Why Do So Many Vietnamese Have The Same Surname ‘Nguyễn’? | Street Interview 

I went to school with a large Vietnamese population. I think there were dozens of kids that had the surname Nguyen and I remember the teacher going down the list at graduation and it was like a never-ending stream of Nguyens.

The most common reason is the people changed their names to Nguyen to avoid execution throughout the long history. In Vietnam people are called by their first names more, even in formal situations, so same surnames is not really a problem. There are no law in Vietnam to forbid people with same last names to marry to each others.

Every Vietnamese person I know has the last name Nguyen. My two friends got married and they had the same last name, Nguyen, so that made things easy! My old boss’s first name was Nguyen!

It is actually very well documented in Vietnam history books why Nguyen is the most common surname. Firstly, when the Tran dynasty took over the Ly dynasty, the Tran emperor claimed that they have an ancestor with the name Tran Ly. It is forbidden to have any word that sounds the same as the emperor's ancestor, thus, all the Lys were forced to change their surname to Nguyen. The surname Wong in Northern Vietnam is Hoang, but in Southern Vietnam is Huynh, because there was an ancestor of the Nguyen dynasty who goes by the name of Nguyen Hoang, so all the Hoang became Huynh in Southern Vietnam. As the north is not under their control, they continue to retain the surname Hoang. The second wave of increase was after the founding of the Quang Nam kingdom by the Nguyen. They took many lands from the Cham, the Laos and the Cambodians. All those who bowed to the power of the Quang Nam kingdom were given the surname Nguyen. Notably，the last few rulers of Champa before the kingdom was abolished were having the surname Nguyen.

About 100 years ago in Sweden, people were still using the 'father's first name + -sson/sdotter' system. Almost everyone was called Eriksson / Andersson / Karlssdotter / Olofsdotter etc, with some exceptions. You'd also get family trees with an Erik Olofsson followed by an Olof Eriksson followed by another Erik Olofsson and so on for generations and generations. At that point, the government decided that everyone in the same family should have the same last name, so that practice ended. But there were still way too many Erikssons and such, it was almost impossible to keep a census. So they gave payouts to families that would change to less common last names. People would picked the father's trade name, their village name or something related to plants or geography for example. Now the situation is much more manageable.

❤from Vietnam The Nguyen Phuc clan in Hue was the most powerful clan in Vietnam for 400 years. They established the last dynasty in Vietnam, so the Vietnamese changed their surname to resemble the king. I have been watching Asian boss for a long time and this is the 2nd time there is a clip in Vietnam. I was quite surprised because there are quite a lot of North Central coast accents in the video.

I love that the young lady in the pink dress also has the information the previous older gentleman had. Culture and history are still being passed down well. Love the white fuzzy microphone, too.

The explanation about the Nguyễn King is probably the most accurate (as I have read somewhere as well) When a new dynasty took over, they would massacre all descendants of the previous King based on their last name. That's why people have to change their last names to protect themselves. Since Nguyễn King was the last dynasty, there was no more massacre afterward, so people didn't have to change their last names again. Until now, Nguyễn has been multiplied to an incredible number 🤣 And I have the most common last name - the most common first name in Vietnam. At my workplace, there are 3 of us who have the same last name and first name 🙃

What a beautiful language… every person sounds like they’re singing

i would love to see more vietnamese content, and maybe conducted in other regions (particularly the south c;) also I don't really get why it was said that in english we call each other by surnames when we only do that towards people who are older, are our superiors, customers, or you're trying to be super polite.

Loved this interview in Vietnam! Really liked, how the name and its history was opened up massively, as a Vietnamese person abroad!👌

This was very interesting and insightful for a Vietnamese Australian. More Vietnamese content please :)

This was interesting! I grew up in Garden Grove, CA, which has a huge Vietnamese population and is next door to Westminster, home of Orange County's Little Saigon. Always wondered why every Vietnamese person I knew had one of about 5 last names. Same thing with Korean names, which are prevalent in my neck of the woods.

Love this. More Vietnam content please!!!!

Nice episode, thanks Asian Boss.

Very interesting piece, I have a superior with this surname. Thanks Asian Boss for creating different types of videos

Very interesting! I don't know too much about Asia as I have never been there. That's why I like this channel because it gives me great insight into the different cultures.

The most needed light hearted interview 😉... refreshing.

Finally some Vietnamese content, it's a part of Asia too u know

Finally we have ABoss in Vietnam

Yo, I love how excited homegirl was to report on this subject! I was so pumped to hear more because she was leading the way 😂👍🏼.

I love Vietnam. Greeting from S.Korea 😊

Aloha! Thank you! History of why people changed their name in order to survive was an eye opener! Thank you!

