<p>I don't think it is <em>translated</em> as much as it is that every Korean family actually has their own <em>Hanja</em>.</p>

<p>According to Wikipedia's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_South_Korean_surnames_by_prevalence" rel="nofollow noreferrer">List of South Korean surnames by prevalence</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>유</p>
</blockquote>

<p>can be one of four Chinese characters:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>柳, 劉, 兪, 庾</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Most Koreans have Hanja names &amp; they would certainly know which their surname is.</p>

<hr>

<p>If you check out Wikipedia's <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Korean_surnames" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Appendix:Korean surnames</a> you can see that</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>여</p>
</blockquote>

<p>is the Southern Korean equivalent of</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>余</p>
</blockquote>

<p>while</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>우</p>
</blockquote>

<p>equates to </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>于, 禹</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-16T04:08:12.593Z
2019-03-16T05:38:16.040Z
2019-03-16T05:38:16.040Z
Mou某
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/5g9vj.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/5g9vj.jpg" alt="Korean newspaper, 1920"></a></p>

<p>Do you know what it is? It is a Korean newspaper printed in 1920. It is printed in Korean language, not Chinese. The Chinese characters in that newspaper are actually “Korean Chinese characters”, known as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanja" rel="nofollow noreferrer">hanja</a> in English. Hanja is still the official script of Korean language, alongside Hangul.</p>

<p>Hanja has <strong>not</strong> been abolished in South Korea, but few Korean people use it today. Most of Korean people only write Hangul today, <strong>except their names</strong>. Korean names are still in Hanja.</p>

<p><strong>Have a look at South Korean identity cards. Korean names are still printed in Hanja.</strong> As a result, we never translate Korean names into Chinese. We only copy the Chinese characters into Chinese.</p>

<hr>

<p>Therefore, the real question should be: </p>

<p>Why is the Chinese character 刘 (劉) pronounced 유 (yoo) in Korean?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-19T15:45:28.143Z
2019-03-19T16:16:30.123Z
2019-03-19T16:16:30.123Z
Victor
<p><a href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%9C%A0%EC%B0%BD%ED%98%81" rel="nofollow noreferrer">유창혁</a> (Yoo Changhyuk) is translated as <a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%88%98%E6%98%8C%E8%B5%AB" rel="nofollow noreferrer">刘昌赫</a> in Chinese. Is there any reason that 유 is translated as 刘 instead of 余 or 于?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-16T10:14:17.387Z
FYI: In South Korean dialects, if a word starts with **ry-** it gets shifted to **y-**, that is, the「ㄹ」sound gets omitted. So, in North Korea,「劉」is pronounced as「류」(**Ryoo**).
dROOOze
<translation><names><surnames>
Why the surname 유 (Yoo) is translated as 刘 instead of 余 or 于？
# Why the surname 유 (Yoo) is translated as 刘 instead of 余 or 于？

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-03-16)

[유창혁](https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%9C%A0%EC%B0%BD%ED%98%81) (Yoo Changhyuk) is translated as [刘昌赫](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%88%98%E6%98%8C%E8%B5%AB) in Chinese. Is there any reason that 유 is translated as 刘 instead of 余 or 于?

**Tags:** translation, names, surnames

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: FYI: In South Korean dialects, if a word starts with **ry-** it gets shifted to **y-**, that is, the「ㄹ」sound gets omitted. So, in North Korea,「劉」is pronounced as「류」(**Ryoo**).  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-03-16. Score: 6

I don't think it is *translated* as much as it is that every Korean family actually has their own *Hanja*.

According to Wikipedia's [List of South Korean surnames by prevalence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_South_Korean_surnames_by_prevalence)

> 유

can be one of four Chinese characters:

> 柳, 劉, 兪, 庾

Most Koreans have Hanja names & they would certainly know which their surname is.

---

If you check out Wikipedia's [Appendix:Korean surnames](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Korean_surnames) you can see that

> 여

is the Southern Korean equivalent of

> 余

while

> 우

equates to

> 于, 禹


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-03-19. Score: 1

[![Korean newspaper, 1920](https://i.sstatic.net/5g9vj.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/5g9vj.jpg)

Do you know what it is? It is a Korean newspaper printed in 1920. It is printed in Korean language, not Chinese. The Chinese characters in that newspaper are actually “Korean Chinese characters”, known as [hanja](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanja) in English. Hanja is still the official script of Korean language, alongside Hangul.

Hanja has **not** been abolished in South Korea, but few Korean people use it today. Most of Korean people only write Hangul today, **except their names**. Korean names are still in Hanja.

**Have a look at South Korean identity cards. Korean names are still printed in Hanja.** As a result, we never translate Korean names into Chinese. We only copy the Chinese characters into Chinese.

---

Therefore, the real question should be:

Why is the Chinese character 刘 (劉) pronounced 유 (yoo) in Korean?


---

