Ham Family History

English (mainly southwestern) and German: variant of Hamm. Dutch: topographic name from ham ‘land in a river bend’ ‘enclosed meadow’ or a habitational name from any of several country houses and places called De(n) Ham. Compare Van Ham and Vanderham. French: habitational name from any of various places in northern France (Ardennes, Pas-de-Calais, Somme, Moselle) named with the ancient Germanic word ham ‘meadow in the bend of a river, water meadow, flood plain’.

Hungarian (Hám), Slovak (also Hám), and Croatian: nickname or occupational name from Hungarian hám (Croatian ham) ‘harness’. Alternatively, it may be of German origin (see Hamm). Slovenian: perhaps a nickname from the interjection ham ‘bite, grab’. Alternatively, it may be from dialect ham ‘harness’ (see 4 above) or of German origin (see Hamm).

Czech (also Hám): from a short form of the personal name Abraham. Korean: there is only one Chinese character for the Ham surname. Some sources report that there are sixty different Ham clans, but only the Kangnŭng Ham clan can be documented.

Although some records have been lost and a few generations are unaccounted for, it is known that the founding ancestor of the Ham clan is Ham Kyu, a Koryŏ general who fought against the Mongol invaders in the thirteenth century. His ancestor, Ham Hyŏk, was a Tang Chinese general who stayed in Korea after Tang China helped Shilla unify the peninsula during the seventh century.

Another of Ham Hyŏk's ancestors, Ham Shin, accompanied Kim Chu-wŏn, the founding ancestor of the Kangnŭng Kim family, to the Kangnŭng area, and hence the Ham clan became the Kangnŭng Ham clan. The first prominent ancestor from Kangnŭng whose genealogy can be verified is Ham Kyu, the Koryŏ general. Accordingly, he is regarded as the Kangnŭng Ham clan's founding ancestor. Compare Hahm.