
McCune-Reischauer: Ch'oe
This article is about the Korean surname Choi. For the Chinese surname Cai (蔡), sometimes transliterated as Choi, see Cai (surname).

Choi, sometimes spelled Choe or Chey or Choy, is a common Korean family name. The 2000 South Korean census counted 2,169,704 people bearing this name. Many others live in North Korea and around the world. The vowel sound is similar to the German ö [œ], but in English-speaking countries, most Chois prefer the anglicized form that rhymes with soy. Ethnic Koreans in the former USSR prefer the form Tsoi (Tsoy) (Russian Цой), e.g. Russian rock artist Viktor Tsoi.

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[edit] Clans

There are roughly 160 clans of Chois. Most of these are quite small. The largest by far is the Gyeongju Choi clan, with a 2000 South Korean population of 976,820. The Gyeongju Choe claim the Silla scholar Choe Chi-won as their founder.

[edit] Etymology

The name Choi (崔) is derived from the combination of 3 ancient Chinese characters:

山 symbolizes the mountains.
人 symbolizes a person.
土 symbolizes the soil. In Choi, two 土 are used to symbolize the land.

Choi means a governor, who oversees the people, the land, and the mountain. The surname Choi also means high, superior, lofty or towering, which might explain why this surname is mostly used as surnames of antagonists in Korean soap operas.[citation needed]

It should not be confused with "choi" in the pak choi food, which is of Chinese origin and of a different meaning.

[edit] List of people with the surname Choi

[edit] Fictional

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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