Vietnamese male and female names. Vietnamese language: female names And also our blogs

Where do Vietnamese names come from?
After the birth of a child, his father throws a pan on the floor in the kitchen.
As it thundered, so they called it - Bam Van Dong, Han Long Gong.....
(Vietnamese joke)

Vietnamese names consist of three parts: family name (analogous to our surname), middle name and last, individual or given at birth. For example: Lã Xuân Thắng. Lã – family name, Xuân – middle, Thắng – last.
The middle part of the name is usually the same for all children in the family. Surnames in Vietnam total 300 and nearly half the country's population bears the surname Nguyen. In addition to Nguyen, common surnames also include Le, Chan and Fam.
Names women after the surname, the fourth part is added - “thi”.
Many Vietnamese have secret names, known only to themselves and their parents. Exists belief that spoken out loud, this name gives power evil spirits over its bearer. Because in in public places children are often named by birth order, for example Ti-hai/Chị Hai, Ti-ba/Chị Ba (Second Daughter, Third Daughter), etc.

Vietnamese people usually wear several names. So in villages, many Vietnamese children do not give beautiful names(Rat/Chuột, Puppy/Cún, etc.). This is done because superstitions that the gods will not want to take a child with an ugly name or harm him. Therefore, it is believed that the “simpler” a child’s name is, the easier it is to raise him. Subsequently, many villagers come to work in the city and choose new, beautiful names, which usually have a literal meaning in Vietnamese. For women names often represent beauty, like the names of birds or flowers. Name men They also reflect the desired attributes and characteristics that parents want to see in their children, such as morality or calmness. Confession is very developed in Vietnam ancestor cult, therefore, after death a person acquires sacred name for worship, for example: Cụ đồ“, ‛Cụ Tam Nguyên Yên Đổ“, “Ông Trạng Trình (grandfather/elder..). This name is recorded in the family annals and is considered the main name.

Male names

Bao- “protection” (Bảo)
Binh- “world” (Bình)
Wang- “cloud” (Vân)
Vien- “completion” (Viên)
Ding- “top” (Định)
So- “desire” (Đức)
Dung- “brave, heroic” (Dũng)
Duong- “courage” (Dương)
Quan- “soldier” (Quân)
Quang- “clear, pure” (Quang)
Kui- “precious” (Quí)
Min- “bright” (Minh)
Nguyen- “beginning” (Nguyên)
Tea- “oyster” (Trai)
That- “star” (Tú)
Tuan- “bright” (Tuấn)
Thanh
Thuan- “tamed” (Thuận)
Xoan- “spring” (Hòan)
Hung- “brave, heroic” (Hùng)
Ting- “faith” or “trust” (Tín)

Female names

Beat- “jade” (Bích)
Kim- “golden” (Kim)
Kuen- “bird” (Quyên)
Kui- “precious” (Quí)
Lien- “lotus” (Liên)
Tench- “spring” (Linh)
May- “flower” (Mai)
Ngoc - « gem" or "jade" (Ngọc)
Nguyet- “moon” (Nguyệt)
Nyung- “velvet” (Nhung)
Phuong- “phoenix” (Phượng)
Tien- “fairy, spirit” (Tiên)
That- “star” (Tú)
Tuen- “ray” (Tuyến)
Toot - « White snow"(Tuyết)
Thanh- “bright, clear, blue” (Thanh)
Thai- “friendly, loyal” (Thái)
Thi- “poem” (Thi)
Thu- “autumn” (Thu)
Hoa- “flower” (Hoa)
Hong- “rose” (Hồng) Xoan- “spring” (Hòan)
Huong- “pink” (Hường)
Chau- “pearl” (Châu)
Tee- “tree branch” (Chi)

The modern Vietnamese anthroponymic system is usually threefold: the first word is the surname, the last is the given name, and the second is the so-called auxiliary, intermediate name, for example: Nguyen Van Huyen, Le Van Hao. But often there are two-term names, consisting only of a surname and a given name, for example Mac Duong.

