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.
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.
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.
There was the third wave of Nguyen when the French came and colonized us. Back then last name was only given to the nobel, that left many people from lower classes without proper last names. The French came and wanted to do a name record or some sort, and they had trouble doung it because many people were without last name, so they were given choices to choose, and most people went with Nguyen ever since, probably because Nguyen was the latest dynasty in their mind
@@h.nguyen4193 this is only true for the trịnh-nguyễn civil war time. From what i remember, Nguyễn Ánh, the first prince in exile of the Nguyen dynasty got real bad blood with the Trinh side (the Trinh killed off his family and friends, and even went as far as to destroy his ancestor's grave and mausoleums). Nguyen Anh ran away, plotted a revenge plan, and when he won the war, he set out on a revenge rage on the Trinh family and anyone who had ties with them. It got so bad that people changed their last name in a faster rate than it had ever been before that. There was a third wave of Nguyen thanked to the French as well. The rest is history
@@two-handpianist4517 Nguyễn Ánh got bad blood with the Tây Sơn faction, not the Trịnh clan. The Trịnh and Nguyễn clan were enemy, but they still kept relations with each other as they were both de jure under the Revival Lê dynasty. After Nguyễn Ánh/Gia Long established the Nguyễn dynasty, he allowed the descendant of the Lê to moved their clans thái miếu and tombs from Hanoi to Thanh Hoá, the Trịnh's thế miếu are still currently in Thanh Oai district while their tombs and another place of worship for Trịnh lords are also kept in Thanh Hoá. As oppposed to Tây Sơn dynasty's tombs and thái miếu (or ancestor hall, assuming they didn't have one), which were destroyed as revenge.
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.
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!
Many do but there are a lot of other surnames too. For example,my grandma’s last name is Truong(Zhang in Chinese) which is not common as it is more of a Chinese surname.
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.
❤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.
We had emperors my dude, not kings [(Quốc) vương, (國)王], but emperors [Hoàng đế, 皇帝]. "Vua" simply means a (male) monarch [= (Vị) Quân chủ, (位)君主] regardless of him being a king (王) or an emperor (帝).
more interviews in the eastern side of Asia most possibly because it satisfies most of their subscribers, it's sure nice to interview us south east asians more often, but the also have to keep their channel up. So it's kinda understandable in a sense to interview Mainland Chinese, Koreans and Japanese as they currently play a heavy role in online culture
I guess it's mainly because Ha Noi has many university students from North Central provinces studying there. I personally know some friends of mine from these areas.
I've always wondered if your Vietnamese there only two places in the world that they migrate to but it comes to English-speaking country USA or Australia
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 🙃
Wow! How do your coworkers differentiate between you all. Since the video says the common way of differentiation is by calling the first name and that's a bit difficult in your case
They were emperors my dude, Vietnam had not kings [(Quốc) vương, (國)王], but emperors [Hoàng đế, 皇帝]. "Vua" simply means a (male) monarch [= (Vị) Quân chủ, (位)君主] regardless of him being a king (王) or an emperor (帝).
@@cinnamunbun good question 😄now coworkers need to know our middle names as well, so they can call us by the first name + middle name (or middle name initial) , luckily we all have different middle names. I'm sorry, extra work for you guys, but it's not our fault 😆
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.
Most Asian races tend to have more common surnames than others. Mostly because we didn’t make up a whole bunch of surnames to distinguish ourselves from each other
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.
@@koimackan1287 some particular individuals beside Hồ Chí Minh in the 20th century were referred to by surnames: Trịnh Công Sơn - nhạc Trịnh (Trịnh Music) Tôn Đức Thắng - Bác Tôn (Uncle Tôn) Ngô Đình Diệm - Ngô Tổng thống (President Ngô)
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.
