Im

Im (임) is a common Korean surname with two distinct origins in Sino-Korean characters. The more frequent is from 林 (im), meaning "forest", making it the Korean equivalent of the Chinese surname Lin. The other origin is from 任 (im), whose meaning is uncertain, corresponding to the Chinese surname Ren.

Pronunciation and Variants

In Korean, the surname is pronounced as [im] in the Revised Romanization system, though it is also commonly romanized as Lim due to an aspirated consonant sound that in initial position triggers the phonetic shift reflected in spelling. According to the 2010 United States Census, Im (including the Igbo name) ranked as the 6880th most common surname among all last names reported. Other Asian surnames with shared Chinese origins include Lam (Cantonese), Lim (Hokkien), Mim (Japanese), and Hayashi (the purely Japanese "forest" reading of the same Hanja).

Notable Bearers

• Im Chun-chu (also known as Im Ge) – Korean historical figure from the Goryeo dynasty
• Im Ki-jung – South Korean lyricist
• Im Se-mi – South Korean actress
• Im Yong-ung – North Korean politician

Ethnic Pluralism in Surname

In the United States and elsewhere, Im serves as a romanization of various surnames from multiple ethnic groups (the Korean name; a variant of German Im otherwise spelled Imm; and an upper Nile African Im from the Igbo or other languages). Its top global pluralities remain, however, in populations deriving from old Chinese sources linked by Im “forest” or Im “officer/relying.”

• Meaning: "forest" (林) or uncertain (任)
• Origin: Sino-Korean
• Type: Predominantly fixed surname
• Usage: South Korea, diasporic Korean communities
• Related: Lin, Ren, Lam, Lim