Traditions of choosing a name

The choice of a name among the Vietnamese is quite free and arbitrary, but nevertheless, there are rules that greatly facilitate for parents such an important and responsible matter as naming a child. Usually girls are given names that mean the names of various flowers, plants, fabrics, precious stones, as well as animals and birds, for example: Kuk “chrysanthemum”, Dao “peach”, Lua “silk”, Lieu “willow”, Tea “pearl oyster” , Loan "phoenix". Male names are most often an expression of abstract, abstract concepts, positive human qualities, as well as names of parts of the world, seasons, for example: Duc “virtuous”, Khiem “modest”, Xuan “spring”, Thu “autumn”. Often the first child in a family is called by the name Ka “eldest”, and the last one by the name Ut “younger”. In some southern regions of Vietnam, children are given names in the order of their appearance in the family: Ka "first", Hai. "second", Ba "third".

Factors influencing naming

The names of Vietnamese people can be associated with toponyms: with the place of birth - Quyen (the name of a place near Hanoi), Khoa (Moscow), with the place of birth of one of the parents or the place they met - Thai (the city of Thai Guen); the name may reflect one or another family event, for example Koi “orphan” (that is, the child was born after the death of the father), the profession of the parents - Mai “tailor”, tools - Tiang “chisel”, “chisel”, Bao “plane”. If the family is large, then the names of the children can form a whole phrase. For example, in a family there are children with the names: Viet, Nam, Anh, Hung, Tien, Kng, Vi, Dai. And these names pronounced in this sequence mean: “Heroic Vietnam will win great victory" Giving newborns such names as Gao “rice”, Nuoc “water”, Nha “house”, Duong “field”, parents dreamed that their children would always have wealth and that their lives would be better.

Before the August Revolution of 1945, in a family where children were often sick or died, superstitious parents did not dare to choose beautiful names for them, but only gave them such as Et “frog”, Zyun “worm”, Theo “tripe”. In the minds of the Vietnamese, “evil spirits” will not pay attention to children with such names and will leave them alone.

Individual unique name components

Between the first and last names there is usually a so-called intermediate, or auxiliary, name. In female names it is usually Thi, and Van in male names. The Thi component used to be included in almost everything female names. For male names, the choice of “auxiliary” names is wider: as an “intermediate” name there are such as Ngoc “jasper”, “jade”, Huu “friend”, “right”, Lien “union”, Xuan “spring” In general, the “auxiliary” name is not permanent and is not necessary, you can do without it. For example, if a person named Nguyen Van An subsequently does not like this combination, he can take another “auxiliary” name: either Minh or Xuan, then. there is Nguyen Minh An, Nguyen Xuan An, or completely abandon the “auxiliary” name and write your name simply Nguyen An. The “auxiliary” name appeared much later than the Long-lasting surnames. historical era gave names consisting only of surnames and personal names: Ngo Quyen, Li Bi, Khuc Hao. As for female names, at present, on the one hand, Thi is much less often used as part of female names, especially in cities and among the intelligentsia; on the other hand, women's personal names became two-part, making it more difficult to distinguish them from men's.

If women had one “auxiliary” name, then with men’s names the situation is somewhat more complicated. Previously, the choice of such names was large, but now their number has been reduced to 12 (Duy, Dinh, Den, Duc, Ngoc, Viet, Phu, Xuan, Huu, Si, Van, Minh), of which Vam is the most common, for they are followed by Den and Tink. All these words are borrowed from Chinese.

Despite the fact that in Vietnamese anthroponymy there is no canonized list of names (individual and “intermediate”, “auxiliary”), nevertheless, the choice of an “auxiliary” name was not completely arbitrary. It was regulated by historically established rules, according to which all representatives of one generation within one related group (ho) had a common element in their name. For example, in the Le family, one generation has the common element Cam, the second - Hong, the third - Phuoc. Thus, by this “auxiliary” name it was possible to determine the degree of relationship with other representatives of the same related group. However, there was another practice when one common element was passed on from generation to generation, for example, the father's name is Nguyen Van Huyen, the son's name is Nguyen Van Huy.

