Chae (Korean: 채), also less commonly spelled Chai or Chea, is a Korean family name and an element in some Korean given names. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write it.
Chae | |
Hangul | 채 |
---|---|
Hanja | Family/given: Given name only: |
Revised Romanization | Chae |
McCune–Reischauer | Ch'ae |
The 2000 South Korean Census found 119,251 people with the family name Chae.[1] It could be written with any of three hanja, indicating different lineages.[2] In a study by the National Institute of the Korean Language based on year 2007 application data for South Korean passports, it was found that 87.8% of people with this surname spelled it in Latin letters as Chae in their passports. Another 7.5% spelled it as Chai, 2.8% as Che, and 1.7% as Chea.[3]
蔡 (성씨 채 songssi chae) is by far the most common of the three Chae surnames.[1] This character is also used to write the Chinese family name pronounced Cài ([t͡sʰai̯˥˩]) in Mandarin. The 2000 Census found 114,069 people and 35,099 households with this surname, divided among seventeen reported bon-gwan (clan hometowns, not necessarily the actual residence of clan members), as well as eighty-six people whose bon-gwan was not stated:[1]
菜 (나물 채 namul chae) is the second-most common of the three Chae surnames.[1] The 2000 Census found 3,516 people and 1,067 households with this surname, divided among two reported bon-gwan:[1]
采 (풍채 채 pungchae chae, 캘 채 kael chae) is the least common of the three Chae surnames.[1] The 2000 Census found 1,666 people and 566 households with this surname, with one reported bon-gwan:[1]
People with these family names include:
There are 17 hanja with the reading Chae on the South Korean government's official list of hanja which may be registered for use in given names; they are:[6]
Korean given names containing the element Chae include: