Capital : Hanoi
Saigon/Ho Chih Minh City/Phanh Boc Ho Chi Minh
The area known as Annam took up around half of the Indochinese
peninsula in AD 500 (Siam occupied the remainder) but by the C8th,
it had become much smaller and was under Chinese control. The
Khmer kingdom had established itself to the south-west and the
Champa kingdom to the south, both of which were under strong Indian
influence. In the C10th, the Dai Viet kingdom (north Vietnam)
became independent and by the C15th had gradually absorbed Champa.
Annam and Champa were under loose Mongol control from the C13th.
Most of Indochina was under European colonial control by the C19th,
and it was not until the mid C20th that Vietnam freed itself from
French control. This was replaced by the Communist threat from
China to the north which led to American involvement. The Vietnam
war resulted in the country being divided into two, but the Communist
North Vietnam finally won the power struggle and the country was
re-unified.
Poverty and persecution caused many people to leave Vietnam by
boat in the hope of a better life in the West despite facing dangers
from pirates. Many of these 'Boat People' were resettled throughout
the world but by the 1990s most countries were becoming reluctant
to accept any more and many were held in camps in Hong Kong. Voluntary
repatriation was encouraged but most were reluctant to return
to Vietnam. With Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule at the beginning
of 1997, it is unclear what will happen to those Vietnamese remaining
in the colony although improvements in conditions within Vietnam
may lead to further repatriations.
| ch | like ti in French tiens |
| hoa, huy | w in we (South VN)
wh in why (North VN) |
| kh | j in Spanish Juan
ch in German (a)ch(t) |
| ng + ngh | as in singing |
| nh | like 'gn' in French signe |
| qu | w in we (South VN)
qu in queen (North VN |
| s | in Spanish si |
| th | as in Thomas |
| u | as in fit |
| v | y in yen (South VN)
v in van (North VN |
Most people have a family or clan name (ho), a middle name (chu dem or chu lot) and a personal or given name (ten) although it is becoming more common not to use the middle name. Vietnamese almost always call each other by their by the given names with the family name only appearing when the full name is used. It is considered disrespectful to give a child the name of an ancestor or relative.
| Trung | fidelity |
| Hung | courage |
| Liem | integrity) |
| Xuan | Spring |
| Thu | Autumn |
| Hong | rose |
| Lan | orchid |
| Nho | grape |
| Le | pear |
| Tuyet | snow |
| Van | cloud |
| Guyet | moon |
| oldest child | Hai (Two) |
| second child | Ba (Three) |
| third child | Tu (Fourth) |
| fourth child | Nam (Five) |
Boys can have two-word names but more often just use one-word.
| An | An-Toan | Anh | Bach | Bay | Bichu |
| Binh | Bui | Buu | Cadao | Cam | Can |
| Cao | Cao-Ky | Cham | Chan | Chau | Chi-Cong |
| Chien | Chim | Chinh | Chong-Duy | Cuong | Da |
| Dam | Dan | Dang | Danh-Canh | Dien | Dieu-Hien |
| Dinh | Dinh-Die^ | Dinh-Hy | Dinh-Ty | Doan | Dohm-Phu |
| Dong | Du | Duc | Dung | Gap | Gia-Long |
| Giap | Ha | Hai | Hao-Ngoc | Hau | Hiep |
| Hieu | Hong | Hong-Vu | Hung | Huong | Kim |
| Kim-Hu | Lich | Lien | Linh | Loan | Loc |
| Loi | Long | Luong | Luu-Danh | Mai | Mang |
| Minh | Muoi | Nam | Ng | Ngoc | Nhat |
| Pham | Phat | Pin | Quan-Van | Quang | Quang-Thieu |
| Sahn | So | Son | Tai | Tam | Tan |
| Tang-Thuy | Tanh | Thach | Thai | Thang | Thanh |
| Tho | Thu | Thung | Thuy | Tich | Tien |
| Tiet | Tinh | Toan | Tong | Trai | Trong |
| Tu | Tung | Tuyen | Viet | Vo | Vui |
| Xuan | Yen | Yu-Duk |
Girls are often given names associated with virtues although no
names are exclusively masculine or feminine. It is fashionable
to give girls compound names rather than single word names.
