Kim surname meaning
Korean clan surname 김 (金), the character meaning “gold/metal.”
Confidence: Likely. The main story is well supported; some details of the deeper root are less certain.
The short story
Kim is Korea’s most common surname, written 김 and with the Chinese character 金, whose ordinary meaning is “gold” (also metal). That character gloss is agreed across Ancestry’s Korean entry and Korean/Wikipedia summaries. It is not an English nickname invented in Ohio; it is a Korean clan name that many separate bon-gwan (clan seats) share.
US Census Kim also includes some Chinese or other romanizations of 金. The family-friendly lead remains: Korean lineage name whose written character means gold. Do not overclaim a single fairy-tale founder for every Kim—Korean history records many Kim clans under one spelling.
Also seen as: Gim, Ghim, Kin
- Ancestry surname meaning for Kim citing DAFN-style Korean entry (김 / 金 'gold')
- Wikipedia 'Kim (Korean surname)' / Wiktionary Korean 김 (Sino-Korean from 金 'gold; metal')
- Names2020_LastNames_RaceHispanic_Top1000.xlsx (2020 Census)