Woo is an uncommon Korean surname.
Clans Woo may be written with either of two hanja (禹 and 于). Each has one bon-gwan: for the former, Danyang, North Chungcheong Province, and for the latter, Mokcheon-eup (목천읍), Dongnam-gu, Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, both in what is today South Korea. The 2000 South Korean census found 180,141 people with these family names. In a study by the National Institute of the Korean Language based on 2007 application data for South Korean passports, it was found that 97.0% of people with this surname spelled it in Latin letters as Woo in their passports, while only 1.6% spelled it as Wu. Rarer alternative spellings (the remaining 1.4%) included U and Wo.
People with the surname Queen U (d. 234), queen consort of Goguryeo U Hakyu (d. 1179), Goryeo general U Tak (1262–1342), Korean Confucian scholar during the Goryeo dynasty U Tong-chuk (born 1942), North Korean politician Woo Bum-kon (1955–1982), South Korean police officer and spree killer (responsible for the Uiryeong massacre) Woo Chul (born 1978), South Korean swimmer Woo Do-hwan (born 1992), South Korean actor Woo Eun-joung, South Korean taekwondo practitioner Woo Eun-kyung (born 1962), South Korean basketball player Woo Ha-ram (born 1998), South Korean diver Woo Hee-jin (born 1975), South Korean actress Woo Hee-young (born 1963), South Korean footballer Woo Hye-rim (born 1992), South Korean singer, former member of girl group Wonder Girls Woo Hye-mi (stage name Miwoo, 1988–2019), South Korean singer Hyo-Won Woo (born 1974), South Korean composer Woo Hyun (born 1964), South Korean actor Woo Hyun-jung (born 1977), South Korean former field hockey player Woo In-hee ( 1940–1981), North Korean actress and mistress of Kim Jong-il Woo Jang-chun (1898–1959), Korean botanist Woo Ji-ho (stage name Zico, born 1992), South Korean rapper, record producer, member of boy group Block B Woo Ji-hyun (born 1986), South Korean actor Woo Ji-won (born 1973), South Korean basketball player Woo Jin-won (stage name Masta Wu, born 1978), South Korean rapper Woo Jin-yong (born 1986), CrossFit and snowboard athlete Woo Jin-young (born 1997), South Korean singer and rapper Woo Joo-sung (born 1993), South Korean footballer Kevin Woo (born 1991), South Korean-American singer, television host, former member of boy group U-KISS Kyu Sung Woo (born 1941), South Korean architect Meredith Jung-En Woo (born 1958), South Korean-born American political scientist Woo Mi-hwa (born 1974), South Korean actress Woo Sang-ho (born 1962), South Korean activist and politician Woo Sang-ho (born 1992), South Korean footballer Woo Sang-hyeok (born 1996), South Korean high jump athlete Woo Sang-kwon (1926–1975), South Korean footballer and coach Woo Seung-jae (born 1986), South Korean wrestler Woo Seung-je (born 1982), South Korean footballer Woo Seung-yeon (1983–2009), South Korean actress Woo Sun-hee (born 1978), South Korean handball player Sung J. Woo (born 1971), South Korean-born American writer Woo Sung-yong (born 1974), South Korean footballer Woo Won-jae (born 1996), South Korean rapper Woo Won-shik (born 1957), Speaker of the National Assembly of South Korea Woo Yong-gak (1929–2012), North Korean commando held in South Korea as one of the unconverted long-term prisoners
See also Danyang Woo clan List of Korean family names
References