No in China it is more common to refer somebody by their names in its entirety (this most only applies to Sinitic names tho). It is… cringey and uncomfortable to hear somebody else refer you by given name only. It suggests too much sexual-tension-like intimacy and has some other strange and uncomfortable perceptions regardless what relationship you may have with the person who call you as such, strangers, family members, colleagues, spouses and lovers/sexual partners alike. Obviously between romantic partners such practices can usually get a pass, but still heavily depends on individual preferences. It can still cause odd discomfort even as a third party observer… it is just too mushy, cheesy and cringey. Family members would use nicknames that are often unrelated to the formal names and may prefer to refer their own children by their full names under certain circumstances, such as in front of their children’s peers from school and so on.
We address each other with first name as well here in Malaysia. Most prob because we don't exactly has family names. Son and daughter's are named with their respective first name, followed by the father's name. Except the Malaysian chinese, whom mostly addressed with their surnames like Mr Chen, Mr Low. Unless you're friends and you get to call them by their first name.
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.
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.
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.
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.
And one of the Lees in Korea is of the descendants of the former royal Ly from Vietnam. Also, as I know all the common surnames in Korea you mentioned are not just of the royal families but also ancient normal families from different areas.
@@TheMagnificentLordArceus thanx i havent know that untill your saying Kinda interesting that some of noble family moved from vietnam to korean peninsula
It's actually a sad story that they had to flee to Korea because Tran Thu Do, leader of the Tran clan wanted their heads after overthewing their dynasty.
@@TheMagnificentLordArceus I have no idea how come they decided to come here so far. rather than going to china, japan.. or thailand according to the article i saw, the number of their decendants in korea is around 1000
@@crouchingstone I think this is the reason why they chosen Korea: “After a month at sea, their fleet encountered a big storm and had to go to Taiwan. When Ly Long Tuong (prince of the Ly Dynasty of Vietnam) decided to go to Korea, his son Ly Long Hien became seriously ill, so he had to stay with 200 family members to settle in Taiwan. On the way to Korea, the boat was washed up by a storm on the west coast of Goryeo. Before that, the king of Goryeo Dynasty dreamed of a very large bird flying up from the south, so he ordered the local government to welcome him, and agreed to let Ly Long Tuong stay."(source: Wikipedia ). I think the story of the dream sounds interesting and strange
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.
Ngo isn't so bad. From what I remember, they just say NO instead right? Imagine how difficult it'd be for the first name Nghia. Having your name mispronounced is totally the Asian American experience.
@@icedcoffee40179 Exactly and my sister in law’s sister’s husband is named Nghia but he has an English name that he used instead. Nghia is hard to pronounce for foreigners.
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.
They were emperors ma’am, Vietnam had not kings [(Quốc) vương, (國)王], but emperors [Hoàng đế, 皇帝]. "Vua" simply means a (male) monarch [= (Vị) Quân chủ, (位)君主] regardless of him being a king (王) or an emperor (帝).
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!
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.
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.
Not just related. They’re the same, just different spelling and ways to pronounce. For example, Trần in Vietnamese, Chan in Cantonese, and Chen in Mandarin are the same thing 陳
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)
By dropping of surnames, you mean change to a different surname after marriage? We don’t do that here. The paperwork we need to fill to change our surname is too complicated. Since it’s uncommon to change surname, people will question you left and right about why you change it. You also have to change your name in family register, bank account, birth certificate, school record, ID card,… There is no benefit in changing your surname, just a mountain of paperwork.
The reason why Nguyen is so common is because Nguyen was the last dynasty. The king of new dynasty usually kills those with same surname as the king of the previous dynasty to make sure family members of the previous dynasty are all dead and can’t threaten his crown. Since Nguyen dynasty was the last, Nguyen remains as the most common surname.
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.
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
So sorry to hear that! I hope you will have better experience with Nguyen later on. There’re definitely good people with this last name out there. Me included
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.
As a Chinese even I don't understand Vietnamese, I can tell that the Vietnamese people interviewed said that the most popular surname in Vietnam are (姓）阮，（姓）武，（姓）黎，etc.
Nah, the interviewees said Nguyễn 阮, Ngô 吴, Trần 陈, Hồ 胡. I’m a Vũ 武 and we are at number 7 in most common Vietnamese surname list. Lê 黎 is quite common but it was not mentioned in this video.
