Kwon

Kwon also written as Gwon (Korean: 권; Hanja: 權 [kwʌn]) is a Korean family name. Some sources^[who?] list as many as 56 clans, but most of them were merged with the Andong Gwon clan under the Sijeung-gong faction soon after the establishment of the Goryeo Kingdom.

Andong Kwon clan

The founder of Andong Kwon clan, Kim Haeng (金幸), was originally a royalty of the Silla Gyeongju Kim clan. He participated in the Battle of Gochang and helped Taejo, who established the Kingdom of Goryeo in 918; the new king bestowed upon Kim Haeng a new surname: Kwon (權), as he could judge the situation correctly and achieve a purpose flexibly (能炳幾達權).

The clan had alternative older names as the Seokreung Kwon clan (石陵權氏), Koryeong Kwon clan (古寧權氏), Hwasan Kwon clan (花山權氏), Reungra Kwon clan (綾羅權氏), Jipyeong Kwon clan (地平權氏), Ilgye Kwon clan (一界權氏), and Gojang Kwon clan (古藏權氏).

Yecheon Kwon clan

The original surname of the Yecheon Kwon clan was Hŭn (흔; 昕). However, they were forced to change their surname due to having the same character as the personal name of King Chungmok of Goryeo, which was Wang Hŭn (왕흔; 王昕). Due to the naming taboo of using the character of the king's personal name, the Hŭn family changed their surname to Kwon (權), which was the surname of the mother of the clan head. The head of the Hŭn clan at this time, Kwon Sŏm (권섬; 權暹), became the founding ancestor of the Yecheon Kwon clan. Approximately two thirds of clan members live in the Gyeongsang provinces. All members of the Heun (昕) clan disappeared before the founding of Joseon.^{[citation needed]}

Another account states that the Yecheon Heun (昕) clan's Jeoksin, Suchang, Seungdan, and Seungjo married into the Andong Kwon clan and afterward their descendants took their mothers' surname Kwon (權). Yecheon Kwon clan called an Obongmun (五福門) in late Goryeo.^{[clarification needed]}

Notable people (historic)

• Queen Hyeondeok (1418–1441), Joseon consort
• Kwŏn Kŭn (1352–1409), Joseon Neo-Confucian scholar
• Kwŏn Ram (1416–1465), Joseon politician, writer, historian
• Gwon Sang-ha (1641–1712), Joseon politician and Neo-Confucian scholar
• Kwŏn Tumun (1543–1617), Joseon scholar-official and military leader
• Gwon Yul (1537–1599), Joseon general

Notable people (contemporary)

See also

• List of Korean family names
• Korean name
• Kwon the Redeemer

References

Surname list

This page lists people with the surname Kwon.
If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.