Thank you very much for this video. Tomorrow I have an interview with a Vietnamese person and it is really helpful for me, I understand and know more about your culture. Really interesting!

This was interesting, would love to see more content from/about South East Asian countries too

Kindia similar to korean last name thing little bit, considering that kim, lee, park are the most common 3 last names which has their own dynasty in korean peninsula(like nguyen in vietnam) or were being strong noble family.

Asian boss your videos are fun and informative 👍.

As someone with that surname born and raised in Montreal, Canada, I can confirm that (at least 15 years ago when telephone books where still in used), that surname outranks the common French Canadian name Tremblay in the city of Montreal.

I didn't know we had a large group of Vietnamese here in Mississippi. It's also our 3rd major language. Learning something new all the time and that's why I stay curious.

asian boss asking the right questions 👌

Somewhat cute, how eagerly the interviewer nods all the time. Very emphatic!

Another informative video from Asian Boss. I have a lot of neighbors with the surname Nguyen and I stumble over the pronunciation a lot.

Thank you for this, it's interesting to know where it originated. I wonder how this'll evolve: the dropping of surnames/name changes becoming more common (which seems unlikely given the cultural background)

How to pronounce it... -Say the word "Penguin" -Break it down into two syllables "Peng Nguyen" -Say only the second syllable "Nguyen"

Interesting. Thank you for your work

I've often wondered about this. Thanks so much for clarifying.

Loved this video. Vietnamese language is really pretty.

This video was very interesting, my mother is a Spanish teacher and has often commented about the commonality of the name Nguyen. Sometimes she'll have a classroom full of Nguyen surnamed only students, lol. I even once asked if they were all related, or originated from the same region because of the oddity of it. In China, Korea and Japan it's more common to use a person last name. Vietnam is actually the first Asian country that I've heard of where first names are more widely used.

I really like this interviewer, she did a lovely job :D

Vietnamese are brave people. I remember when they destroyed American army. Love from Yemen

More episodes from Vietnam please. 🙏

My last name is “Ngo” and no one can pronounce it I legit feel anxiety during attendance wondering how the teacher will butcher it this time 💀 Also the video is correct that all people are usually referred to by their first name regardless of kinship. So your teacher wouldn’t be Ms Evans, she’d be Ms Sara or “cô Sara.” For some reason this shocked me in kindergarten and I thought my teacher’s first name was “Black” for half the year.

I wondered about this too actually and this video helped me a lot to understand about viet names!

I've been wondering about this for so long but I always forget to ask about it :0 thanks Asian boss

More Vietnamese interviews, please!

Would like more Viet content, please 🙏 I'd like to learn more about my parents' country, as it is now

would like to see more interviews from Vietnam!!

i believe the surname Nguyen is written 阮 before Vietnam abandon Chinese writing, there are many Chinese and Taiwanese shares the same surname as well, dunno where and how it originated but i think there are not related no more, on the other hand, I heard that the Lee and Kong Clan in Korea thinks their clan orginated from China, maybe Nguyen and Lee and Kong has something to do with Chinese ancestry perhaps?

Additionally, in Vietnam, 100 years ago, a mother used to be called by her first child’s name. For example, if her first child is Đức then her name will eventually changes into “Mẹ Đức”. Nowadays, the elders in the central part of Vietnam still use this system quite often. Come to Sài Gòn and you’ll have a broader perspective of how “Nguyễn” is the most common surname in Vietnam. The information provided by these people in the video somehow wasn’t truly correct but their own thoughts.

yay for street interivews in vietnam!!!

When studying and working in the UK, I noticed that first names are used for pretty much all (university) teachers , colleagues and bosses! I think only in formal situations you would use Mr./Ms. [Surname].

I was told by my grandpa that our family's Nguyen last name was changed from Lee (Ly) few centuries back, and that still being kept in the family's tree record in my village.

"Vietnamese people marry each other because it's a Nguyen-Nguyen situation" -Ken Jeong

Asian Boss finally came to Vietnam

Not sure about other families but in my family, I heard we were forced to as my ancestors were royal officials during the Nguyen dynasty. Some of us were willing in order to gain favors but some were forced to as well.

More vietnam content please! :))

More interviews from Vietnam, pleeeeeease:)))

It’s been a while since they made a Vietnam asian boss episode, and yes, I’m a Nguyen gang as well😅

Please make more Videos about Vietnam.

Not just Nguyens, *Tran, Pham, Phan, Le, Hoang* I'm missing some...xinh loi🙏😂

Would love to see more from Southeast Asia countries

I think there must be some connection between the Vietnamese "Nguyen" and the “阮” in Hakka language of Southern China, they sound quite close. that "Ng" pronunciation is kind of a symbol in Hakka and Cantonese. Tran is related to 陈 or 谭, Dung is related to 董, Ho is related to 何, if my guess is right.