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.
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
actually if someone name is Thao-Mi Nhi Nguyen (in VN it'd be written as Nguyễn Nhi Thảo Mi) the "Thao" is counted as middle name along with "Nhi", it does not count as first name. 4-words names are very common in Vietnam, it's just how the parents want to name their kids.
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).
I like to imagine that a long, long, time ago, a guy named Nguyen went around the country and had lots of kids. Also that their kids went on to have a lot of children too.
Ad 5:09 - I am not sure where the data about Nguyen being the 9th surname in Czech Republic is from, I was not able to find any source confirming it. Nguyen is for sure top foreign name in Czech Republic. The interesting part is that since our understanding of "surname" is different, you will see for example "Nguyen Thi" or "Nguyen Van" registered as person's surname and that breaks the statistics quite a lot. To add a bit more confusion, people in Czech Republic differentiate between male (Novák) and female (Nováková) surnames, so the count of each common Czech surname is basically halfed.
I haven't seen the source for the information, but on wikipedia about the Vietnamese diaspora in Czechia it's stated that Nguyen is indeed the 9th most common surname in the country. Czechia has in fact a Vietnamese population so considerable that the Vietnamese are now recognized as one of the ethnic minorities there, which is crazy because as far as I know, it's the only European country that recognizes an Asian people as an ethnic minority.
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.
@@melissabradson1981 There are also many people in Northern China named Li. I know a guy from a small village in Northern China where all the people have Li as surname.
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.
Some people in my country thinking Vietnam is south-east asian bcz ASEAN association, but at the same time alot people also thinking Vietnam is East-Asia bcz they culture are kinda related
My last name is Nguyen and I think the mic is just picking it up wrong because that's I've never heard it pronounced that way by any of the hundreds of other Vietnamese people I've met in my life
@@joshuanuuujin6459 The mic actually got it right. The difference you said might be the accent. The tonal element is more prominent in the Northern accent than in the Southern accent.
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?
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
No, there is only one correct way to say the name "Nguyễn" and that is in the North dialect. Few other regions usually say it wrong because they can not say certain of letters from the Vietnamese phonemes. Like in the South dialect, they cannot say the vowel "êy", so they say it into "y", they cannot say the ending consonant "-n", so they say it into "-ng", they can not say the tone "~", so they say it into "?", they cannot say "Nguyễn", so they say it into "Nguỷng".
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].
The correct answer is the family rivalry centuries ago. A lot of people died. To stop it, the king (or whatever he was called) decided to end the conflict by telling both families that their names are now Nguyen. They know which clan by their area of origin. Another interesting fact is that only Nguyen can marry somebody of the same last name. This was changed fairly recently (in comparison) because when it was forbidden, it was too difficult to find a spouse.
I'm native Vietnamese, and I've never heard of such history of the Nguyen family. It seems like you mistook this part of Korean history with Vietnamese history.
@@Yayayaeeee I heard this from several Vietnamese people. One of them is first generation American. By the way, her name was Nguyen. I used to work with her. Check the internet.
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.
Use the word persecution is more appropriate than execution.
Wait, are there “laws forbidding people with the same last name to marry” ??
@@Sprite_525 yeah, I think Korea had this law before
Except one dead man who isn’t buried yet. It’s mysterious why the people are forced to call him by his surname.
@@thuys__ never heard this song th-cam.com/video/LkyhRCX3uMU/w-d-xo.html ? it's the way to show respect for old men
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.
Really? How many people were at your school? My high school graduating class had only around 215 people. There was a mixture of people.
For real.
Lol
Hello, another Nguyen here haha
Vu here
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.
Should be "Tran king", not "Tran emperor".
@@henrynguyen5436 It should be Tran emperor, not Tran king.
