Jeong (surname)

Latin-alphabet spelling

In a study by the National Institute of the Korean Language based on a sample of year 2007 applications for South Korean passports, it was found that 48.6% of people with this surname chose to have it spelled it in Latin letters as Jung in their passports. The Revised Romanization transcription Jeong was at second place with 37.0%, while Chung came in third at 9.2%. It was the only one out of the top five surnames (the others being Kim, Park, Lee, and Choi) for which the Revised Romanization spelling was used by more than a few percent of applicants.

Rarer alternative spellings (the remaining 5.2%) included, in order of decreasing frequency, Joung, Cheong, Chong, Jeoung, Jeung, Choung, Jong, Cheung, Juong, Jeng, Chyung, Jaung, Jueng, and Zheng. The spelling Jong, rare in South Korea, is official in North Korea's modified version of the McCune–Reischauer transcription system.

Lineages

The Korean family name Jeong can be written with either of three homophonous hanja. Each of those three are broken down into a number of clans, identified by their bon-gwan (clan hometown, not necessarily the actual residence of the clan members), which indicate different lineages.

Most common (鄭)

鄭 (나라 정 nara jeong) is the most common of the three Jeong names. This character was originally used to write the Chinese family name Zheng, and before that the name of a vassal state of the Zhou Dynasty. In the 2000 South Korean census, 2,010,117 people and 626,265 households had this family name. These people identified with 136 different bon-gwan (not including those listed as "other" or "unreported" in the census).

Second-most common (丁)

丁 (고무래 정 gomurae jeong; 장정 정 jangjeong jeong) is the second-most common of the three Jeong names. This character was originally used to write the Chinese family name Ding. In the 2000 census, 187,975 people and 58,431 households had this family name. These people identified with 23 different bon-gwan, including:

1. Naju: 82,863 people and 25,786 households.
2. Jinju: 24,598 people and 7,661 households.
3. Yeonggwang: 21,774 people and 6,839 households.
4. Changwon: 16,141 people and 4,989 households.
5. Yeongseong: 10,429 people and 3,279 households.
6. Gukseong: 9,620 people and 2,984 households.
7. Haeju: 5,381 people and 1,683 households.
8. Aphae (押海): 3,335 people and 1,079 households. They claim descent from Jeong Deok-seong (정덕성; 丁德盛; Pinyin: Dīng Déshèng), who was born in a village called Dingying (丁營) in Dengzhou, China and came to the Korean peninsula during the reign of Munjong of Goryeo. Later on, other Jeong clans branched off from them, and became more numerous.
9. Other or unreported: 13,834 people and 4,131 households.

Least common (程)

程 (한도 정 hando jeong; 길 정 gil jeong) is the least-common of the three Jeong names. This character was originally used to write the Chinese family name Cheng. In the 2000 census, 32,519 people and 10,220 households had this family name. These people identified with 15 different bon-gwan, including:

1. Dongnae: 10,632 people and 3,321 households.
2. Gyeongju: 9,026 people and 2,934 households.
3. Hanam: 7,766 people and 2,355 households.
4. Other or unreported: 5,095 people and 1,610 households.

Notable people

The following is a list of notable people with the Korean family name Jeong, grouped by area of notability and ordered by year of birth. Names are presented in the form they are given on the respective articles, which may have the family name first or last, or which may be a stage name or pen name. People should only be included in this list if they have their own Wikipedia articles or if they are discussed in a non-trivial fashion in Wikipedia articles on notable groups or events with which they are associated.

Business

Classical music and dance

Design and visual arts

Screen actors

Film directors, producers, and screenwriters

Singers

Voice actors

Other

Literature

Politics and government

Religion

Science

Association football

Baseball

Basketball

Boxing and martial arts

Fencing

Handball

Racket sports

Running

Swimming

Volleyball

Wrestling

Other