洙

Also used widely in personal names.

A phono-semantic compound composed of:

水 “water” — indicating meaning related to rivers or bodies of water;

朱 — providing the phonetic value 수.

Originally, the character referred specifically to a river or brook.

Most notably, it came to denote the Zhu River (洙水) in Shandong, one of the rivers mentioned in early Chinese geographical texts.

As with many characters combining 水 + phonetic, the meaning later broadened to waterfront, water’s edge, or riparian place.

洙 evokes imagery of gentle flowing water — calm, reflective, and life-giving.

Its early geographical meaning turned into symbolic value in naming traditions, where water characters signify:

- clarity,

- adaptability,

- serenity,

- purity of heart,

- smooth life-journeys.

Thus, even though rarely used in everyday vocabulary, 洙 holds a strong place in Korean cultural aesthetics through names, lineages, and geographical memory.

While 洙 is not common in vocabulary, it appears frequently in proper nouns, including:

Place names:

주수천(洙水川) — name of local streams or features

Personal names:

widely used as -수 in given names

성씨 (family name): extremely rare Korean surname 수(洙氏)

As a dictionary morpheme, it can mean:

물가(洙) — riverbank / by the water

강 이름(洙) — the Zhu River in Shandong

洙 is primarily known from geographical references rather than classical literature.

The river 洙水 is mentioned in several ancient sources (such as Later Han historical texts) as part of the Shandong region's waterways.

Because of its pleasant sound and association with clear running water, the character became highly favored in:

Korean given names, especially feminine names (e.g., 옥수, 영수, 연수, 경수).

Chinese personal names, though less commonly.

Korean surnames, extremely rare, with known bon-gwan such as Dalseong and Miryang (population extremely small).

In East Asian naming traditions, characters related to water—especially with graceful readings—are often chosen to symbolize purity, calmness, adaptability, or flowing virtue.