Copyright held by The John Cooke Fraud Report. Reprint rights are granted with attribution to The John Cooke Fraud Report with a link to this website.
Understanding the naming conventions of non-European cultures is important for an investigator or anyone wishing to certainly and correctly identify people in our diverse country. The following column is an attempt to assist the reader in correctly applying the conventions of uniquely ethnic names so identification is possible. This article should not be interpreted as indicating any unusual prevalence of any specific ethnic group toward unlawful or immoral activities, since no such intention exists. In each issue of The John Cooke Insurance Fraud Report, we will explore the mysteries of the naming practices of many ethnic cultures. In this issue we look at Vietnamese names.
Due to a very large number of requests, we are publishing a reprint of our guide to Vietnamese names. Some minor changes have been incorporated into the reprint.
Vietnamese people usually have three names. The first of these three names is the name which identifies the person’s family. The middle name appears next and the given name (what we generally call the first name in our western society) appears last. Thus if John Howard Garrison was Vietnamese, he would be known as Garrison Howard John. Or Helen Elizabeth Jones would be Jones Elizabeth Helen.
Because there are many similar sounding names, it is very important (when correctly identifying a person) to obtain an accurate listing of the name. Vietnamese names cause particular challenge for the investigator because they are so similar in sound and because it is difficult to ascertain the gender of the individual solely from his/her name.
It is important to understand that Vietnamese is a monosyllabic language. Every word in the Vietnamese language is a single syllable when it is correctly pronounced. As an example, let’s look at the most common name – Nguyen. If we were to apply an English translation to this spelling, the result might be Nih-goo-yen. Understanding that the pronunciation is correctly just one syllable, however, the correct way to say Nguyen is Winn.
We hope the following information relative to family, middle and given names will be of investigative assistance.
Family Names
There are more than 70 million people in Vietnam, and almost half of them carry the last name of Nguyen. However, despite the size of the nation and its large population, there are only about 100 family names. Adding to the confusion is the fact that nearly 85 percent of the entire Vietnamese population have one of the following family names:
Dang; Dao; Dinh; Do; Duong; Hoang; Huynh; Le; Ngo; Nguyen;
Pham; Tran; Vo; Vu. Other names you may see are Au, Bui, Cao, Chau, Chu, Chuong, Cu, Doan, Gia, Ha, La, Lai, Lam, Loung, Ly, Ma, Phan, Ta, Trinh, Truong and Tu.
Unlike the American custom, a Vietnamese bride does not assume her husband’s family name. She retains her own family name throughout her life. Traditionally, the children of the marriage will take the family name of the father. The only time husband and wife will share the same family name is when they both have the same name prior to the marriage. The most common instance, because of sheer numbers, is Nguyen.
How is it that a nation of 70 million people share only 100 family names? To answer this question, it is necessary to take a look at Vietnamese history. The most common names come from the surnames of the 16 families that, at one time during history, ruled Vietnam. Chronologically, from earliest ruler to latest ruler, they are: Thuc, Trung, Trieu, Mai, Khuc, Ly, Phung, Kieu, Ngo, Dinh, Le, Tran, Ho, Mac, Trinh and Nguyen Bao Dai, the last emperor of the dynasty (who abdicated in 1945).
It was common practice for a family to voluntary change their name to that of the ruling dynasty in a show of loyalty. Alternative reasons include actually being a descendant of a royal family or being granted use of the name by the emperor. Finally, some families were forced to change their names when a new ruler came to power (if they carried the name of the ousted ruler). This wiped out all reference to the old reign and reduced the perceived threat of insurgence. The reason the name Nguyen is so prevalent among the current Vietnamese populace is because Nguyen was the last ruling dynasty in power.
Middle Names
The Vietnamese use the middle name to give meaning to the given name. For instance, in the name Thanh Thuy, Thanh is meaningless alone, but when combined with Thuy it means clear water. In rare cases, generally among the older Vietnamese, the only clue to gender is found in the middle name. Seeing Van as a middle name means you are dealing with a male; Thi is a female. It is rare to see these names used by younger Vietnamese as they are too ordinary or too traditional for their tastes.