Modern trends in naming in Vietnam

Currently, these traditions are being violated in cities and towns of the “urban type”; often the “auxiliary” name began to be replaced by the first component of a two-part personal name, for example Xuan Hua. Although each name has an independent meaning, names often come in pairs. So it is not surprising when “when a question addressed to a Vietnamese girl named Hau, what does her name mean, one can hear in response that her name and the name of her older sister Huang together mean “queen” - Huang Hau, and in combination with the name Phuong's younger brother - Hau Phuong means "rear".

In addition, there has been a tendency to replace the “auxiliary” name with the mother’s surname, for example Tran Le, Dang Nghiem, which should be associated with that big role, which began to be played by a woman in modern Vietnam, although, however, such a practice existed before in the history of Vietnam.

The Vietnamese do not have middle names, as in the old days it was believed that there was nothing worse than mentioning a parent's name out loud. On the contrary, in some rural areas, parents take the names of their children, most often calling themselves by the name of their eldest son. If the eldest son died, the parents were addressed by the name of their youngest daughter.

How can one distinguish one person from another in speech?

It helps that in Vietnamese, depending on the relationship, the degree of respect for the interlocutor and the speech situation, many different auxiliary words are used in spoken (and sometimes written) speech. The following words are usually mentioned before the name: when addressing a man - an “elder brother”, ong “master”, thang - a word that emphasizes the familiarity of the address and has a disparaging connotation; when addressing a woman - “big sister”; when addressing younger ones - um; when addressing elders, “grandfather”, “grandmother” are words with the meaning “uncle”, “aunt”, “comrade”. It must be emphasized that the use of personal names was limited. Only sometimes among relatives or close friends, as well as when addressing younger ones, names were used. For example, children and youth can call each other by name; young people can address each other by name if they know each other well, as well as a boy and a girl, loving friend friend, husband and wife, but never in the presence of strangers - until the birth of children.

Features in the use of names

Until relatively recently, a Vietnamese person usually had not one, but several names throughout his life. IN early childhood the boy could have a “milk” name, known only within the family circle. After reaching adulthood, he received an official name, which accompanied him until the end of his life. Very often, upon entering the service, parents and friends gave young man also a middle name (gen huang). In addition, everyone had the right to choose a pseudonym (gen hieu). For example, the real name of President Ho Chi Minh was Nguyen Sinh Cung, and when he went to study, his parents, according to Vietnamese tradition, gave him another name - Nguyen Tat Thanh.

After death, a person usually receives a different name, because among the Vietnamese it is considered big sin mention the real, lifetime name of the deceased. A personal posthumous name usually consists of two words conveying virtues or any special character traits of the deceased, for example Thuan Duc “immaculate virtue.”

Where do Vietnamese names come from? After the birth of a child, his father throws a pan on the floor in the kitchen. As it thundered, so they called it - Bam Van Dong, Han Long Gong...

Vietnamese joke

Vietnamese names consist of three parts: the family name (analogous to our surname), the middle name and the last, individual or given at birth.

For example: Lã Xuân Thắng.

Lã- family name, Xuân- average, Thắng- last thing.

The middle part of the name is usually the same for all children in the family. There are only 300 surnames in Vietnam and almost half of the country's population bears the surname Nguyen. In addition to Nguyen, common surnames include Le, Chan and Pham.

Women's names are followed by a fourth part - “thi”.

Many Vietnamese people have secret names known only to themselves and their parents. There is a belief that when pronounced out loud, this name gives power to evil spirits over its bearer. Therefore, in public places, children are often called by birth order, for example, Ti-hai/Chị Hai, Ti-ba/Chị Ba (Second Daughter, Third Daughter), etc.

