Kim Seong-woo
Overview
Kim Seong-woo (김성우; written variously as 金成宇, 金聖祐, etc.) is one of the widely used male names in South Korea, formed by combining the surname Kim with the given name Seong-woo. The character 成 carries the meaning of achieving or being achieved, and 宇 carries the meanings of house, world, and sky, so the name is sometimes interpreted positively as 'a person who makes the world.' Because the name itself is common, it often functions not as a document about one specific person but as a biographical name page for locating people who share the same name.
Main content
Characteristics and distribution of the name
'Seong-woo' is a name that has been consistently popular in South Korea since the 1970s, with preference continuing gently across generations. In particular, Kim is the surname with the largest share of the domestic population, so when combined with the same given name, the number of people with that name naturally increases. In fact, searches for people on internet portals or in the personal databases of government offices and companies return dozens or more people named Kim Seong-woo, and in most cases identification is possible only when occupation, birth year, and affiliation are given together.
Hanja notation differs from person to person, and various combinations such as 成宇, 聖祐, 成祐, and 星宇 are used. Distinguishing by hanja is the principle, but in practice it is more common to provide the date of birth or affiliated institution alongside the name.
People with the same name by field
Politics and public office
There are several public officials named Kim Seong-woo in central government ministries, local governments, and public institutions. They usually come from open recruitment exams such as the administrative or technical higher civil service examinations, or serve as local council members or executives of affiliated public corporations, and media reports distinguish them by giving both their ministry and position.
Culture and arts
There are also many people with the same name in broadcasting, film, music, and publishing. It is a representative area where confusion between people with the same name occurs often because the occupational groups are diverse, including actors, voice actors (聲優), directors, critics, and writers. In particular, when the name 'Seong-woo' overlaps with the occupational term 'seong-u' (voice actor), confusion can arise in search results.
Academia and research
Among professors and researchers at universities and research institutes, Kim Seong-woo can also often be found. Because their fields differ, including the humanities, engineering, medicine, and social sciences, their affiliated institution and research field must be checked together when citing papers. In academic databases, it is recommended to distinguish authors using same-name person identifiers such as ORCID.
Sports
The same name also exists among players, coaches, and referees in professional and amateur sports. Sports articles reduce reader confusion by specifying the affiliated team and position.
Points to note when searching and identifying
Because many people share this name, when citing information about a person it is desirable to provide at minimum ① birth year, ② occupation or affiliation, and ③ main field of activity together. For this reason, various encyclopedias, including Wikipedia, often operate 'Kim Seong-woo' not as a single-person article but as a same-name guide page (disambiguation page).
Recent trends
In 2024–2025, as AI-based person search and summarization services became widespread, the importance of identifying people with the same name has grown further. As cases have been reported in which generative AI identifies a person by name alone and summarizes incorrect information, portals and encyclopedias are expanding ways to display affiliation, occupation, and birth year combined as metadata. In addition, with the continuing opening of public data and discussions on standardizing personal information, interest is also growing in systems for distinguishing people with the same name using personal name identifiers.
Related topics
- [[동명이인]]
- [[한국인의 이름]]
- [[인명 식별자]]
- [[김씨]]