Who is the reporter ? She is amazing.

The kids running around the tree in the background at 6:30. 🙂

The last name "Nguyen" in Vietnam is the same as "Kim" in Korea or "Suzuki" in Japan

It is very interesting for me because we don't have surnames or family names. Most people just assumed that my first two names are surname or family name. It is very confusing for foreigners and hilarious at the same time.

great video! Im from Brazil and I just found your channel a few days ago and I've learned so much since then, I just watched some of your North-Korean related videos and i was just wondering if you ever made a video or if you have any information regarding Covid-19 in North Korea because i was suddenly asking these types of questions to myself when watched your videos. Thank you for sharing this content, keep up the good work!

I'm Vietnamese, but my last name is 'Luu', but my sister is a 'Nguyễn'. Even though I've met a lot of other Vietnamese at my high school I went to - many of whom are 'Nguyễn', I also have a couple of Vietnamese friends whose last names are 'Tran' (Trần).

We’re used to hearing the southern accent since we’re from the States. Next time in Vietnam it would be interesting to see another city besides Northern.

Interesting! I am always much more concerned with making sure I am pronouncing Nguyen correctly 😊

Let's take a moment to consider how much effort he puts into these videos!! hold it up!!!

Vetnamese is a beautiful lamguage 😻 Everyone sound like they are singing!!

viet nguyens 🤝 korean kims

In the US certain part of the country some people have 2 first names like Vietnamese people from New Orleans always have 2 first names - Thao-Mi, Hoai-Nhi, Thuyet-Nhi, Thao-Vy etc so their full names are pretty Long for example: Thao-Mi Hong Tran where as people from California its just a First and a Last name like Tuan Vu , Khang Vu , Phong Vo , Minh Nguyen , Nhi Le etc. Also Vietnamese people living in the USA with English names make their names even longer Example : " Stephanie Thao-Mi Nhi Nguyen " or Johnathan Tuan Quoc Vu but then you also have people with names like John Vu , Stephanie Nguyen , Lilian Tran even though their Vietnamese names arnt Documented as a legal name at home their Parents will call them by a Vietnamese name that they have

2:20 tôi không biết ai là người biên dịch của video này nhưng bạn đang bị thiếu kiến thức lịch sử. Bảo Đại không phải là tên của vua như bạn dịch là "first name" mà là niên hiệu (era name), còn tên của vua là Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy.

this is the first Asian boss's video I don't even need to read the subtitle

MORE VIET CULTURE PLEASE !!

When that one woman said, "We are equally confused" I felt that

We need more content on Vietnam, everytime I type vietnam I have wars videos😢

In Sweden (and I would guess in the other nordic countries as well) it is not common to address people with the last name, even teachers and company bosses. But in the military there we address each other with the last name.

How about some common Chinese surnames in China? I would like to know why do so many Chinese people have a lot of Chen's, Wang's, Zhang's, and Liu's as their surnames.

I think it's pretty cool in itself that there is SO MANY people with the same surname, ignoring the cause of it. It's just rly unique and cool.

Props for the cameraman for pronouncing.

Thats a nice question

My Sur name is ngô. Thank Asian boss for making video about my country.

I do have a neighbor here in the philippines that their surname is Nguyen. They are so kind to me, they treat me as their Little brother 🥰🥰🥰

Back then people changed their surnames because they wanted to respect the kings, gain their favor, or just to honor them

When I saw the title of this video I knew I had to watch.

More vietnamese content please!

omg i kinda hate that so many vietnamese people have this last name LMAO i had some girl bully me with that last name and now whenever i see it i get so panicked BUT SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE IT JKDFSKJF ty for this video!! what an interesting topic :o

Love hearing everyday people spreaking their dialect and trying to understand what they're saying without reading subtitles

Hands down the most fascinating and difficult language I've ever heard. And I study Chinese xD

My Vietnamese last name is Vo but people keep on reverting Vo to Vu when I was younger. Vo is common too, right?

Well about the pronunciation "Nguyễn" ít depends on the place you are because there are a lot of variations talking about the way vietnamese people pronounce their alphabet and words

I'm a Vietnamese started with "Nguyễn" too. What a topic 🤯

Make we wonder if people are changing their surname to reflect their heritage before the name changes? I'd love to know how hard/easy is it to change their surnames?

The Nguyen is translated in 阮ruan in chinese. and Tran is 陈 chen.

What language is this please ? 😍 Its so sweet !

Wow i had a friend in highschool who has that surname.. really cool to see the connections,i thought his Name sounded quite unique haha

These people are so well dressed. It was a completely different experience from my time in Hanoi when I visited this park. The times have changed I suppose