Vietnamese people usually go by several names throughout their lives. So in villages, many Vietnamese give small children ugly names (Rat/Chuột, Puppy/Cún, etc.). This is done because of the superstition that the gods will not want to take a child with an ugly name or harm him. Therefore, it is believed that the “simpler” a child’s name is, the easier it is to raise him. Subsequently, many villagers come to work in the city and choose new, beautiful names, which usually have a literal meaning in Vietnamese.

For women, names often represent beauty, like the names of birds or flowers. Men's names reflect the desired attributes and characteristics that parents want to see in their children, such as morality or calmness. In Vietnam, the practice of ancestor worship is very developed, so after death a person acquires a sacred name for worship, for example: Cụ đồ“, “Cụ Tam Nguyên Yên Đổ“, “Ông Trạng Trình (grandfather/elder..). This name is recorded in the family annals and is considered the main name.

Vietnamese names and their meanings

Male names:

Bao - "protection"
Binh - "peace"
Van - "cloud"
Vien - "completion"
Ding - "peak"
So - “desire”
Dung - "brave, heroic"
Duong - "courage"
Kuan - "soldier"
Kuang - “clear, pure”
Kui - "precious"
Min - "bright"
Nguyen - "beginning"
Tea - "oyster"
Tu - “star”
Tuan - "bright"
Thuan - "tamed"
Xoan - “spring”
Hung - "brave, heroic"
Tin - “faith” or “trust”

Female names:

Beat - “jade”
Kim - "golden"
Kuen - "bird"
Kui - "precious"
Lien - "lotus"
Lin - “spring”
May - "flower"
Ngoc - "gem" or "jade"
Nguyet - "moon"
Nyung - “velvet”
Phuong - "phoenix"
Tien - "fairy, spirit"
Tu - “star”
Tuen - "ray"
Tuet - “white snow”
Thanh - “bright, clear, blue”
Thai - "friendly, loyal"
Thi - "poem"
Thu - "autumn"
Hoa - "flower"
Hong - "rose"
Xoan - “spring”
Huong - “pink”
Chau - “pearl”
Ti - “tree branch”

Vietnamese name consists, as a rule, of three elements: surname, middle name and proper name. For example: Ho Chi Minh.

The most common surnames in Vietnam: Nguyen, Chan, Le, Ly, Ho, Pham, Vo. A common joke is that in Vietnam 50% of the population bears the surname Nguyen, 40% - Chan, and the remaining 10% includes all other surnames; this slightly rounds off the official figures, but, in general, it is true.

A middle name can have a special meaning and be passed down from generation to generation. Some middle names are found only in the structure of a male name, such as Van or Duc, which makes it possible to clearly distinguish between male and female names.

A proper name is the last element in the structure of a Vietnamese name. This is the name a person is called. Unlike surnames, there are a lot of proper names in Vietnam. Some names can be worn by both men and women, for example: Han (happiness), Hoa (peace), Thuy (water), Xuan (spring), Ha (summer), Thu (autumn).

Male names characterize the virtues of a noble husband: Dung (brave), Hung (courageous), Vuy (cheerful), Nghia (fair), Trung (faithful), Binh (calm), Duc virtuous), Cuong (strong). For the love of home country parents often call their children national names Viet (Vietnamese) and Nam (Southern). Other names mean virtues that are significant to Vietnamese society and moral qualities men: Hieu (respectful son), Chi (mind), Thuc (truth), Luk (strength), Tam (heart), Dang (success). Eastern philosophy considers the sun traditional male symbol yang, which is why Vietnamese has the name Duong (sun).

