Korean names are names that place their origin in, or are used in, Korea. A Korean name in the modern era typically consists of a surname followed by a given name, with no middle names. A number of Korean terms for names exist. For full names, seongmyeong (Korean: 성명; Hanja: 姓名), seongham (성함; 姓銜), or ireum (이름) are commonly used. When a Korean name is written in Hangul, there is usually no space between the surname and the given name.
Most Korean surnames consist of a single syllable, although multisyllabic surnames exist (e.g. Namgung). In South Korea, upon marriage, both partners keep their full names, but children inherit the father's surname unless otherwise specified during the marriage registration process. Koreans have been historically grouped into Korean clans. Each clan is identified by a bongwan (본관; birthplace of the clan's founder) and the surname of the founder of the clan (with descendency determined patrilineally). For example, the Jeonju Yi clan comes from Jeonju and descends from Yi Han. In 2000, a census showed that, in total, there were 286 surnames and 4,179 clans. However, the three most common surnames (Kim, Lee, and Park) are shared by nearly half of South Koreans.