Vietnamese Names Vietnamese names usually have three parts: family name first, middle name next and given name last. For example, Nguyen Thi Lan (female) or Tran Van Minh (male). Had Angela W. Smith and John F. Robertson been a Vietnamese, they would have been addressed as Smith W. Angela and Robertson F. John. Vietnamese names may consist of only two parts: last name and first name, without a middle name. Four-word Vietnamese names are rare but do exist and often represent sophisticated meanings. There are few hundred family names of which the most common family names are NGUYEN, LE, TRAN, LY, PHAM. Historically, every time power was transferred, many people inclined to change their family name in order to dissociate themselves with the preceding dynasty and avoid possible persecution from the new one. NGUYEN is the most popular family names and accounts for about half of the population. After the Tran dynasty overthrew the LY dynasty that had ruled the country from 11th to 13th centuries, in an attempt to erase all traces of the LY dynasty, people with family name LY were ordered to change theirs to NGUYEN. Another reason is that NGUYEN Dynasty was the last and one of the longest dynasties in Vietnam. The number of persons having identical last and first names is significant. Therefore, the middle name should not be omitted or abbreviated as it is needed for distinction. As traditions dictate, it is imperative that a child should not be named after his parents or grandparents (both paternal and maternal) or even elder relatives in both families. It is considered disrespectful. Van (male) and Thi (female) are the two popular middle names. These names are mainly used to indicate the sex of its bearer. Van and Thi had been the most widely used middle names before 1950's. Since then, more educated families have deviated from this tradition to give their sons and daughters more meaningful middle names such as Ngoc (jade), Kim (precious thing), Trong (respect), Minh (intelligent), etc. A more sophisticated Vietnamese name may be formed with the middle and first names combined to give an even more meaningful compound names. Example: Chi Minh (enlightenment), Tien Dung (progress and brave), Xuan Lan (Spring orchid), Thu Thuy (Autum water), Dai Nam (great Vietnam), Hung Cuong (strength and prosperous). Identical middle names -- one for male, one for female -- may be used for all members of the same sex in the family. Given name usually has its own meaning. For instance, Huong (perfume), Hong (rose), Lien (lotus), Son (mountain), Hai (ocean), Thang (victory). Hung, Son, Thang are male given names. Huong, Hong, Lan are for females. There are a few names that can be applied for both sexes such as Xuan, Thu, Ngoc, Minh, Tam (heart), etc.