Given name & surname
Hyun
“having great wisdom”
Hyun is used as a given name and a surname. One Korean interpretation is “having great wisdom.”
Original Korean현
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Korean interpretation is “having great wisdom.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Korean.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1957. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Hyun through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 437
- 269 boys · 168 girls
- Most popular year
- 1989
- 22 babies
- 2025
- 5
- #12,731 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 5 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 12,731 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 14 in 1989. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 5,806 as a first name in 2020; 2,299 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Hyun’s family of names
In English usage, Hyun as a surname was borrowed from the Korean form 현.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: across languages.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
Similar names
If you love Hyun, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Yoon
Yoon is a surname from Korean.
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Chong
Chong is a surname from Hakka, ultimately from Korean. It is used in English, Tagalog, and Indonesian.
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Jung
“a righteous man”
50% boys · 50% girls
Tai
“a very big woman” · “one who is talented and prosperous”
80% boys · 20% girls
Byun
Byun is a surname from Korean.
—
Ki
“one who is reborn”
85% boys · 15% girls
Ku
Ku is a surname from Korean. It is used in English and Indonesian.
85% boys · 15% girls
Sun
“an obedient child”
77% boys · 23% girls