Yang (Korean surname)

Koreans with Last Name Yang

Shin Min-a Yang Yoseob Seungho (singer) Yang Hak-seon Kunihiko Ryo Yang Joon-hyuk Yang Dong-geun Yang Kyoungjong

Yang
Hangul	양
Hanja	梁, 楊
Revised Romanization	Yang
McCune–Reischauer	Yang

Yang is a Korean surname. It can be written four different ways using Chinese characters, but currently only two of the four are used in South Korea.^[1] The first of the two clans originated in a South Korean city named Cheongju while the second of the two clans originated on Jeju Island.^[2] The founder of the Cheongju Yang clan was a Chinese government official who stayed in Korea after escorting the future queen of King Gongmin to Korea.^[3] The founder of the Jeju Yang clan is Yang Tang. According to legend, Yang Tang was a distant descendant of Yang Ul-la, one of the three men who descended from a cave on the north side of Jeju Island's Halla Mountain. The three men then went on to establish the Yang, Pu, and Ko clans on the island.^[4]

The list below enumerates famous people with the last name Yang, which includes Yang Hyun-suk, the CEO and founder of YG Entertainment, wrestler Yang Jung-mo who was the first South Korean to win an Olympic gold medal, and gymnast Yang Hak-seon who was the first South Korean to win an Olympic gold medal in gymnastics.

Notable people with the surname (listed alphabetically)

Academic

• Ji-won Yang (1949): South Korean professor in the Department of Chemical and Bio-molecular Engineering at KAIST. He is currently the Executive Director of KAIST's Advanced Biomass R&D Center (ABC), which is Korea's largest R&D project involving biofuels and bioproducts. From 2006-2010, he was KAIST's Vice-President of External Affairs. He has also served as the President of the Korean Society of Biotechnology and Bioengineering.^[5]

Business

• Michael Yang (1961): Korean-American who is the founder & CEO of Become.com

Entertainment/Film

• Yang Dong-geun (1979): South Korean actor and hip-hop artist

• Eugene Lee Yang: Korean American filmmaker who is featured in many BuzzFeed videos

• Yang Hee-kyung (1954): South Korean actress

• Yang Hyun-suk (1969): founder and CEO of YG Entertainment, which is one of the top three entertainment companies in South Korea and the company that manages 2NE1, Big Bang, Psy, and more^[6]

• Yang Ik-june (1975): actor and director, known for Breathless (2008), The King of Pigs (2011), and Our Homeland (2012)

• Yang Jiwon (1988): South Korean idol singer. She is a member of Spica (managed by B2M Entertainment) and a former member of Five Girls and T-ara.

• Yang Jin-sung (1988): actress who played the role of Shin Eun-Ah in the SBS hit drama City Hunter (2011)

• Yang Jung-a (1971): South Korean actress

• Yang Mi-kyung (1961): South Korean actress who played the role of Lady Han in the mega-hit Korean drama, Dae Jang Geum.

• Shin Min-a (1984): her real last name is Yang;^[7] actress and model
• Seungho (singer) (1987): leader of Korean boy group MBLAQ

• Yang Yong-hi (1964): Korean-Japanese born in Osaka, Japan to Korean parents. Her father was a North Korean patriot who sent his three sons back to Pyongyang when they were in their late teens. She is best known for directing Dear Pyongyang, a documentary that won the Jury Special award at the World Cinema section for documentaries at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. The film also won the NETPAC Award at the 2006 Berlin International Film Festival. Yang's first feature film Our Homeland won the C.I.C.A.E. Panorama film award at the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival.

• Yang Yun-ho (1966): South Korean film director and screenwriter

• Yang Yoseob (1990): main vocalist for Korean boy group Beast

Fictional characters

• Cristina Yang: fictional character on Grey's Anatomy played by Sandra Oh. When the creator of Grey's Anatomy, Shonda Rhimes asked Oh what she wanted her character's last name to be, Oh chose Yang.^[8]

Literature

• Yang Gui-ja (1955): South Korean writer

Military

• Yang Kyoungjong: (1920–1992) Korean soldier who during World War II fought for the Imperial Japanese Army, the Soviet Red Army, and the German Wehrmacht. After the war ended, he emigrated to the U.S., where he lived until his death.

Music

• Yang In-mo (1995): violinist who was the winner of the 54th International Violin Competition Premio Paganini in Genoa, Italy. He is the first Korean ever to receive this prestigious award.^[9]

• Kunihiko Ryo (1960): Korean name Yang Bang-ean. Tokyo-born Korean pianist and composer who was one of the four Korean musicians who were chosen to perform at the closing ceremony of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics as part of the official handover ceremony for the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics^[10]

• Sung-Won Yang: South Korean cellist who is a professor of cello at the Yonsei University School of Music. In 2003, Gramophone named his all-Kodaly debut album as Editor's Choice of the month. Also in 2003, Gramophone went on to name the album a Critic's Choice of the year.^[11]

Politics

• Yang Gi-tak (1871-1938): one of the leaders of the Korean independence movement. In 1933–1935, he served as the 9th president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea.

• Yang Sung-chul (1939): South Korean diplomat who served as Seoul's ambassador to the U.S. from 2000–2003

Sports

• Yang Dongi (1984): South Korean mixed martial artist who competes in the middleweight division

• Yang Hak-seon (1992): first Korean gymnast to win an Olympic gold medal^[12]

• Yang Hee-jong (1984): professional Korean basketball player who plays for the South Korean national basketball team^[13]

• Yang Dong-geun (basketball) (1981): professional Korean basketball player who plays for the South Korean national basketball team

• Yang Joon-hyuk (1969): South Korean professional baseball outfielder for the Samsung Lions

• Yang Hyeon-jong (1988): South Korean professional baseball outfielder for the Kia Tigers

• Yang Jung-mo (1953): South Korean freestyle wrestler. He is the first South Korean to win an Olympic gold medal (He won gold in the 1976 Montreal Olympics).^[14]

• Yang Seung-jun (1965): South Korean ice hockey executive who is currently the manager of the Korea Ice Hockey Association^[15]

• Yang Shin-young (1990): South Korean short-track and long-track speed skater

• Yang Tae-hwa (1982): South Korean ice dancer who was the South Korean national champion from 1999-2002. She and her partner represented South Korea at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

• Yang Tae-young (1980): South Korean 2004 Olympic bronze medalist in the individual all-around event in artistic gymnastics

• Yang Yong-eun (1972): South Korean professional golf player and a two-time winner of the PGA Tour

• Yang Young-ja (1964): South Korean professional table tennis player who won gold at the 1988 Olympics

Visual Arts/Fashion

• Jeanne Yang: Korean American fashion stylist. Among her clients were George Clooney, Robert Downey Jr., Christian Bale, and more.^[16] In 2015, she was credited with suiting up Birdman's Michael Keaton and Fifty Shades of Grey's Jamie Dornan for the award season and premieres.^[17] Since 2011, Yang has been consistently ranked in The Hollywood Reporter annual list of top stylists.^[18] In 2015, she was ranked as 16. She has shot editorial shoots for Vanity Fair, InStyle, Rolling Stone, and more. In 2009, she launched a clothing line called Holmes & Yang with actress Katie Holmes, but the partnership ended in March 2014.^[19]

• Niki Yang: South Korean animator who lives in the U.S. She is best known for being one of the storyboard artists for Family Guy and for voicing BMO and Lady Rainicorn on Adventure Time.

See also

• Jeju Province
• Liang (surname)
• List of Korean Americans
• List of Korean family names
• Yang (surname)

External links

• Yang family history at ancestry.com
• Jeju Special Self-Governing Province

References