Kim (occasionally Romanized as Gim) is the most common family name in Korea. The hanja used for the name was borrowed from the Chinese character 金 meaning "gold".

Gimhae (Kimhae)

According to a story recorded in the Samguk Yusa, in AD 48, Princess Heo Hwang-ok traveled from a country called "Ayuda" to Korea, where she married King Suro of Geumgwan Gaya and gave birth to 10 children, thus starting the Kim dynasty of Geumgwan Gaya, the capital of which was in present-day Goryeong County. The country of Ayuda is often identified with Ayodhya in India.

Famous ancient members of this clan, aside from the kings of Geumgwan Gaya, include the Silla general Kim Yu-shin. In the Unified Silla period, members of the Gimhae Kim family were admitted to all but the highest level of the Silla bone rank system.

This clan is by far the most populous of all Korean clans. The 2000 South Korean census found it to contain more than four million people.
　

Kim (Korean surname)