Yongin Isn't Named After a Dragon

Hi, I'm Yongi — yes, my name comes from 'yong,' the Korean word for dragon. But today I have to start with something that's been bothering me a little. People hear my name and keep asking, "Are you Yongi because you're from Yongin? Didn't an actual dragon live in that town long ago?" I used to just laugh it off, but it turns out this misunderstanding is more widespread than I thought. So today, let's set my name aside for a moment and take a proper look at where the real place name 'Yongin' actually came from.

Named After a Living Dragon? Sorry, Nope

When people hear the name 'Yongin,' they naturally picture a dragon — one ascending into the sky, a legend tied to some old well, something mysterious behind the name. Versions of this story have circulated for years, and even I found them convincing the first time I heard them. But once you actually dig into the old records, the story changes completely. The name Yongin didn't come from any dragon legend — it started from a much plainer, more down-to-earth chapter of administrative history.

So what's the real reason? The answer comes down to one word: merger. Yongin wasn't originally a single county. Two counties with different names were combined, each contributing one character from its own name to create the name we use today. This is recorded in both the Sejong Sillok Jiriji (the geographical record appended to the Veritable Records of King Sejong) and the Sinjeung Dongguk Yeoji Seungnam, and it remains the accepted account in the city of Yongin's own official history.

The Real Origin: How Two Counties Became One

The year was the 13th year of King Taejong's reign in the Joseon dynasty — 1413 by the Western calendar. The early Joseon period was a time of reorganizing administrative districts across the country, and in the process, neighboring counties were often merged into one. The land that is now Yongin was one such case. Back then, this area had two neighboring counties, Yonggu-hyeon and Cheoin-hyeon, and when the two were combined into one, a new name had to be created.

The way they came up with the new name was actually quite clever. Instead of discarding one name in favor of the other, they took one character from each county's name and placed them side by side. 'Yong (龍)' from Yonggu-hyeon combined with 'In (仁)' from Cheoin-hyeon to form 'Yongin (龍仁),' a name that has endured for more than 600 years since. So the 'yong' in Yongin isn't a mythical creature soaring through the sky — it's simply a character carried over from the old county name, Yonggu-hyeon.

Cheoin-hyeon: A Name That Vanished, Then Came Back

But here's the interesting part — the story doesn't end there. The name Cheoin-hyeon disappeared from administrative use after the 1413 merger, but it didn't vanish for good. Fast forward to 2005, when the city of Yongin was divided into three districts — Cheoin-gu, Giheung-gu, and Suji-gu. When it came time to name the new districts, officials revived the old Joseon-era county name Cheoin-hyeon and used it to name Cheoin-gu. In other words, a name that had disappeared 600 years earlier made its way back through a district reorganization.

🐉 A Mood Photo, via Yongi