There was the third wave of Nguyen when the French came and colonized us. Back then last name was only given to the nobel, that left many people from lower classes without proper last names. The French came and wanted to do a name record or some sort, and they had trouble doung it because many people were without last name, so they were given choices to choose, and most people went with Nguyen ever since, probably because Nguyen was the latest dynasty in their mind
@@h.nguyen4193 this is only true for the trịnh-nguyễn civil war time. From what i remember, Nguyễn Ánh, the first prince in exile of the Nguyen dynasty got real bad blood with the Trinh side (the Trinh killed off his family and friends, and even went as far as to destroy his ancestor's grave and mausoleums). Nguyen Anh ran away, plotted a revenge plan, and when he won the war, he set out on a revenge rage on the Trinh family and anyone who had ties with them. It got so bad that people changed their last name in a faster rate than it had ever been before that. There was a third wave of Nguyen thanked to the French as well. The rest is history
@@two-handpianist4517 Nguyễn Ánh got bad blood with the Tây Sơn faction, not the Trịnh clan. The Trịnh and Nguyễn clan were enemy, but they still kept relations with each other as they were both de jure under the Revival Lê dynasty. After Nguyễn Ánh/Gia Long established the Nguyễn dynasty, he allowed the descendant of the Lê to moved their clans thái miếu and tombs from Hanoi to Thanh Hoá, the Trịnh's thế miếu are still currently in Thanh Oai district while their tombs and another place of worship for Trịnh lords are also kept in Thanh Hoá. As oppposed to Tây Sơn dynasty's tombs and thái miếu (or ancestor hall, assuming they didn't have one), which were destroyed as revenge.
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.
Bor Burison, Odin Borson, Thor Odinson.
Thank you for the information!😊
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
If I am not mistaken, the -son/-dottir system is still used in Iceland...
@@miaouscleaumonocle Indeed!
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!
Many do but there are a lot of other surnames too. For example,my grandma’s last name is Truong(Zhang in Chinese) which is not common as it is more of a Chinese surname.
The Tran community was here way before LGBTQ was even a thing 😂🤣
They marry each other because it's a nguyen-nguyen situation 😜
@@superhips135 🤣🤣🤣
It’s scary, gotta make sure they’re not related before you hit it!! Lol
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.
She is really well spoken too, sounds like a teacher
Loved this interview in Vietnam! Really liked, how the name and its history was opened up massively, as a Vietnamese person abroad!👌
To me as a foreigner it was also very insightful, hard to get to know such things from the middle of europe :)
❤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.
Because it's interwiewed in hanoi
We had emperors my dude, not kings [(Quốc) vương, (國)王], but emperors [Hoàng đế, 皇帝]. "Vua" simply means a (male) monarch [= (Vị) Quân chủ, (位)君主] regardless of him being a king (王) or an emperor (帝).
more interviews in the eastern side of Asia most possibly because it satisfies most of their subscribers, it's sure nice to interview us south east asians more often, but the also have to keep their channel up. So it's kinda understandable in a sense to interview Mainland Chinese, Koreans and Japanese as they currently play a heavy role in online culture
I guess it's mainly because Ha Noi has many university students from North Central provinces studying there. I personally know some friends of mine from these areas.
Its because people were forced to change their surname to Nguyen so they wont get caught or killed just like the older people mentioned in the video
What a beautiful language… every person sounds like they’re singing
ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 중국어도 예쁘게 들리냐?
yeah, since our language is tonal
It's the northern dialect which sounds very fluid and succinct.
This was very interesting and insightful for a Vietnamese Australian. More Vietnamese content please :)
I've always wondered if your Vietnamese there only two places in the world that they migrate to but it comes to English-speaking country USA or Australia
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 🙃
Wow! How do your coworkers differentiate between you all. Since the video says the common way of differentiation is by calling the first name and that's a bit difficult in your case
@@cinnamunbun It's not a way to differentiate but the way it is. Calling someone by their surname or full name is pretty strange here
They were emperors my dude, Vietnam had not kings [(Quốc) vương, (國)王], but emperors [Hoàng đế, 皇帝]. "Vua" simply means a (male) monarch [= (Vị) Quân chủ, (位)君主] regardless of him being a king (王) or an emperor (帝).
