Choi is a Korean family surname. As of the South Korean census of 2015, there were around 2.3 million people by this name in South Korea or roughly 4.7% of the population. In English-speaking countries, it is most often anglicized as Choi, and sometimes also Chey, Choe or Chwe. Ethnic Koreans in the former USSR prefer the form Tsoi (Tsoy) especially as a transcription of the Cyrillic Цой.

[54% of Korean people bear the family name Kim, Lee, Park, Choi, Jeong, or variants thereof.

{{legend|#19578F|Kim, Gim}} {{legend|#419A43|Lee, Yi, Rhee}} {{legend|#FB9F2C|Park, Pak}} {{legend|#DB1D2A|Choi}} {{legend|#7D377B|Jung, Jeong, Chung, Cheong|undefined | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Distribution///of///South///Korean///family///names.svg]

Origin

Clans

There are roughly 160 clans of Chois. Most of these are quite small. However, Choi is the 4th most common surname in Korea. The largest by far is the Gyeongju Choi clan, with a 2000 South Korean population of 976,820. The Gyeongju Choe claim the Silla scholar Ch'oe Ch'i-wŏn as their founder.

Etymology and Pronunciation

Choi is written with the Hanja character 崔, meaning "a governor who oversees the land and the mountain". In Korean, 최 is usually pronounced "Chwe" or “Chey” except by some older speakers who pronounce it (this vowel sound is similar to the German ö [ø]). In English, it is most often pronounced "Choy", which sounds clearly different to its proper pronunciation but some go by “Chey”.

Prominent people of the past

Prominent people today

General

Politicians

Arts

General

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Sports