Hangul Syllable Gweog

궉 is a Hangul syllable block that can spell a Korean surname.

Hangul was created in 1443, and its principles were explained in 1446. It gave Korean speakers letters that fit their language more directly than adaptations of Chinese characters, which had made reading and writing difficult for most people.

Hangul places an initial consonant, a vowel, and a final consonant together in one block. In 궉 those parts are ㄱ, ㅝ, and ㄱ; Unicode can also encode them as the conjoining-jamo sequence 궉. A 1614 Korean reference book, Jibong yuseol, records 궉 as a surname, and a 1780 record places a 궉 settlement at Seonsan. A 2004 newspaper profile contrasts an account calling the lineage unknown with a Cheongju family tradition tracing one branch to 궉시영, said to have arrived with China's Ming forces during the Imjin War, Japan's invasions of Korea.

What does 궉 mean when someone sends it?

Treat it as a name clue or a spelling sample.

In a person's name, 궉 is the family name. A surname romanization proposal from Korea's National Institute of Korean Language gives the Latin spelling Kwok. Surname records also pair 궉 with 鴌, a Hanja—a Chinese character used in Korean writing—not a literal translation.

If it arrives by itself, ask whether the sender is naming someone or testing a Korean keyboard. The spelling identifies the person, so do not silently replace it with a more familiar family name.

How is 궉 different from 권 and 곽?

The vowel and final consonant distinguish these names.

권 shares the initial ㄱ and vowel ㅝ with 궉, but ends in ㄴ; 궉 ends in ㄱ. 곽 has the vowel ㅘ rather than ㅝ, though both end in ㄱ.

A 2004 newspaper profile also records the surname being misheard, teased, and printed as either form. In someone's name, those substitutions turn one family name into another.