@@cinnamunbun good question 😄now coworkers need to know our middle names as well, so they can call us by the first name + middle name (or middle name initial) , luckily we all have different middle names. I'm sorry, extra work for you guys, but it's not our fault 😆
And your whole name is the name of the first Nguyen Emperor Gia Long.
Finally some Vietnamese content, it's a part of Asia too u know
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.
I do my best to avoid driving in little Saigon lol...
@@sacausa why?
@@funfnir3646 lot of bad drivers in the area :)
Most Asian races tend to have more common surnames than others. Mostly because we didn’t make up a whole bunch of surnames to distinguish ourselves from each other
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.
yeah, the only case of surname-calling that I'm aware of in modern Vietnamese history is Hồ Chủ tịch [President Hồ (Chí Minh)]
@@koimackan1287 some particular individuals beside Hồ Chí Minh in the 20th century were referred to by surnames:
Trịnh Công Sơn - nhạc Trịnh (Trịnh Music)
Tôn Đức Thắng - Bác Tôn (Uncle Tôn)
Ngô Đình Diệm - Ngô Tổng thống (President Ngô)
Finally we have ABoss in Vietnam
👍
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.
No in China it is more common to refer somebody by their names in its entirety (this most only applies to Sinitic names tho).
It is… cringey and uncomfortable to hear somebody else refer you by given name only. It suggests too much sexual-tension-like intimacy and has some other strange and uncomfortable perceptions regardless what relationship you may have with the person who call you as such, strangers, family members, colleagues, spouses and lovers/sexual partners alike. Obviously between romantic partners such practices can usually get a pass, but still heavily depends on individual preferences. It can still cause odd discomfort even as a third party observer… it is just too mushy, cheesy and cringey.
Family members would use nicknames that are often unrelated to the formal names and may prefer to refer their own children by their full names under certain circumstances, such as in front of their children’s peers from school and so on.
Yeah in Vietnam, it’s common to address each other by first name. It’s super cringy and formal to call someone Mr. Nguyen or Mrs. Nguyen.
@@nehcooahnait7827 people here don't have surnames😳😳😳 we're intimate
We address each other with first name as well here in Malaysia. Most prob because we don't exactly has family names. Son and daughter's are named with their respective first name, followed by the father's name.
Except the Malaysian chinese, whom mostly addressed with their surnames like Mr Chen, Mr Low. Unless you're friends and you get to call them by their first name.
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.
How to pronounce it...
-Say the word "Penguin"
-Break it down into two syllables "Peng Nguyen"
-Say only the second syllable "Nguyen"
Hey good method. That is the closest you can get.
Soooo.. just say wing like Stewie Griffin would say whing?
@@TrinhNguyen-sh4fj a thi'NG WE IN'tend to do
Vn is monosyllabic language.., so..
En gu yen
asian boss asking the right questions 👌
true true
Loved this video. Vietnamese language is really pretty.
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.
I love Vietnam. Greeting from S.Korea 😊
greeting from vietnam
Vietnamese are brave people. I remember when they destroyed American army. Love from Yemen
VietNam love Yemen
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 😂👍🏼.
Aloha! Thank you! History of why people changed their name in order to survive was an eye opener! Thank you!
Love this. More Vietnam content please!!!!
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.
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.
And one of the Lees in Korea is of the descendants of the former royal Ly from Vietnam. Also, as I know all the common surnames in Korea you mentioned are not just of the royal families but also ancient normal families from different areas.
@@TheMagnificentLordArceus thanx i havent know that untill your saying
Kinda interesting that some of noble family moved from vietnam to korean peninsula
It's actually a sad story that they had to flee to Korea because Tran Thu Do, leader of the Tran clan wanted their heads after overthewing their dynasty.
