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Vietnamese name

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For toponyms, see Place names of Vietnam.

Vietnamese personal names generally consist of three parts: one patrilineal family name, one or more middle name(s) (one of which may be taken from the mother's family name), and one given name, used in that order. The "family name first" order follows the system of Chinese names and is common throughout the Chinese cultural sphere. However, it is different from Chinese, Korean, and Japanese names in the usage of "middle names," as they are less common in China and Korea and uncommon in Japan. 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 in normal usage.

Vietnamese language is tonal and so are Vietnamese names. Names with the same spelling but with different tones represent different meanings, which can confuse people when the accent marks are dropped, as is commonly done outside Viet Nam. Anyone applying for Vietnamese nationality must also adopt a Vietnamese name.[1] Vietnamese is also a fully transliterated (romanized) script as Hán-Nôm got dropped in favour of Chữ Quốc Ngữ, which was made compulsory during French rule. However, Han-Nom is still studied regularly by Vietnamese historical literature scholars.

Family name

The family name is positioned first and is passed on by the father to his children. It is estimated that there are around 100 family names in common use, but some are far more common than others. The name Nguyễn is estimated to be the most common (40%).[2] The top three names are so common as people tended to take family names of emperors to show loyalty. Over many generations, family names became permanent.

Distribution of Vietnamese family names

The most common family names among the Vietnamese are the following with their respective Chữ Quốc Ngữ which is commonly in use, and their corresponding Hán tự (Han Character).[3] Altogether, these 14 names account for around 90% of the Vietnamese population (2005).

The following list includes less-common surnames in alphabetical order which make up the rest of the 10% (2005):

In Vietnamese cultural practice, women always keep their family names once they marry, just as in other East Asian cultures, which is the same practice as Chinese culture to the north.

Sometimes, last names can be combined, often from combining the father's and mother's name e.g. Nguyễn Lê, Phạm Vũ or Kim Lý

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.

Middle name

Most Vietnamese have one middle name, but it is quite common to have two or more or to have no middle name at all.

In the past, the middle name was selected by parents from a fairly narrow range of options. Almost all women had Thị (氏) as their middle name, and many men had Văn (文). More recently, a broader range of names has been used, and people named Thị sometimes omit their middle name.

Thị is a most common female middle name, and most common amongst pre-1975 generation but less common amongst younger generations. Thị is an archaic Vietnamese word meaning woman. For example, "Trần Thị Mai Loan" is a person who has the given name "Mai Loan" and the surname "Trần". Alltogether, the name means "Mai Loan, a female person of the Trần family." Some traditional male middle names may include Văn (文), Hữu (友), Đức (德), Thành (誠), Công (公), Minh (明), and Quang (光).

The middle name can have several uses, with the fourth being most common nowadays:

  1. To indicate a person's generation. Brothers and sisters may share the same middle name, which distinguish them from the generation before them and the generation after them (see generation name).
  2. To separate branches of a large family: "Nguyễn Hữu", "Nguyễn Sinh", "Trần Lâm" (middle names can be taken from the mother's family name). However, this usage is still controversial[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]
  3. To indicate a person's position (birth order) in the family. This usage is less common than others.
  4. To provide a poetic and positive meaning e.g. "Trần Gia Hạnh Phúc" meaning "Happiness to the Trần family".

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.

Given name

In most cases, the middle name is formally part of the given name. 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 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, 謙).

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 thị (氏) as a suffix, similar to China and Korea. 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 Hồ Chí Minh (Bác Hồ—"Uncle Hồ") (however, his real surname is Nguyễn), Trịnh Công Sơn (nhạc Trịnh—"Trịnh music"), and Hồ Xuân Hương (nữ sĩ họ Hồ—"the poetess with the family name Hồ"). 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 common among females, especially in combination with the name Kim. For example, Phan Thị Kim Phúc has the given name Kim Phúc.

Examples

  • Nguyễn Tấn Dũng is the former Prime Minister of Vietnam. Nguyễn is his family name, Tấn is his middle name, and Dũng is his given name. In formal usage, he is referred to by his given name ("Mr. Dũng"), not by his family name ("Mr. Nguyễn").
  • Likewise, the famous general and military leader, Võ Nguyên Giáp, is referred to by his given name, i.e. "General Giáp".

Saints' names

Vietnamese Catholics are given a saint's name at baptism (Template:Lang-vi or tên rửa tội). 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.[4]

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.

Etymologies of some saints' names[5]
Saint Name in Romance language Vietnamese name
Alexander Alexandre (Portuguese) A Lịch Sơn, Alexanđê
Anthony Antonio (Portuguese) Antôn, An Tôn, Antôniô
Benedict Benedictus (Latin) Biển Đức, Bênêđictô
Clement Clemente (Portuguese) Clêmêntê, Lê Minh
Constantine Constantino (Portuguese) Constantinô, Công Tăng
Dominic Dominicano (Portuguese) Đa Minh, Đaminh
Helena Elena (Portuguese) Hà Liên
Ignatius Ignacio (Portuguese) Inhaxiô, Y Nhã
John the Baptist Juan Bautista (Spanish) Gioan Baotixita
Joseph Giuseppe (Italian) Giuse
Martin Martinho (Portuguese), Martín (Spanish) Martinô, Máctinô, Mạc Tính, Mạc Ty Nho
Paul Paulus (Latin), Paolo (Portuguese) Phaolô, Bảo Lộc
Thaddaeus Tadeu (Portuguese) Tađêô, Thanh Diêu
Urban Urbano (Portuguese) Urbanô, Ước Bang

Near-homonyms distinguished by vowel or tones

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 Sino-Vietnamese character may be used. The number of family names is limited.

Further, some historical names may be written using different Chinese characters (Sino-Vietnamese), but are still written the same in the modern Vietnamese alphabet.

Indexing and sorting in English

According to the English-language Chicago Manual of Style, Vietnamese names are indexed according to the given name, surname, then middle name, with a cross-reference placed in regards to the family name. Ngô Đình Diệm would be listed as "Diem, Ngô Dinh" and Võ Nguyên Giáp would be listed as "Giáp, Võ Nguyên".[6]

In Vietnamese, Vietnamese names are also typically sorted using the same order.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ Viet name is mandatory for citizenship
  2. ^ Huy Quoc To, Kiet Van Nguyen, Anh Gia-Tuan Nguyen, Ngan Luu-Thuy Nguyen, Gender Prediction Based on Vietnamese Names with Machine Learning Techniques, https://arxiv.org/abs/2010.10852
  3. ^ Lê Trung Hoa, Họ Và Tên Người Việt Nam (Vietnamese Family and Personal Names), Social Sciences Publishing House (2005) "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 31, 2008. Retrieved March 26, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ Nguyễn Long Thao (7 June 2012). "Tìm Hiểu Tên Thánh Của Người Công Giáo Việt Nam" [Understanding the Saint's Names of Vietnamese Catholics]. VietCatholic News (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  5. ^ Đỗ Quang Chính (1972). Lịch sử chữ Quốc ngữ [History of the Vietnamese alphabet]. Saigon: Ra Khơi. pp. 69, 77, 88, 89, 97, 98, 105.
  6. ^ "Indexes: A Chapter from The Chicago Manual of Style" (Archived 2015-02-18 at WebCite). Chicago Manual of Style. Retrieved on December 23, 2014. p. 28 (PDF document p. 30/56).
  7. ^ Ngọc Anh (August 8, 2018). "Sắp xếp tên theo thứ tự ABC trong Word". Học viện Đào tạo Kế toán Đức Minh. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
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