Nguyen


Nguyen is a very common Vietnamese family name and usually refers to Nguyễn with diacritics and less commonly as Nguyên. Nguyễn is the most common Vietnamese family name. Outside Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. Vietnamese pronunciations between south and north are similar, except for the distinct tone between the two dialects.
By some estimates forty percent of Vietnamese people bear this surname.

Origin and usage

Nguyễn is the Vietnamese transliteration of the surname written in Chinese character. Like many surnames in Vietnam and other Chinese-influenced cultures, the surname Nguyễn is shared with other countries in the Sinosphere: the same surname is often transliterated as Ruan in Mandarin, Yuen in Cantonese, Gnieuh or Nyoe¹ in Wu Chinese, or Nguang in Hokchew.
The first Nguyen known in Vietnam was in 317 CE. , an Eastern Jin Dynasty officer and his family migrated to Jiaozhou. Many events in Vietnamese history have contributed to the name’s prominence. In 1232, after usurping the Lý Dynasty, Trần Thủ Độ forced the descendants of the Lý to change their surname to Nguyễn. When Hồ Quý Ly overturned the Trần Dynasty, he killed many of their descendants so when the Hồ Dynasty collapsed in 1407, many of his descendants changed their surname to Nguyễn in fear of retribution. In 1592, on the collapse of the Mạc Dynasty, their descendants changed their surname to Nguyễn. In late 16th century, the Tư Mã clan from Thanh Hóa changed to Nguyễn and settled in Cochinchina. When the Nguyễn Dynasty took power in 1802, some of the descendants of the Trịnh Lords fearing retribution changed their surname to Nguyễn, while others fled north into China. The Nguyễn Dynasty awarded many people the surname Nguyễn during their rule, and many criminals also changed their surname to Nguyễn to avoid prosecution. As with other common surnames, people having this surname are not necessarily related.
In Vietnamese custom as with other East Asian cultures, the surname precedes the given names.

Usage outside Vietnam

The prevalence of Nguyễn as a family name in Vietnam extends to outside the country, due to numerous and widespread Vietnamese emigrants. Outside Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics, as “Nguyen”. Nguyen is the seventh most common family name in Australia, and the 54th most common in France. It is the 56th most common surname in Norway and tops the foreign name list in the Czech Republic.
In the United States, Nguyen is the 38th most-common surname and is shared by more than 437,000 individuals, according to the 2010 Census; it was the 57th and 229th most-common surname, respectively, in the 2000 and 1990 censuses. It is also the most common exclusively East Asian surname. It is ranked 124th in the U.S. Social Security Index.

Subfamilies

In Vietnamese tradition, people are referred to by their personal names and not by their family names even in formal situations. Thus, there is not as much confusion about who is being referred to as one might expect. However, some groups distinguish themselves from other Nguyễn by passing elements of their names that are usually considered middle names to their children. This practice is more common with male than with female children. Some of the prominent subgroups within the Nguyễn family are, in no particular order:
The Vietnamese pronunciation is in northern dialect or in southern dialect, in both cases, in one syllable. is the velar nasal found in the middle of the English word “singer”. Unlike in Vietnamese, this consonant is never found in initial position in English. is the semivowel found in the English word “win”. is a rising diphthong. Its sound of this diphthong is similar to the diphthong found in British English Received Pronunciation in the word “ear”. Finally, occurs in the English word “net”.
However, Nguyễn is also pronounced with a tone in Vietnamese. In Southern Vietnam, Nguyễn is pronounced with the dipping tone: the pitch of the voice first drops from a mid-level to the bottom of the speaker’s range of pitch and then rises back to mid. In Northern Vietnam, it is pronounced with the creaky rising tone: the pitch of the voice rises from mid-level to the top of the speaker’s range of pitch, but with constricted vocal cords, akin to a glottal stop in the middle of the vowel. See Vietnamese tones.
The pronunciation of Nguyễn, English speakers pronounce as or.

Changes of family name

There have been various points in Vietnam's history at which people have changed their family name to "Nguyễn."
When the Lý Dynasty fell in 1232, Trần Thủ Độ, who orchestrated the overthrow of it, forced Lý's descendants adopted the name due to the naming taboo of Trần Lý, grandfather to emperor Trần Cảnh.
During 1000 years, from 457 to Hồ Quý Ly, in Hải Dương and a part of Haiphong today there is the district of the Phí family. At the end of the Lý and the Trần Dynasty there were many people who had changed their names to "Nguyễn" and "Nguyễn Phí." By the Lê Dynasty, the court changed the name of the district to "Kim Thành."
When the Mạc Dynasty fell in 1592, their descendants changed their family name to "Nguyễn."
Trần Quang Diệu worked as a major officer of the Tây Sơn Dynasty, against Nguyễn Ánh. After the Tây Sơn was defeated, his children adopted various names to flee retaliation.
In Vietnam and many Asian countries, the rulers may let their courtiers share their family name as a reward for their loyalty. Many officials thereby changed their name to match that of the last Nguyễn dynasty. Civilians also adopted the name during the Trịnh–Nguyễn Civil War for purposes of social climbing, having migrated from the north to the south. Even the Tây Sơn Brothers changed their name to "Nguyễn" from "Hồ."

Notable people

Since approximately 40 percent of all Vietnamese people have the surname Nguyễn, notable people with this surname run the gamut of Vietnamese society. They range from heads of state, poets, Catholic clergymen, writers, scientists, composers, actors, professional poker players, former professional American football player Dat Nguyen, current professional / midfielder, to executed criminals. Hồ Chí Minh was born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and used various names with the surname Nguyễn throughout his career and was not known as Hồ Chí Minh until late in his career.