Saying Vietnamese names

If you were to ask me to write down my full name, I would write as "Nguyen Thanh Binh". But if you were trying to call me "Nguyen" (this could be very hard for you to pronoun). I'd not understand that you were talking to me. That's because in Vietnam, we write family names first, first names last and we now don't call people by their family names but most often their first names. This blog will help you understand our name structures and thus, call us the way we understand :-D.

A Vietnamese name usually consists of 3 parts: Family name, middle name and first name - in their writing order. For example, my family name is "Nguyen", middle name is "Thanh" and first name is "Binh", then my full name is written as "Nguyen Thanh Binh".

In Vietnam, in most cases (more than 95%), we call people only by their first names (the last written part). In some formal cases (more than 4%), when calling actors, actresses, artists, reporters, etc, we call them by their middle names plus their first names. That is, if I were a, say, a reporter, people would call me "Thanh Binh". In very formal cases (less than 1%), politicians are usually called by their full names. So, if I were the president of the country, others would call me "president Nguyen Thanh Binh". Remember that first names are always at the last positions.

The above is the most general rule. However, you should be aware of situations when a name does not consists of 3 parts but 2 (middle name omitted) or 4 (double family names or double first names) or even 5 (double family names together with double first names). In cases of 2 part names, the general rule still applies with the exception that actors, actresses, painters, etc are called by their full name (family names + first names). In cases of 4-or-more-part names, general rule applies normally, noticing that you should be able to recognise if the family names and/or first names are doubled.

Some examples of names with 2 parts are: Tran Luc (a film director), Nguyen Son (a general), Hoang Van (a musician).

Examples of 4 or more part names could be: Le-Dang Viet Nam (double family name), Hoang-Le Bao-Tram (double family name and double first name, no middle name), Nguyen Thi Thu-Hang (double first name),... I could not find a 5-part names at the moment but if you see one, it's most possible that it has a double family name, a middle name and a double first name. Usually, people in the South of Vietnam have more lengthy names.

Lastly, Vietnamese is monotongue, i.e. a word produces exactly ONE sound no matter how long it is. This could make you a bit difficult to say names like "Nguyen", "Huyen", "Luong", "Truyen", etc but I'm sure with a bit of practice and help from your Vietnamese friend, you'll say them acceptably.

Cheers,

Binh