Female proper names repeat the names of flowers: Hoa (flower), Hong (rose), Huong (fragrance), Diep (foliage), Mai (apricot blossom), Lan (orchid). Vietnamese people often give their daughters names that praise traditional feminine virtues: Trinh (chaste), Dung (patient), Hien (kind), Mi (beautiful). The moon is traditional symbol femininity and beauty, therefore in the Vietnamese language there are several female names with the corresponding poetic meaning: Chang, Hang and Nguyet.

Sometimes a Vietnamese name is perceived as two-syllable, but in fact it is nothing more than “an address word + a proper name.” The basis of address words is a system of kinship terms, this helps determine the age, gender and social status of unrelated communication participants: ask your older brother Dyka, convey the most good wishes Auntie Lien, a fax arrived from sister Huong, etc. In Vietnam, a name is given by parents for life; upon marriage, women do not change their surname, and children receive their father's surname.

For the full version, see the print publication:
Daria Mishukova "Vietnam. Journey to the land of dragons and fairies"
Hanoi, Culture and Information Publishing House, 2010 - 268 pp.

In Vietnamese, the meanings of female names are beautiful and poetic. Vietnamese female names can be classified according to their meanings.

First of all, these are flower names. The simplest option is Khoa (flower).
It has long been customary for the Vietnamese to give their daughters names of different flowers: Hong (rose), Cuc (chrysanthemum), Lan (orchid), Ly (lily), Quynh (fragrant flower of the night). There are also names in the Vietnamese language with meanings close to the floral theme: Huong (aroma), Diep (foliage), Lieu (willow).

The moon in the east is considered a symbol of femininity and beauty. And as a result, in the Vietnamese language there are several female names with the gentle poetic meaning of “Moon”: Chang, Hang and Nguyet. Moreover, the word Chang in modern Vietnamese refers to a celestial body that is visible through the window at night. While the other two names for the moon are found not in astronomy, but in ancient poetry and fine literature.

In Vietnamese society, girls were often named after the traditional feminine virtues of Confucian culture: Hien (kind), Chinh (chaste), Dung (patient). Previously, this list also included the name Kong (hard-working). However, in last years it's not at all popular. The name Mi (beautiful) is much more common.

In a Vietnamese traditional family, sons are valued more than daughters. It is to the son that the sacred duty of performing rituals is passed on. Lack of heir male line is perceived by the Vietnamese as a tragedy: who will send and make offerings to all generations of the family?

However, many Vietnamese families consider their daughters to be jewels and give the girls appropriate names: Ngoc (pearl, jasper), Kim (gold) and Ngan (silver). The sum of the above forms the female names Kim Ngan (gold + silver) and Kim Ngok (gold + pearl).

The Vietnamese understand that it is rare that a foreigner can remember and correctly pronounce a Vietnamese name. That’s why many people choose an additional name for business communication and communication with foreigners. This name is printed on business cards instead of or in addition to the Vietnamese name: Jenny Kim, Monica Nguyen, Vanessa Chan, Cecilia Ho, Veronica Ngo.

Choice foreign name determined by social circle. Thus, among the Vietnamese who studied in the USSR and Russia, many proudly call themselves Fedya, Ivan, Misha, Katya, Sveta, Natasha. The choice of name is based on different motivations. Usually choose a name with similar meaning(Vinh = Fame) or starting with the same letter as a Vietnamese name (Huong = Helen).

However, the most decisive factor: the name must be liked and sound beautiful. This is what determines the choice of an additional foreign name by a Vietnamese.

