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I'm a personal trainer and this current client of mine just got back from Korea (he hated it--said it was a s.h.i.t.hole) and he said someting I found difficult to fathom. He says that over HALF of all Koreans are either named, Pak, Kim, or Lee. That amazes me: could you imagine over half of all Americans being named Brown or Smith?
Does anyone know if this is true? Thanks.
My wife is Japanese and she has had much more contact in her life with Korean's than I have, and she says that's very true. Another common name for Korean's is Pong. Not quite different than Patel in India, or Mc?????????? in Ireland.
I'm a personal trainer and this current client of mine just got back from Korea (he hated it--said it was a s.h.i.t.hole) and he said someting I found difficult to fathom. He says that over HALF of all Koreans are either named, Pak, Kim, or Lee. That amazes me: could you imagine over half of all Americans being named Brown or Smith?
Does anyone know if this is true? Thanks.
I believe it is. And you will not find a huge array of names among the Han Chinese either I have been told by a Chinese person.
What did your client find so horrible about Korea?
^it wouldn't surprise me they would think it's horrible. if you don't like someplace you feel it's horrible. i felt that way when i first got here though it's hard to fathom for most americans.
korea is congested etc. it's not going to be liked except for those who have certain things in mind they are there for and like a lot or for those who have deeper ties who see through a different cultural lens. there is almost no way i can rationally explain why i like korea, it's just one of those intangibles like an inside joke. korea is not a place anyone is really going to like unless they are very interested in asian culture to begin. that said, there are foreigners who end up loving it as much as koreans, sometimes i think it's just a spiritual thing. you either get it or you don't. if it's not in your 'type', it's just like a misfit. i think that's why people are attracted to different parts of the wrold. that's why cultures and countries can be so personal to people.
as far as last names, those are common last names but still there are lots of others. i don't think koreans think of it as something strange. i see repeated or prevalent names in the states so many people have them, it's really the same thing.
This is true in a lot of countries, Europe included. Hard to grasp for Americans since we have thrown a lot of nationalities together thus a lot of names.
It might help to understand that surnames have not even been considered obligatory until quite recently in history in most parts of the world, Europe included. It has mainly been a function of keeping people straight when people started filing into cities during the industrial revolution hence the predominance of last names that refer to places or professions.
There are a lot of places in the world where a very small number of surnames are very dominant. This would include Spanish-surnamed countries, where the same couple of dozen names seem to encompass a majority of the population. In Arabic speaking countries, just a few names cover most families.
On current major league baseball roasters, there are only 16 players named Smith, Brown or Jones, but 39 named Rodriguez, Gonzalez or Hernandez.
Here in America, we have become spoiled because the inventory of surnames is drawn from so many different cultures.
A quarter of all Americans have one of the 244 most common surnames. Only 3% have the five most common surnames.
He says that over HALF of all Koreans are either named, Pak, Kim, or Lee. That amazes me: could you imagine over half of all Americans being named Brown or Smith?
Does anyone know if this is true? Thanks.
In Vietnam, about half the population have the family surname "Nguyen" (pronounced Nwin).
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