Cheon, also spelled Chun or Chon, is an uncommon Korean surname. It is written with either of two hanja:
() meaning "thousand". This is the more common character, used as a surname by 103,811 people in 32,229 households in South Korea, according to the 2000 census. (), meaning "heaven". The 2000 census found 8,416 people in 2,668 households who used this character to write their surname.
In a study by the National Institute of Korean Language based on 2007 application data for South Korean passports, it was found that 50% of people with this family name spelled it in Latin letters as Cheon in their passports, while 42% spelled it Chun, and 3.5% spelled it Chon. Rarer alternative spellings (the remaining 4.5%) included Choun and the Yale romanization Chen.
People with this surname include:
Entertainment Chun Bo-geun (born 2002), South Korean actor Greg Chun (born 1971), American voice actor and musician Chun Ho-jin (born 1960), South Korean actor Chun Jung-myung (born 1980), South Korean actor Chun Myung-hoon (born 1978), South Korean singer, rapper, actor Chun Soo-yeon (stage name Song Ji-hyo, born 1981), South Korean actress Chun Woo-hee (born 1987), South Korean actress
Sportspeople Cheon Eun-bi (born 1992), South Korean field hockey player Cheon Eun-suk (born 1969), South Korean basketball player Cheon Hui-ju (born 1975), South Korean speed skater Cheon In-sik (born 1968), South Korean sprint canoeist Cheon Ju-hyeon (born 1977), South Korean speed skater Cheon Min-ho (born 1987), South Korean sport shooter Cheon Seong-hoon (born 2000), South Korean professional footballer Cheon Seong-tae (born 1943), South Korean rower Cheon Seul-ki (born 1989), South Korean field hockey player
Writers Chon Kye-young (born 1970), South Korean manhwa author Cheon Myeong-kwan (born 1964), South Korean novelist Cheon Sang-byeong (1930–1993), South Korean poet Cheon Un-yeong (born 1971), South Korean writer of short stories Cheon Yang-hee (born 1942), South Korean poet
Other Cheon Ho-sun (born 1962), South Korean politician Cheon Jinwoo (born 1962), South Korean professor of nanomedicine Cheon Jun-ho (born 1971), South Korean politician Chun Jung-bae (born 1954), South Korean politician Cheon Jung Hee (born 1969), South Korean mathematician Kyung-ja Chun (1924–2015), South Korean painter Mina Cheon (born 1973), South Korean-born American artist Taksu Cheon (born 1958), Japanese physicist Chun Yung-woo (born 1952), South Korean diplomat and politician
See also List of Korean family names Yeongyang Cheon clan
References