Vietnam is so little-known, mysterious and contrasting. At first glance, it’s simple, “like two pennies, ” however, if you look at it with wide eyes, you’ll see something that you couldn’t even imagine before. The smiles of the locals are filled with sincerity, like salt in the South China Sea, a tropical landscape synthesizing mountain ranges and rice fields, a kitchen that drives crazy with aromas that mix sweetness and piquancy of spiciness, beautiful Vietnamese walking in “pajamas” in broad daylight and as if eternally resting Vietnamese men - all this is Vietnam, which cannot be compared with any other Asian countries. The illusory simplicity of being encompasses everything everywhere, including the main thing in the life of any person - the name. But is everything so simple as it seems at first glance?
Call me quietly by name
In Russia, everything is clear, the widely used abbreviation of the full name includes three important identifying signs: surname, name and “by father”.
What is a full name in Vietnam?
The Vietnamese full name in the aggregate consists of three constituent elements:
- The first is the father's last name.
- Middle name
- Proper name.
The structure of name construction adopted in East Asia involves the use of the above in the order presented, with each part being written separately and with a capital letter.
Contact by last name, as in Russia, in Vietnam is not accepted, but the name is used separately.
How do Ivanov / Petrov / Sidorov sound in Vietnamese
The surname is adopted from the father of the family, and there are cases when the mother’s surname is used, which is the fourth component of the full Vietnamese name. The first mention of the surname (King Ngo) in Vietnam, as such, is found in the records of 939.
If Russia is characterized by the formation of a surname from a craft or special characteristics inherent in the family, then in Vietnam, surnames come from the tradition of the dynasty that rules at one time or another. Despite the fact that the total number of Vietnamese surnames exceeds the threshold of 100, only about 14 are mostly used. At every step in Vietnam there is the surname “Nguyen” (the current ruling dynasty), and it is used not only as a part of full names, but also replete with signs of shops, hairdressers, cafes. Moreover, after the widespread use of the surname “Li” (the previous dynasty), when the power was changed, the forced change to “Nguyen” was inherent. The second most popular surname is Chan, and the third is Le. Therefore, getting acquainted with a Vietnamese, you can even try to play the game "guess each other's last name." Some of the surnames are borrowed from the Chinese and are inherent in those families in which the Chinese are distant relatives.
A special surname - Thich is accepted by people who decide to devote their lives to Buddhism, they are from and to - monks.
Vietnamese names
Let's continue our acquaintance. As noted above, Vietnamese names are medium and proper.
The middle name previously indicated the gender of the child, the woman - Thi (translation - market and household), a man can be denoted by several variations, for example, Wang (literature), Viet, Shi, Ngok. At the present stage, this division is no longer in use, and now it is typical for the middle name to reflect the relationship between direct relatives (brother-sister), that is, it symbolizes the generation, thereby helping to determine who is who and who is who.
Personal name is the primary name used by Vietnamese when referring to a person. A personal name is given by parents not just like that, but with a deep meaning: for girls, the word implies a wish for beauty, for boys for those qualities that are especially significant for men.
To determine the name, simple nuances are taken as a basis: year of birth, geography (place of birth), season, flowering season of certain trees.
Great importance is attached to the sound of the name. For girls, the descending tonality and softness of letters and syllables is assumed, the names of the boys should be strong, sonorous and firm.
What is in my name to you: the meaning of the name of Vietnamese women
Femininity and beauty in all its manifestations: nature, weather, flora, fauna, space, poetry, culture and art - all this and not only is reflected in Vietnamese women's names.
Popular names are:
- The main virtues: beautiful (Dung), skillful (Kong), polite (Ngon), humble (Han).
- Mythical creatures: Lee, Kui, Long, Phuong.
- Seasons, elements.
What do you call Vietnamese
As for male Vietnamese names, the first thing that matters when deciding on a boy’s name is how his parents want him to be in terms of character and human qualities: endurance, courage, experience, determination, power, and others. In addition, parents put a special purpose for male Vietnamese names and surnames, it is believed that you can, giving the boy a name, direct him to success and victory in life. Hero, mountain, luck, ruler, wind are some of the most popular male names. Together with the surname, the name is aimed at preserving and strengthening family and national values.
