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Traditional Vietnamese personal names generally consist of three parts, used in Eastern name order.
But not every name is conformant. For example:
The "family name first" written order is usual throughout the East Asian cultural sphere or Sinosphere; but "middle names" are less common in Chinese and Korean names and uncommon in Japanese names. Persons can be referred to by the whole name, the given name, or a hierarchic pronoun, which usually connotes a degree of family relationship or kinship &#; but referring via given name is most common, as well as if degree of family relationship or kinship is unknown. In more informal contexts or in the Western world, given name can be written first then family name e.g. Châu Bùi or Thanh Tr&#;n.
The Vietnamese language is tonal and so are Vietnamese names. Names with the same spelling but different tones represent different meanings, which can confuse people when the diacritics are dropped, as is commonly done outside Vietnam (e.g. Đoàn ([ɗʷà:n]) vs Doãn ([zʷǎ:ˀn]), both become Doan when diacritics are omitted). Additionally, some Vietnamese names can only be differentiated via context or with their corresponding ch&#; Hán, such as &#; (H&#;) or &#; (H&#;). Anyone applying for Vietnamese nationality must also adopt a Vietnamese name.[2] Vietnamese names have corresponding Hán-Nôm character adopted early on during Chinese rule. Vietnamese script is fully transliterated (romanized), because the previous script, ch&#; Nôm, was replaced by ch&#; Qu&#;c ng&#;, which was made compulsory during the French colonial era.
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Due to historical contact with Chinese dynasties, Vietnamese names originated from Middle Chinese.[citation needed] The family name (tên h&#;) is positioned first and is passed on by the father to his children in a traditionally patrilineal order, but exceptions are possible. It is estimated that there are around 100 family names in common use, but some are far more common than others. The name Nguy&#;n was estimated to be the most common (40%) in .[3] The reason the top three names are so common is that people tended to take the family names of emperors, to show loyalty to particular dynasties in history. Over many generations, those family names became permanent.
The following are the most common family names among Vietnamese, with their ch&#; Qu&#;c ng&#; spelling, and their corresponding Hán-Nôm characters, which are now obsolete.[4] The figures are from a study 100 h&#; ph&#; bi&#;n &#; Vi&#;t Nam (100 Most Popular Surnames/Family Names In Vietnam) from the Vietnamese Social Science Publisher (Nhà xu&#;t b&#;n Khoa h&#;c Xã h&#;i).
Statistics of surname/family name of Vietnamese citizens (including other 53 ethnicities) based on ratio of population, (Th&#;ng Kê h&#; ngư&#;i Vi&#;t theo t&#; l&#; % dân s&#; ). "H&#; khác" means "other". Frequency of Vietnamese surnames () Rank Surname/Family name Ch&#; Hán-Nôm Percentage 1 Nguy&#;n&#;
31.5% 2 Tr&#;n&#;
10.9% 3 Lê&#;
8.9% 4 Ph&#;m&#;
5.9% 5 Hoàng / Hu&#;nh&#;
5.1% 6 Vũ / Võ&#;
4.9% 7 Phan&#;
2.8% 8 Trương&#;
2.2% 9 Bùi&#;
2.1% 10 Đ&#;ng&#;
1.9% 11 Đ&#;&#;
1.9% 12 Ngô&#;
1.7% 13 H&#;&#;
1.5% 14 Dương&#;
1.4% 15 Đinh&#;
1.0% Distribution of Vietnamese family names () Frequency of Vietnamese surnames () Rank Surname/Family name Ch&#; Hán-Nôm Percentage 1 Nguy&#;n&#;
38.4% 2 Tr&#;n&#;
10.3% 3 Lê&#;
8.2% 4 Ph&#;m&#;
6.7% 5 Hoàng/Hu&#;nh&#;
5.5% 6 Phan&#;
4% 7 Vũ/Võ&#;
3.4% 8 Đ&#;ng&#;
3.1% 9 Bùi&#;
2.5% 10 Đ&#;&#;
2.1% 11 H&#;&#;
1.3% 12 Ngô&#;
1.3% 13 Dương&#;
1% 14 Lý&#;
0.5%In , these 14 names had accounted for around 90% of the Vietnamese population.
The following list includes less-common surnames in alphabetical order which make up the other 10% (), now 16.3% ():
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In Vietnamese culture, women keep their family names once they marry, whilst the progeny tend to have the father's family name, although names can often be combined from a father's and mother's family name, e.g. Nguy&#;n Lê, Ph&#;m Vũ, Kim Lý etc. In formal contexts, people are referred to by their full name. In more casual contexts, people are always on a "first-name basis", which involves their given names, accompanied by proper kinship terms.