Given Names
Many given names have a particular meaning, and they are chosen by the parents of a newborn to reflect an ideal or an aspiration. For example, the name Trung translates to fidelity, and Hung means courage.
Many names are used interchangeably for either men or women.
The most common given names are: – Commonly used by both sexes:
Anh, Dung, Hanh, Hoa, Hong, Khanh, Lan, Liem, Nhung and Xuan. – Commonly used by men: An, Ba, Bang, Bao, Bay, Canh, Ching, Cong, Cung, Dat, Dong, Gia, Giang, Gon, Ha, Hai, Hieh, Hiep, Hoai, Hoang, Hoi, Hung, Huynh, Khoa, Khoi, Ky, Lai, Linh, Loc, Long, Luc, Luu, Luy, Man, Manh, Minh, Nam, Nghia, Ngoc, Nguyen, Nho, Ninh, On, Phat, Phu, Phuc, Phung, Qua, Quan, Quang, Quy, Quyen, Sang, Sau, Son, Tam, Tan, Tao, Thanh, Thao, Thien, Thoi, Thuan, Tion, Toan, Tru, Truc, Trung, Tu, Tuan, Tung, Tuong, Tuyen, Ut, Van, Vang, Vien, Viet, Vinh, Vu and Xuong. – Commonly used by women: Bich, Chau, Diep, Hang, Kim, Lien, Mai, Mong, My, Nguyet, Phuong, Quynh, Thi, Thoa, Thu, Trinh, Tuyet, Uyen and Yen.
The majority of women’s given names are also used as middle names. Sometimes a woman has two middle names (in almost all instances, one of them will be Thi), making their name total four instead of three.
Compound given names are also most common with women, although they are occasionally also seen in men’s names. Each name is capitalized and they are not hyphenated. When a name is provided that contains four separate words, you are usually seeing a compound given name.
When addressing a Vietnamese person as Mr., Mrs. or Miss, it is proper to use the given name, or the compound given name. Thus, Nguyen Van Pham would be called Mr. Pham; and his wife Than Thi Chau would be called Mrs. Chau. If there is a compound given name, use both. For instance, Vo Thi Xuan Hoa is addressed as Miss Xuan Hoa. Using the Mr. or Mrs. with the family name will usually get no response. It would be akin to shouting across a crowded room, “Mr. John” to John Charles Smith. He simply would not recognize that you meant him.
Many times Vietnamese will Americanize the order of their names when dealing with Americans. Understanding the relatively small number of family names in common use should help in correctly placing the names. Even official documents like a Social Security card or a driver’s license may list the names incorrectly or confusingly. It should be noted that anyone trying to conceal their identity will likely make use of the assumed American misunderstanding of Vietnamese names and naming. Common ways that mislead investigators include giving the three names in scrambled order, sloppy pronunciation causing misidentification of a name the investigator is not accustomed to hearing, and incomplete spelling of a name such as spelling Manh without the “h” to cause confusion with the name Man.
In a quest to become Americanized, it is increasingly common for a parent to employ a translation of the Vietnamese name to its English counterpart. Flowers, for girls, are especially popular. Hong, in Vietnamese, is a rose. Thus a child named Hong may be called Rose. Other commonly translated names include Loan (a phoenix), Le (a pear), Nho (a grape), Van (a cloud) or Nguyet (the moon). The tradition and acceptance of having a name that translates to something special is so common in recent years, that young Vietnamese will choose an American name more for its definition than for its actual sound. An example of this might be the young man who willingly chose the American name “Obert” because, according to the listed translation in the name book he purchased, Obert meant wealth and prosperity.
During the process of investigation, the astute investigator will avoid confusion by asking for family name and spelling first, then middle name and spelling, followed by given name and spelling. At least two Index Information Sheets may be required for each name to catch cases of Americanization.
© Copyright 1999 Alikim Media