@@TheMagnificentLordArceus I have no idea how come they decided to come here so far. rather than going to china, japan.. or thailand
according to the article i saw, the number of their decendants in korea is around 1000
@@crouchingstone I think this is the reason why they chosen Korea: “After a month at sea, their fleet encountered a big storm and had to go to Taiwan. When Ly Long Tuong (prince of the Ly Dynasty of Vietnam) decided to go to Korea, his son Ly Long Hien became seriously ill, so he had to stay with 200 family members to settle in Taiwan. On the way to Korea, the boat was washed up by a storm on the west coast of Goryeo. Before that, the king of Goryeo Dynasty dreamed of a very large bird flying up from the south, so he ordered the local government to welcome him, and agreed to let Ly Long Tuong stay."(source: Wikipedia ). I think the story of the dream sounds interesting and strange
"Vietnamese people marry each other because it's a Nguyen-Nguyen situation" -Ken Jeong
How ironic as his wife is Vietnamese too. But her last name is Ho.
@@TrinhNguyen-sh4fj can u imagine being a comedian and ur wife's last name is "Ho". 😂
@@thanGacao Exactly!
Very interesting piece, I have a superior with this surname. Thanks Asian Boss for creating different types of videos
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.
Even as a Vietnamese (albeit European) I have trouble pronouncing ur last name 😭
Ngo isn't so bad. From what I remember, they just say NO instead right? Imagine how difficult it'd be for the first name Nghia. Having your name mispronounced is totally the Asian American experience.
I’ve seen that name before. How is it pronounced?
@@icedcoffee40179 Exactly and my sister in law’s sister’s husband is named Nghia but he has an English name that he used instead. Nghia is hard to pronounce for foreigners.
@@TrinhNguyen-sh4fj Tell me about it! My first name is actually Nhu and it's surprising to hear what people can come up with.
Nice episode, thanks Asian Boss.
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.
More episodes from Vietnam please. 🙏
Somewhat cute, how eagerly the interviewer nods all the time. Very emphatic!
When that one woman said, "We are equally confused" I felt that
Asian Boss finally came to Vietnam
This was interesting, would love to see more content from/about South East Asian countries too
Vietnam is a part of south east Asia lol
@@Dante-qe6vc yeah I meant in addition to their other content
I really like this interviewer, she did a lovely job :D
Back then people changed their surnames because they wanted to respect the kings, gain their favor, or just to honor them
Another reason is they were forced to too.
@@TrinhNguyen-sh4fj Thank you, I forgot to include that
@@angelvu You are welcome and I only knew that because it happened to my ancestors.
They were emperors ma’am, Vietnam had not kings [(Quốc) vương, (國)王], but emperors [Hoàng đế, 皇帝]. "Vua" simply means a (male) monarch [= (Vị) Quân chủ, (位)君主] regardless of him being a king (王) or an emperor (帝).
The last name "Nguyen" in Vietnam is the same as "Kim" in Korea or "Suzuki" in Japan
not true, Nguyen is Nguyễn (阮).. Kim is (金)... Suzuki is (written: 鈴木) ... how are they related? or you probably don't know Asian culture?
@@jinchengzou5525 I think his meant that those surname are all popular
@@cuongquoc4161 ahhh... i see, i think you are right, i am dumb...lol
and Wang（王/汪）in China ...
Not Suzuki but Sato (佐藤) is the most popular surname in Japan
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 🥰🥰🥰
That's interesting, they might have settled there after the vn war time 👍, you will find many countries
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!
MORE VIET CULTURE PLEASE !!
Asian boss your videos are fun and informative 👍.
I’m a Nguyen living in Canada married to a Tran. My wife kept her last name. However, my children will carry the Nguyen dynasty forever!
More Vietnamese interviews, please!
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.
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.
Nguyễn is 阮, Trần is 陳, Dũng is 勇, and Hồ is 胡.
譚 is Đàm, 董 is Đổng, 何 is Hà.
Vietnamese did not use simplified characters when we were still using Classical Chinese Hán văn (漢文) or in Mandarin Chinese wényánwén (文言文)
@@nomnaday thanks for the correction! Sure, simplified ones didn't exist when those culture communication happened.
