my husbands grandfather's name was Chong Hak Pok what is it's meaning?

Question

My husband is half Korean- We gave one of our sons Chong Hak as a Middle name and we are wondering what it means, or how to write it. Any information would be appricated.-thanks

Answer 1

I agree with Kai_ru in the above answer to a point but....

Being a Korean linguist I have looked for this name and found that his family name Chong is actually from the Chinese Han Dynasty and the eighth emperor of the Eastern Han period, Emperor Chong. Many of the surnames of Korea have come from China and have been altered to Korean spellings.
Hak Pok could have several meanings but I think I found the best possible answer for you...

Grandfather's name:
Hak means "to study, or "the study of" (possiby "student" in your grandfather's name). "Hak saeng" means "student" in Korean and "Hak kyo" means "school".

Pok could mean "clothing" or "width".

I would venture to say that his name meant "Student of broad studies". Koreans tend to use their names in respect of what they want their children to become or what they want them to aspire to in their lifetime. I hope this helps you.

Chong Hak:
Take what I said above and the Chinese surname of Chong could be translated as "double" or "riptide" (in Chinese and Sino-Korean this does have a meaning and is contrary to Kai_ru's answer above). I would use the definition of "double" so when you add "Hak" to it we find that your son has the middle name "Chong Hak" meaning "Double student" or a better definition might be "twice the student of any other". This would be very auspicious as it would bring a blessing upon your son in his future studies.

Pok is not a traditional surname in Korea as I could not find it used in that form in any of my literature and I never met anyone while in Korea with that surname. It could have been to describe the common "blowfish" but that seems unlikely unless he was from Pusan (Busan) or some other fishing community.

Please do not change the name of your son. Your husband's grandfather would be very pleased that you gave your son a name honoring the family no matter how you did it. You gave him this name and something made you want to do this and I think it was a great thing you did in honor of your husband's family.

By the way...you gave your son a middle name of a famous actor in Korea. Pak Jong Hak has been in several movies over the years and Jong Hak is now a producer of several award winning movies. "Jong" can also be spelled "Chong". He can be found at http://www.hancinema.net/person.php?person=Baek_Jong-hak

You spell your son's middle name like this: 종학

Answer 2

You should let him use it, because his grandfather obviously meant a lot to him. It's only a middle name, so it's not like many people will get to hear it. I think maybe you're being a little too 'fussy.' It's his baby too remember. If you love Lewis then you should feel happy, because that's what everybody will be calling him. Don't hurt hubby's feelings anymore. Lewis Herald actually sounds pretty good. :-) EDIT: It's completely okay to give your baby two middle names. I think that would be a nice way to compromise. For instance: Jacob Lewis Herald - that's cute. Or maybe something else. Just keep looking until you find a first name that you both love.

Answer 3

Chong is your husband's grandfather's surname, while Hak Pok is his give name. this applies to all three-worded name for east asians such as chinese and koreans. sorry, i'm a chinese but surnames of korean in hanja is the same as in chinese and they somehow have similar meanings.

hangul(korean character)= 정
hanja(chinese character)= 鄭 or丁
Chung, Chong, Jung are the popular spellings depending on how it is romanized.

in chinese, 鄭 the word itself has no meaning, it is believed to be a name given by the emperor during ancient times to be used for the particular family as their surname.

i would advise you to change your son's middle name to Hak Pok, or just Chong, because Chong Hak is only part of your husband's grandfather's full name. it east asian culture, it is not very polite to address someone by part of his name but not the whole in the combination of both surname and given name. Chong Hak is not your husband's grandfather's name, and i believe if he were to be alive, he would not like his name to be said in this way.

Answer 4

I think Chong is actually a Korean surname.

Answer 5

Chong is a Chinese last name. Koreans who have "Chong" as a last name are actually descendants of Chinese ancestors.

Answer 6

This didn't come to you whilst in a chinese restaurant did it?

Answer 7

how come your husband does not know?