Vietnamese name - pretty complicated thing. Full name consists of a surname, middle name and personal name. They are usually written in this order:
Last name | Middle name | Personal name
This is the order adopted in that part of Asia that is subject to Chinese cultural traditions(China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam). However, all this is complicated by the fact that each name can be two or more complex (well, remember, for example, Nemirovich-Danchenko or Anna Maria). Plus, some parts of names can be used both as a surname, and as a middle name, and as a personal name (for example, Văn (Van)). Therefore, for an unprepared person, looking at a Vietnamese name, for example, this:
Trần Thị Mai Loan (Tran Thi Mai Loan), it’s hard to say how in ordinary life this person is addressed.
And they address the person by his last, personal name with the addition of the necessary honorifics. Honorific is a form of polite address, such as Mr. Mrs. Miss in English, pan-pani-slechna in Czech, or disappeared sir and comrade in Russian. In other languages, honorifics are usually added to the surname: Mr. Smith, Pan Zeman, in Vietnamese such addresses are applied to the name. The Vietnamese system of appeals is incredibly rich, and the appeal is chosen anew each time depending on gender, age, social status and the speech situation of the speakers.
Surname.
Surnames in Vietnam coincided with the names of the ruling dynasties. Therefore, about 40% of Vietnamese bear the surname Nguyen - after the last imperial dynasty. There are about 100 surnames in use, but the most common are 14 surnames, which are borne by 90% of the population. Among them: Nguyen (Nguyễn), Tran (Trần), Le (Lê), Pham (Phạm), Huynh/Hoang (Huỳnh/Hoàng), Phan (Phan), Vu/Vo (Vũ/Võ), Dang (Đặng) , Bui (Bùi), Do (Đỗ), Ho (Hồ), Ngo (Ngô), Duong (Dương), Ly (Lý). I know a lot of Nguyens.
When a woman gets married, she does not change her name in any way and does not take her husband’s surname. Children are named after the husband's surname, although for the first few months of life children bear the mother's surname. The surname may be double, or the mother's surname may be used as the child's middle name.
Middle name.
The most unusual and exotic part of the Vietnamese name. Previously, the middle name was used as an indicator of gender. So, all the women had the middle name Thị (Thi), and most of the men had the name Văn (Van), and looking at the written names Nguyễn Thị Hoa and Tran Van Duy, one could immediately understand What we're talking about about a woman named Hoa from the Nguyen family and about a man named Duy from the Tran family. Moreover, the names Van and Thi themselves have a literal meaning! Van is literature, and thi is clan, family. This was the idea of ​​the distribution of roles in society in the feudal era. Now such middle names are unpopular; they are considered too primitive. Middle names can have several functions:

1. The middle name could indicate the gender of the person: Thị (Thi) - woman, Văn (Van) - man. (This feature is less popular now and due to the increasing complexity of female middle names, it can be difficult to determine gender from the written name).


2. The middle name could be common to one generation of the family, such a unique “generation indicator”. In large and large families, it was important to separate one generation from the next. In this case, children of the same parents were given one middle name. (This feature is currently unpopular.)


3. The middle (or even personal) name could indicate birth order and be a number. (This feature is currently unpopular.)


4. And other cases when the choice of a middle name is arbitrary or due to some other tradition. For example, all men in a family may have the same unchanging middle name, or the middle name must begin with a chosen letter.

1. names of good, beautiful and generally pleasant things and phenomena: “lotus” (Liên, Lien), “orchid” (Lan, Lan), “flower” (Hoa, Hoa) - that's my owner's name, “rose” (Hồng, Hong) “swallow” (Yến, Yen), “fragrance” (Hương, Huong), pearl/gem (Ngọc, Ngoc);


2. names of the “four female virtues”: “skillful, well-working” (Công, Kong), “beautiful” (Dung, Dung) - that's my neighbor's name, “well-behaved” (Hạnh, Han), “polite” (Ngôn, Ngon);


3. names of four mythical creatures, important in Vietnamese culture: “qilin” (Ly, Li), “turtle” (Qui, Kui) - that was the name of our maid, “phoenix” (Phượng, Phuong), “dragon” (Long, Long);


4. just names good qualities type “golden” (Kim, Kim), “ quick minded"(Anh, Anh), "tenderness" (Hiền, Hien);


5. names natural phenomena: “water” (Thuỷ, Thui), “autumn” (Thu, Thu).

Lastly: Vietnamese male name Huy exists. It means “bright, luminous.”