Sang (Korean name)

Sang is a rare Korean family name, a single-syllable Korean unisex given name, and an element in many two-syllable Korean given names. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write it.

Family name
As a family name, Sang may be written with only one hanja, meaning "yet" or "still" (오히려 상 ohiryeo sang). The 2000 South Korean Census found 2,298 people and 702 households with this family name. All but five of those listed a single bon-gwan (origin of a clan lineage, not necessarily the actual residence of clan members): Mokcheon (today Mokcheon-eup ), Dongnam District, Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province. One person listed a different bon-gwan, while four others had their bon-gwan listed as unknown. They claim descent from Sang Guk-jin, an official of the early Goryeo period who was born in Mokcheon and rose to the post of jangri there.

Hanja and meaning
There are 35 hanja with the reading "sang" on the South Korean government's official list of hanja which may be registered for use in given names; they are.


 * 1) (윗 상 wit sang): 'above'
 * 2) (오히려 상 ohiryeo sang): 'yet", "still'
 * 3) (항상 상 hangsang sang): 'always'
 * 4) (상줄 상 sangjul sang): 'to reward'
 * 5) (장사 상 jangsa sang): 'business'
 * 6) (서로 상 seoro sang): 'mutually'
 * 7) (서리 상 seori sang): 'frost'
 * 8) (생각 상 saenggak sang): 'think'
 * 9) (다칠 상 tachil sang): 'wound'
 * 10) (잃을 상 ilheul sang): 'to lose'
 * 11) (맛볼 상 matbol sang): 'to taste'
 * 12) (치마 상 chima sang): 'skirt'
 * 13) (자세할 상 jasehal sang): 'detailed'
 * 14) (상서 상 sangseo sang): 'auspicious'
 * 15) (코끼리 상 kokkiri sang): 'elephant'
 * 16) (모양 상 moyang sang): 'shape'
 * 17) (평상 상 pyeongsang sang): 'bench'
 * 18) (뽕나무 상 bbongnamu sang): 'mulberry tree'
 * 19) (형상 상 hyeongsang sang): 'shape'
 * 20) (갚을 상 gapeul sang): 'to pay a debt'
 * 21) (학교 상 hakgyo sang): 'school'
 * 22) (강 이름 상 gang ireum sang): name of a river (the Xiang River in Guangxi, China)
 * 23) (상자 상 sangja sang): 'box'
 * 24) (날 상 nal sang): 'to fly'
 * 25) (시원할 상 siwonhal sang): 'refreshing'
 * 26) (높고 밝은 땅 상 nopgo balgeun ttang sang): 'plateau'
 * 27) (홀어머니 상 horeomeoni sang): 'widow'
 * 28) (고개 상 gogae sang): 'mountain pass'
 * 29) (행랑 상 haengrang sang): 'servant's quarters'
 * 30) (상수리나무 상 sangsurinamu sang): 'oak tree'
 * 31) (잔 상 jan sang): 'cup'
 * 32) (상수리나무 상 sangsurinamu sang): 'oak tree'
 * 33) (평상 상 pyeongsang sang): 'bench'
 * 34) (성품 밝을 상 seongpum balgeul sang): 'bright disposition'
 * 35) (세찰 상 sechal sang): 'to flow violently'

People
People with the single-syllable Korean given name Sang include:
 * Yi Sang (1910–1937), birth name Kim Haikyung, Korean writer of the Japanese colonial period
 * Ku Sang (1919–2004), South Korean poet
 * Chang Sang (born 1939), South Korean politician, country's first female prime minister

As name element
Two names beginning with this syllable were popular names for newborn South Korean boys in the mid-20th century: Sang-chul (10th place in 1950) and Sang-hoon (9th place in 1960 and 1970). Names containing this syllable include:


 * Eun-sang
 * Jun-sang
 * Sang-chul
 * Sang-eun
 * Sang-hoon
 * Sang-hyun
 * Sang-jun
 * Sang-mi
 * Sang-won
 * Sang-woo
 * Sang-wook