Woo (Korean surname)

Woo is an uncommon Korean surname.

Clans
Woo may be written with either of two hanja ( and ). Each has one bon-gwan: for the former, Danyang, North Chungcheong Province, and for the latter, Mokcheon-eup (목천읍), Dongnam-gu, Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, both in what is today South Korea. The 2000 South Korean census found 180,141 people with these family names. In a study by the National Institute of the Korean Language based on 2007 application data for South Korean passports, it was found that 97.0% of people with this surname spelled it in Latin letters as Woo in their passports, while only 1.6% spelled it as Wu. Rarer alternative spellings (the remaining 1.4%) included U and Wo.

People with the surname

 * U Tak (1262-1342), Korean Confucian scholar during the Goryeo dynasty
 * Woo Jang-choon (1898–1959), Korean-born Japanese botanist
 * Woo Sang-kwon (1926–1975), South Korean footballer and coach
 * Woo Yong-gak (1929–2012), North Korean commando held in South Korea as one of the unconverted long-term prisoners
 * Kyu Sung Woo (born 1941), South Korean architect
 * U Tong-chuk (born 1942), North Korean politician
 * Woo In-hee (died 1981), North Korean actress and mistress of Kim Jong-il
 * Woo Bum-kon (1955–1982), South Korean police officer and spree killer (responsible for the Uiryeong massacre)
 * Meredith Jung-En Woo (born 1958), South Korean-born American political scientist
 * Woo Sang-ho (born 1962), South Korean activist and politician
 * Woo Hee-young (born 1963), South Korean footballer
 * Woo Hyun (born 1964), South Korean actor
 * Sung J. Woo (born 1971), South Korean-born American writer
 * Hyo-Won Woo (born 1974), South Korean composer
 * Woo Mi-hwa (born 1974), South Korean actress
 * Woo Sung-yong (born 1974), South Korean footballer
 * Woo Hyun-jung (born 1977), South Korean former field hockey player
 * Woo Chul (born 1978), South Korean swimmer
 * Woo Sun-hee (born 1978), South Korean handball player
 * Masta Wu (born Woo Jin-won, 1978), South Korean rapper
 * Woo Seung-je (born 1982), South Korean footballer
 * Woo Seung-yeon (1983–2009), South Korean actress
 * Woo Jin-yong (born 1986), CrossFit and snowboard athlete
 * Woo Seung-jae (born 1986), South Korean wrestler
 * Woo Hye-mi (stage name Miwoo, 1988–2019), South Korean singer
 * Kevin Woo (born 1991), South Korean-American singer, television host, former member of boy group U-KISS
 * Woo Do-hwan (born 1992), South Korean actor
 * Woo Hye-lim (born 1992), South Korean singer, former member of girl group Wonder Girls
 * Zico (born Woo Ji-ho, 1992), South Korean rapper, record producer, member of boy group Block B
 * Woo Sang-ho (born 1992), South Korean footballer
 * Woo Joo-sung (born 1993), South Korean footballer
 * Woo Sang-hyeok (born 1996), South Korean high jump athlete
 * Woo Won-jae (born 1996), South Korean rapper
 * Woo Jin-young (born 1997), South Korean singer and rapper
 * Woo Ha-ram (born 1998), South Korean diver