Shin, also spelled Sin,[1] or Sheen, is a
Korean surname, a single-syllable
Korean given name, and an element in two-syllable Korean given names.[2] As given name meaning differs based on the
hanja used to write it. There are 34 hanja with the reading "shin"[3] on the
South Korean government's official list of hanja which may be registered for use in given names.
Clans
There are three
Chinese characters that can be read as Shin. Between these three characters, there are seven different
Korean clans, each of which descends from a different ancestral founder. Two of the six, the
Yeongsan Shin clan and the
Geochang Shin clan, both trace their origins back to
China. Members of the various Shin clans can be found throughout the
Korean peninsula.
As with other
Korean family names, the holders of the "Shin" family name are divided into various clans, each known by the name of a town or city, called bon-gwan in
Korean. Usually that town or city is the one where the clan's founder lived. The six Shin branches are as follows:
Although the first four clans — Pyongsan, Goryeong, Aju, and Saknyeong — share the same Chinese character (
申), they are unrelated in heritage.
The
Pyongsan Shin clan lineage makes up about 70% of all those with the surname Shin using the
Chinese character申. The clan's founder was General
Sin Sung-gyŏm. This clan associated with a mountain in North Korea called "Pyongsan" (平山, literally "mountain of peace"). Sin Sung-gyŏm was originally named Samneungsan (三能山, literally "mountain of three talents"), without a family name, before being granted the Sin surname by King
Taejo of Goryeo.
According to the Pyongsan Shin family legend, one day when King Taejo and his generals went out hunting near Pyeongsan, Taejo saw three geese flying above, and asked his generals whether any of them could shoot the geese down.
Sin Sung-gyŏm volunteered and asked Taejo which one he should shoot. Taejo asked Shin to shoot the third goose in its left wing and, to Taejo's surprise, Sin successfully felled the goose. Highly impressed, Taejo gifted Sin with 300 gyeol (결; 結, an ancient measurement of area) of local land, which became Sin's hometown.
Sin Sung-gyŏm also saved the life of King
Taejo of Goryeo during a disastrous battle with
Later Baekje near present-day
Daegu in the early
10th century. Taejo awarded General Sin the clan name Pyongsan Sin, after his hometown, for the loyalty and bravery he showed in the battle. Other prominent members of this clan include the 16th-century artist, writer, and poet
Shin Saimdang and the 19th-century pansori writer
Shin Jae-hyo.
Another well-known family line that also uses the Chinese character
申 is the Goryeong Shin clan, descended from
Shin Suk-ju, the lead scholar working with King
Sejong the Great in the development of
Hangul, the Korean written language. Shin Suk-ju was also a high ranking government minister and belonged to the
Hall of Worthies. The Goryeong Shin lineage makes up about 17% of all those with the surname (申). Three of five members of Shin Suk-ju's 16th generation are known to have immigrated to the
United States in the 1970s, such as the physician David Sheen. Another prominent member of the clan is Danjae
Shin Chaeho, a 19th-century nationalist historian.
The Quiett (born Shin Dong-gab), South Korean Rapper, composer, lyricist and record producer (co-founder of independent hip-hop label
Illionaire Records)