In a few localities of Vietnam, for examples, in Hanoi's Sơn Đ&#;ng commune (Hoài Đ&#;c district), Tân L&#;p commune (Đan Phư&#;ng district), C&#;n H&#;u, Tân Hoà, C&#;ng Hoà, commune (Qu&#;c Oai district), and in Hưng Yên province's Liên Khê commune (Khoái Châu district), there is a custom of daughters taking the fathers' middle names, not family names, as their surnames; therefore arise such female surnames such as Đ&#;c, Đình, S&#;, Tri, Ng&#;c, Văn, Ti&#;p, Doãn, Qu&#;, Danh, H&#;u, Kh&#;c, etc. Sons, in contrast, bear their fathers' family names as surnames.[5][6][7][8][9] There exist several explanations for this custom:
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Therefore, daughters bear the "main surnames" to remind themselves of their origins after getting married, according to Nguy&#;n Danh H&#;u, the keeper of So village's shrine in Qu&#;c Oai.[
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Most Vietnamese have one middle name (tên đ&#;m), but it is quite common to have two or more or to have no middle name at all. Middle names can be standalone (e.g. Văn or Th&#;), but is often combined with the given name for a more meaningful overall name, where the middle name is part of the overall given name.
In the past, the middle name was selected by parents from a fairly narrow range of options. Almost all women had Th&#; (&#;) as their middle name, and many men had Văn (&#;). More recently, a broader range of names has been used, and people named Th&#; usually omit their middle name because they do not like to call it with their name.
Th&#; is a most common female middle name, and most common amongst pre- generation but less common amongst younger generations. Th&#; (&#;) is an archaic Sino-Vietnamese suffix meaning "clan; family; lineage; hereditary house" and attached to a woman's original family name, but now is used to simply indicate the female sex. For example, the name "Tr&#;n Th&#; Mai Loan" means "Mai Loan, a female person of the Tr&#;n family"; meanwhile, the name "Nguy&#;n Lê Th&#; An" means "An, a female person of the Nguy&#;n and Lê families". Some traditional male middle names may include Văn (&#;), H&#;u (&#;), Đ&#;c (&#;), Thành (&#;), Công (&#;), Minh (&#;), and Quang (&#;).
The middle name can have several uses, with the fourth being most common nowadays:
dubious
&#; discuss][citation needed
]. Some people[who?
] consider them to be a part of their family names, not family name + middle name. Some families may, however, set up arbitrary rules about giving a different middle name to each generation.[clarification needed
]The first three are no longer in use, and seen as too rigid and strictly conforming to family naming systems. Most middle names utilise the fourth, having a name to simply imply some positive characteristics.
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In most cases, the middle name is formally part of the given name (tên g&#;i). For example, the name "Đinh Quang Dũng" is separated into the surname "Đinh" and the given name "Quang Dũng". In a normal name list, those two parts of the full name are put in two different columns. However, in daily conversation, the last word in a given name with a title before it is used to call or address a person: "Ông Dũng", "Anh Dũng", etc., with "Ông" and "Anh" being words to address the person and depend on age, social position, etc.
The given name is the primary form of address for Vietnamese. It is chosen by parents and usually has a literal meaning in the Vietnamese language. Names often represent beauty, such as bird or flower names, or attributes and characteristics that the parents want in their child, such as modesty (Khiêm, &#;).
Typically, Vietnamese will be addressed with their given name, even in formal situations, although an honorific equivalent to "Mr.", "Mrs.", etc. will be added when necessary. That contrasts with the situation in many other cultures in which the family name is used in formal situations, but it is a practice similar to usage in Icelandic usage and, to some degree, Polish. It is similar to the Latin-American and southern European custom of referring to women as "Doña/Dona" and men as "Don/Dom", along with their first name.
Addressing someone by the family name is rare. In the past, women were usually called by their (maiden) family name, with th&#; (&#;) as a suffix, similar to China and Korea.[citation needed] In recent years, doctors are more likely than any other social group to be addressed by their family name, but that form of reference is more common in the north than in the south. Some extremely famous people are sometimes referred to by their family names, such as H&#; Chí Minh (Bác H&#;&#;"Uncle H&#;") (however, his real surname is Nguy&#;n), Tr&#;nh Công Sơn (nh&#;c Tr&#;nh&#;"Tr&#;nh music"), and H&#; Xuân Hương (n&#; sĩ h&#; H&#;&#;"the poetess with the family name H&#;"). Traditionally, people in Vietnam, particularly North Vietnam, addressed parents using the first child's name: Mr and Mrs Anh or Master Minh.
When being addressed within the family, children are sometimes referred to by their birth number, starting with one in the north but two in the south. That practice is less common recently, especially in the north.
Double names are also common. For example, Phan Th&#; Kim Phúc has the given name Kim Phúc.
The Rade people in Vietnam's Central Highlands have a unique first name structure, with male names starting with the letter Y, and female names starting with the letter H. For examples, Y-Abraham, Y-Samuel, H'Mari, H'Sarah.