Not just related. They’re the same, just different spelling and ways to pronounce. For example, Trần in Vietnamese, Chan in Cantonese, and Chen in Mandarin are the same thing 陳
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)
By dropping of surnames, you mean change to a different surname after marriage? We don’t do that here. The paperwork we need to fill to change our surname is too complicated. Since it’s uncommon to change surname, people will question you left and right about why you change it. You also have to change your name in family register, bank account, birth certificate, school record, ID card,… There is no benefit in changing your surname, just a mountain of paperwork.
The reason why Nguyen is so common is because Nguyen was the last dynasty. The king of new dynasty usually kills those with same surname as the king of the previous dynasty to make sure family members of the previous dynasty are all dead and can’t threaten his crown. Since Nguyen dynasty was the last, Nguyen remains as the most common surname.
this is the first Asian boss's video I don't even need to read the subtitle
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.
The kids running around the tree in the background at 6:30. 🙂
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
I don’t like how you find it funny
@@angelvu I don't like how you don't like how she finds it funny.
So sorry to hear that! I hope you will have better experience with Nguyen later on. There’re definitely good people with this last name out there. Me included
This should not be a street interview question, this should be a history question answered by historians.
More interviews from Vietnam, pleeeeeease:)))
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.
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.
As a Chinese even I don't understand Vietnamese, I can tell that the Vietnamese people interviewed said that the most popular surname in Vietnam are (姓）阮，（姓）武，（姓）黎，etc.
Nah, the interviewees said Nguyễn 阮, Ngô 吴, Trần 陈, Hồ 胡. I’m a Vũ 武 and we are at number 7 in most common Vietnamese surname list. Lê 黎 is quite common but it was not mentioned in this video.
Would like more Viet content, please 🙏 I'd like to learn more about my parents' country, as it is now
It’s been a while since they made a Vietnam asian boss episode, and yes, I’m a Nguyen gang as well😅
viet nguyens 🤝 korean kims
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.
Yeah lets to Central Vietnam, so that no one can understand.
@@nomnaday I am 99% certain that central viets don't understand each other either
yay for street interivews in vietnam!!!
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
Nice to know
actually if someone name is Thao-Mi Nhi Nguyen (in VN it'd be written as Nguyễn Nhi Thảo Mi) the "Thao" is counted as middle name along with "Nhi", it does not count as first name. 4-words names are very common in Vietnam, it's just how the parents want to name their kids.
More vietnam content please! :))
Love hearing everyday people spreaking their dialect and trying to understand what they're saying without reading subtitles
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).
Another informative video from Asian Boss. I have a lot of neighbors with the surname Nguyen and I stumble over the pronunciation a lot.
Who is the reporter ? She is amazing.
Let's take a moment to consider how much effort he puts into these videos!! hold it up!!!
I like to imagine that a long, long, time ago, a guy named Nguyen went around the country and had lots of kids. Also that their kids went on to have a lot of children too.
Ad 5:09 - I am not sure where the data about Nguyen being the 9th surname in Czech Republic is from, I was not able to find any source confirming it. Nguyen is for sure top foreign name in Czech Republic. The interesting part is that since our understanding of "surname" is different, you will see for example "Nguyen Thi" or "Nguyen Van" registered as person's surname and that breaks the statistics quite a lot. To add a bit more confusion, people in Czech Republic differentiate between male (Novák) and female (Nováková) surnames, so the count of each common Czech surname is basically halfed.
I haven't seen the source for the information, but on wikipedia about the Vietnamese diaspora in Czechia it's stated that Nguyen is indeed the 9th most common surname in the country. Czechia has in fact a Vietnamese population so considerable that the Vietnamese are now recognized as one of the ethnic minorities there, which is crazy because as far as I know, it's the only European country that recognizes an Asian people as an ethnic minority.
Interesting. Thank you for your work
Vetnamese is a beautiful lamguage 😻 Everyone sound like they are singing!!
Thank you 🥰
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.
They are all named Li.
I remember seeing a video that in Northern China most people are surnamed Wang while in the South most are surnamed Li.
