Pronunciation [ŋʷǐˀən] or [ŋʷĩəŋ] Related names | Language(s) of origin Vietnamese | |
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Nguyễn is the most common Vietnamese family name. Outside of 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.
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By some estimates, forty percent of Vietnamese people have this surname.
Origin and usage
The name is most likely derived from a Chinese surname. Nguyễn is the Vietnamese transliteration of the Chinese surname (阮), which is often transliterated as Ruan in Mandarin, Yuen in Cantonese, Gnieuh /ɲɥø¹³/ in Wu Chinese, or Nguang in Hokchew.
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. When the Nguyễn Dynasty (the descendants of the Nguyễn Lords) 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. Like many surnames in Vietnam and other Chinese-influenced cultures, the name Nguyễn is shared with those in the Chinese culture written with the same Chinese character. The Chinese character for Nguyễn is 阮.
In Vietnamese, Nguyễn is sometimes abbreviated "Ng̃".
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 (second only to Smith in the Melbourne phone books), and the fifty-fourth most common in France. In the United States, it is the 57th most-common family name according to the 2000 Census, as well as the most common exclusively East Asian surname, a major leap from its 229th-place ranking in 1990. It is ranked 124th in the U.S. Social Security Index. It is the fifty-sixth most common surname in Norway and tops the foreign name list in the Czech Republic.
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:
Pronunciation
The Vietnamese pronunciation is [ŋʷǐˀən] in northern dialect or [ŋʷĩəŋ] in southern dialect, in both cases, in one syllable. [ŋ] is the velar nasal found in the middle of the English word "singer". Unlike in Vietnamese, the consonant is never found in initial position in English. [w] is the semivowel found in the English word "win". [iə] is a rising diphthong. Its sound of this diphthong is similar to the diphthong /ɪə/ found in British English Received Pronunciation in the word "ear". Finally, [n] 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 is commonly approximated by English speakers as [wɪn].
Notable Nguyễns
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 (Nguyễn lords, Nguyễn Dynasty, Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, Nguyễn Minh Triết), poets (Nguyễn Trãi, Nguyễn Du, Nguyễn Đình Chiểu), Catholic clergymen (Nguyễn Văn Thuận), writers, scientists, composers, actors (Dustin Nguyen), professional poker players (Scotty Nguyen), former professional American football player Dat Nguyen to executed criminals (Nguyễn Tường Vân). Hồ Chí Minh was born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and used various names with the surname Nguyễn throughout his career (Nguyễn Tất Thành, Nguyễn Ái Quốc) and was not known as Hồ Chí Minh until late in his career. Dung Nguyen, Famous Grapichs Designer and panomies.