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Vietnamese Catholics are given a saint's name at baptism (Vietnamese: tên thánh (holy name) or tên r&#;a t&#;i (baptism name)). Boys are given male saints' names, while girls are given female saints' names. This name appears first, before the family name, in formal religious contexts. Out of respect, clergy are usually referred to by saints' name. The saint's name also functions as a posthumous name, used instead of an individual's given name in prayers after their death. The most common saints' names are taken from the New Testament, such as Phêrô (Peter, or Pierre in French), Phaolô (Paul), Gioan (John), Maria (Mary), and Anna or they may remain as they are without Vietnamisation.[10]
Saints' names are respelled phonetically according to the Vietnamese alphabet. Some more well-known saints' names are derived further into names that sound more Vietnamese or easier to pronounce for Vietnamese speakers.
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Some names may appear the same if simplified into a basic ASCII script, as for example on websites, but are different names:
Typically, as in the above examples, it is middle or the last personal given name which varies, as almost any Hán-Nôm character may be used. The number of family names is limited.
Further, some historical names may be written using different ch&#; Hán (Chinese characters), but are still written the same in the modern Vietnamese alphabet.
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According to the English-language Chicago Manual of Style, Vietnamese names in are indexed according to the "given name, then surname + middle name", with a cross-reference placed in regards to the family name. Ngô Đình Di&#;m would be listed as "Di&#;m, Ngô Đình" and Võ Nguyên Giáp would be listed as "Giáp, Võ Nguyên".[12] In Vietnamese, Vietnamese names are also typically sorted using the same order.[13]
But at the present, Vietnamese names are commonly[when?] indexed according "middle-name given-name then SURNAME" in Western name order, or "SURNAME then middle-name given-name" in Eastern name order, to determine exactly the part of surname, especially in media (TV, website, SNS) at events of sports games. This method is similar to Chinese names or Korean names in events. For example:[citation needed]
For people have length of fullname that is more than 3 single words, sometimes middle name is also abbreviated, to make the part of given name that unabbreviated is become 2 single words and not too long.
Because(&#;) is meaning "person of this (surname) family line" (same as the particlein Portuguese name like, orin Dutch name ), and more recently almost modern Vietnamese women do not like it, a lot of them namedusually abbreviate it when writing fullname (e.g.), or omitwhen writing fullname and call themself (e.g.).
To determine exactly his surname is Tôn Th&#;t , and avoid confusing with Tôn
To determine exactly his surname is combined from Tr&#;n and Lê
To determine exactly his surname is combined from Bùi and Hoàng
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Due to the high frequency of the same surnames in Vietnamese names, it has also become more popular to refer by middle and given name, which together officially is the given name. For example, Lê M&#;nh Cư&#;ng can be referred to as M&#;nh Cư&#;ng or simply as Cư&#;ng. Since , names in Vietnamese passports have been split into two lines, with the middle name treated as part of the given name.[14]
Presentations of Vietnamese name Surname Middle Name Given Name Lê M&#;nh Cư&#;ng Surname Given name Lê M&#;nh Cư&#;ng[
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Have you ever wondered what to call your Vietnamese friend? Which name to use? Or why there are so many Nguy&#;ns?
Read on to find the answers to all these questions and more in this guide to Vietnamese names and addressing people.
The most common Vietnamese surname is Nguy&#;n. About 40% of Vietnamese people have this last name, taken from the Nguy&#;n Emperors, the last dynasty of Vietnam. Back in those days, the surname of the Emperor was often used like a clan name.
Other common surnames such as Tr&#;n and Lê have a similar origin, which is why these names are so common in Vietnam.
Another difference is that names are written the opposite way round to Western names. The surname is first and the given name last. Vietnamese usually have 3 or 4 names in total.
Let&#;s look at an example: Nguy&#;n Th&#; Minh Khai. This common street name comes from a historical figure of that name.
Most Vietnamese people go by this final name &#; so in this case we&#;d usually call this person Khai (or Ms Khai). However, some people prefer to use both given names. This is often happens with very common names like Anh: people will introduce themselves with the two used names together like Vân Anh or Minh Anh.
This second given name can also be useful if there are several people with the same given name (eg. 2+ Khai&#;s in the same class/office), we can be specific and refer to her as Minh Khai.
However this homogeneity of last names is not that important as in Vietnam surnames are not used very often. They are used for official paperwork and when filling in forms. But you&#;d never address someone as Mr or Ms Nguy&#;n.
So how do you address someone correctly in Vietnamese?
In informal situations, given names are used as expected. (Eg. You&#;d call me Th&#;o.)
In formal situations you&#;d call someone Mr or Ms Forename. For example, Ms Th&#;o (em Th&#;o or cô Th&#;o depending who&#;s talking) or Mr Vũ (anh Vũ).
In very formal situations you may use Ông or Bà instead. A famous example is H&#; Chí Minh who is referred to as Bác H&#;. Following Vietnamese convention his friends would have called him Minh (though actually he had many names throughout his life).
To wrap up, here&#;s a video from Every Day Viet covering the pronunciation of some common male and female given names in Vietnam.
Over to you: What do you think about Vietnamese names? Did you know the story behind Nguy&#;n before?
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