@@melissabradson1981 There are also many people in Northern China named Li. I know a guy from a small village in Northern China where all the people have Li as surname.
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.
@@flederfrosch5574 i guess Myanmar
Not just Nguyens, *Tran, Pham, Phan, Le, Hoang* I'm missing some...xinh loi🙏😂
not "xinh loi" but "xin lỗi"
My Sur name is ngô. Thank Asian boss for making video about my country.
Oh no!
@@alfonschoubek2984 see so many Vietnamese here .
Props for the cameraman for pronouncing.
More vietnamese content please!
I've often wondered about this. Thanks so much for clarifying.
Some people in my country thinking Vietnam is south-east asian bcz ASEAN association, but at the same time alot people also thinking Vietnam is East-Asia bcz they culture are kinda related
We located in Southeast Asia with East Asian culture.
5:27 I thought I've been doing OK pronouncing the name until this version! I have absolutely no ability to repeat after her!
My last name is Nguyen and I think the mic is just picking it up wrong because that's I've never heard it pronounced that way by any of the hundreds of other Vietnamese people I've met in my life
@@joshuanuuujin6459 Thanks! Now I feel better ;)
@@joshuanuuujin6459 The mic actually got it right. The difference you said might be the accent. The tonal element is more prominent in the Northern accent than in the Southern accent.
@@joshuanuuujin6459 it correct btw , maybe you not native speaker
@@jerryle379 I don't think so. I rewatched it and her tone is correct in the video but maybe the pitch is just making it sound off to me.
阮 in Vietnam，金（kim）in korean
We need more content on Vietnam, everytime I type vietnam I have wars videos😢
In Trung Quoc, we pronounce this character "ruǎn"（阮）.
you are chinese?
When I saw the title of this video I knew I had to watch.
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?
Yes, Nguyen is Ruan in Chinese like Tran is Chen in Mandarin and Chan in Cantonese.
I've been wondering about this for so long but I always forget to ask about it :0 thanks Asian boss
What language is this please ? 😍 Its so sweet !
Vietnamese
I wondered about this too actually and this video helped me a lot to understand about viet names!
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
Yeah I was curious because I was told it's pronounced as "wen", but the people in this video pronounced it like "m-wen"
No, there is only one correct way to say the name "Nguyễn" and that is in the North dialect. Few other regions usually say it wrong because they can not say certain of letters from the Vietnamese phonemes. Like in the South dialect, they cannot say the vowel "êy", so they say it into "y", they cannot say the ending consonant "-n", so they say it into "-ng", they can not say the tone "~", so they say it into "?", they cannot say "Nguyễn", so they say it into "Nguỷng".
@@TheRealityofFake same
@@TheRealityofFake wen don't sound like nguyễn btw or mwen 😅
I'm a Vietnamese started with "Nguyễn" too. What a topic 🤯
The Nguyen is translated in 阮ruan in chinese. and Tran is 陈 chen.
Chữ giản thể à 陳
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].
The correct answer is the family rivalry centuries ago. A lot of people died. To stop it, the king (or whatever he was called) decided to end the conflict by telling both families that their names are now Nguyen. They know which clan by their area of origin. Another interesting fact is that only Nguyen can marry somebody of the same last name. This was changed fairly recently (in comparison) because when it was forbidden, it was too difficult to find a spouse.
I'm native Vietnamese, and I've never heard of such history of the Nguyen family. It seems like you mistook this part of Korean history with Vietnamese history.
@@Yayayaeeee he not vietnamese for sure
@@Yayayaeeee I heard this from several Vietnamese people. One of them is first generation American. By the way, her name was Nguyen. I used to work with her. Check the internet.
@@Nannerchan maybe their memory didn't serve them right. I have never known such story, even after I googled, I can't find any information about it.
sounds like somebody's fever dream.
I’m not Vietnamese, but even I could tell the cameraman’s pronunciation was off. Those two guys were just being really nice. 😂
yeah, i will just wrest him down and force him to learn pronunciation and the tones
and yes I'm vietnamese
Would love to see more from Southeast Asia countries