| Ai | Am | An | Au | Be | Bich |
| Bich-Hong | Bich-Thuy | Bua | Cam | Cam-Hong | Can |
| Chau | Diet | Dieu-Kiem | Gung | Ha | Hang |
| Hanh | Hien | Hoa | Hong | Hue | Huong |
| Huyen | Kieu | Kim | Lan | Lang | Le |
| Lien | Lieu | Loan | Luan | Lui | Mai |
| Mai-Ly | Mieu | Minh | My | My-Khanh | Ngoc |
| Nguyet | Nhu | Nu | Phan | Phuong | Quy |
| So | Tam | Tan-Xuan | Tao | Thanh-Huong | Thanh-Thuy |
| Thao | The | Tho | Thoa | Thu | Thuam |
| Thu-Hong | Thu-Lan | Thu-Lee | Thuy | Thuy-Hong | Trac |
| Trang | Trinh | Tron | Truc | Tuyet | Ut |
| Vinh | Xuan |
Middle names can often be used to distinguish between branches
of a larger family. They do not usually indicate generation but
they may be shared by the male members of a family and can also
indicate position within a family.
| eldest son of first wife/elder brother | Ba |
| eldest son of later wife | Manh |
| second son | Trong |
| third son | Qui/Quy |
| further sons | Gia |
| younger brother | Thuc |
| Anh | Ba | Cao | Cong | Dinh | Duc |
| Huu | Huy | Kim | Minh | Ngoc | Nhu |
| Phuc | Quang | Si | Thuc | Trong | Tuong |
| Van | Viet | Xuan |
Female
Women almost always take 'Thi' as a middle name but this is often
dropped nowadays.
| Dieu | Nu | Thi |
There are only about a hundred family names in Vietnam of which
only about twenty are common and only thirty actually of Vietnamese
origin. Most family names are of Chinese origin and are written
in Chinese characters but some come from the Cham people of the
south and other ethnic minorities such as Deo, Giap, Linh and
Ma.
They usually have only one element but some compound surnames
do exist. These were formed when an individual was adopted (adoptive
name first, original name second) or to distinguish between different
branches of a family. Vietnamese women keep their own family name
on marriage.
Most people have the surname of one of the sixteen royal families
who have ruled Vietnam. 'Nguyen', the name of the last dynasty,
accounts for about half the population. Male descendants of the
royal family not in the direct line take the name 'Ton-that' and
females 'Ton-nu'.
| Ba | Bilh | Bui | Cahn | Cao | Chau |
| Che | Chien | Cu | Dai | Dang | Danh |
| De | Dinh | Do | Doan | Due | Duong |
| Giap | Ha | Heng | Ho | Hoan | Hoang |
| Ho-Dac | Hung | Huynh | Khong | Khuc | Kieu |
| Kim | Kwan | Lam | Lang | Le | Lok |
| Long | Lu | Luong | Luu | Ly | Ma |
| Mac | Mai | Minh | Ng | Nghia | Ngo |
| Ngo-Dinh | Ngoc | Nguyen | Nguyen-Dinh | Nguyen-Khoa | Nguyen-Tan |
| Nien | O | Ong | Pham | Phan | Phang |
| Phong | Phu | Phuc | Phung | Sa | Sam |
| Son | Tanh | Thach | Thai | Thé | Thu |
| Thuan | Thuc | Thuy | Toai | Tra | Tran |
| Tran-Dinh | Tran-Nhu | Tran-Thanh | Trieu | Trinh | Tru |
| Trung | Truong | Tuan | Tung | Ut | Vo |
| Vu | Vu-Pham | Wang | Xuan |
C11th to C13th
overthrew Ly
| Gia Long | 1802-20 | Nguyen Phuc Anh | |
| Minh Mang | 1820-1840 | 4th son of Gia Long | |
| Thieu Tri | 1841-7 | ||
| Huong Nam/Tu Duc | 1847-1883 | ||
| Bao Dai | abd 1945 | Nguyen Vinh Thuy |
Minh Mang wrote this poem from which the middle names of his descendants
were to be taken, believing that his family would rule for twenty
generations. Although it actually ended only five generations
after him., his decendants still follow the tradition.
Mien Huong Ung Buu Vinh
Bao Dinh Qui Long Tuong
Hien Nang Kham Ke The
To Quoc Bao Gia Xuong
Return to Oriental Names index
This collection of names compiled by Kate Monk. Copyright January
1997, Kate Monk. Last updated November, 97. Copies may be made
for personal use only