Name Concepts
At first, family names were limited to kings and aristocrats during the Goryeo dynasty, but gradually spread to the commoners during the later Goryeo and Joseon periods. To dissociate themselves from commoners, yangbans devised a complex system of names, also driven by Confucian customs imported from China. Clan members however always kept their land origin (e.g. Pyeongsan) and their main branch division name (also called pa in Korean). The pa often referred to an aristocratic or authority title bestowed upon the branch founder, and served to denote the origin of the clan member. One such powerful clan branch is the Sagangong pa, which originated by Shin Ho during the Joseon dynasty.
It is however only after the Japanese occupation that the concept of family names was enforced to the whole population, through the Japonification of family names (see Korean name).
During the japonification, the most popular names were chosen by many Koreans (Kim and Lee), as they were associated with the most powerful families at the time. The family name of Shin (Korean name) was comparatively chosen by fewer Koreans, though a large portion of the current Korean population with the surname Shin most likely do not belong to the original Pyeongsan Shin branches.
Read more about this topic: Pyeongsan Shin Clan
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