Why do I see a lot of Vietnamese people with Nguyen? as their last name?

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nguyenthanhtungtinbk

Well, Vietnam has a history of about 4000 years with many dynasties. When a new dynasty was established with a new King, all relatives of the old King will change the family name to avoid being "killed" by the new King. And even the people also changed the family name if they have the same family name with the old King (because they were worried that they could also be killed by a mistake ^_^). And the last dynasty in Vietnam was Nguyen dynasty, that's why ^_^

But also, there is another story: let say (only example) the Ly Dynasty ended and then Tran Dynasty established, many people with family name Ly will change the family name to something else. After that, Tran Dynasty ended and Le Dynasty established, people who changed the family name from Ly to smt else before may now change back to have the original family names (if they remembered and wanted). That's why there are people still have family names Ly. Samething with other family names: Tran, Le ...

You can read more about Vietnamese dynasties here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Vietnam

Kshiofjgio

yeah that's true. nguyen and tran are common vietnamese last names. but espinoza, gomez, mares are also common hispanic last names.. but there are also pham, phan, duong...

cattbarf

Cheer up. Denmark found out that 60 percent of its people had just 6 last names and has to pay people to change their last names to something other than the "big 6"..

Lindy

omgosh! i never thought to ask that question!
my last name is also nguyen haha and i doubt im related to
some people on here with the same last name lol..
but really its kinda funny because everywhere i go people come
up to me and they are like "hey, are you related to peter(or whoever) nguyen?" and im like "who the heck is peter?"
...lol

Melanie B

It's a very common last name. Much like in Canada and the US where Brown or Jones is very common.

sole_hn

That's an interesting question! You don't have to say sorry for that question. I am a Vietnamese. My last name is also Nguyen. Nguyen is the most popular family name in Vietnam. The last dynasty in Vietnam ended in 1945 is also Nguyen Dynasty. It's the biggest number of family name in Vietnam.

Tom Nguyen

silferdoh

its all about vietnamese

-chuckie akenz

you got beef song

yeah you ant to know why? cause they use to be in kingdoms where the kigns and peasnats have same last names

and gave birth to like 15 kids each and spread them out took over other vietnameses last name

Raging Phoenix

I'm half Vietnamese by the way. =D

I have no clue either, but I knew two in my high school that had the same last name. They weren't related though. Weird...

tritran5555(poetri)

the king s sir name is used as a tradition for the family sir name he won the most battle and he is tyhe best king so they used his sir name

AzNgUrL

Hey there, since you said you're Hmong... I'll tell you why there are so many Nguyen.
Nguyen is popular just as Vang or Yang
Other popular Viet last name are Tran, Bui, Phan..etc..
Just like the Hmong people will have like: Her, Xiong, Thao, Lee..
The difference is Vietnamese are hardly RELATED w/ the same last name. They're only related by BLOOD.
The Hmong people claim relatives if they have the same last name.. and even could marry their cousins if they have diff. last name. :)
I'm Hmong too.. but only 1/3 :) hahahah. My mom was 1/2 Hmong 1/2 Chinese. My dad is Viet.
Where do you live??? I'm in Chicago but travel to WI and MN alot... since most of my mom's side are there.

Emily N

i happen to be vietnamese and my last name is nguyen
i think nguyen came from some kind of vietnamese royalty if im not mistaken

{â™¥}

yup....i noticed 2..cuz in my school..most viet....they got they have that kind of last name 2...

and besides...nguyen is a viet word....

Akatsuki's Artist

OH my god. Are you serious? A lot of vietnamese are named that? One of my friends last name is that too... and she's vietnamese.

CookieHolic

omg! haha most of my friends have the last name Nguyen

but my last name is Thai

Ð½ a Ñ Âµ k a âœ–

I'm a Viet toooooo! And yesh, most Viets have that last name. (:
There's:
Tran
Vu
Nguyen

And more, but I forgot T.T

GReeeN

What about Trang Pak??

Khanh

Not like American's last names, there are only about 160 last names in Vietnam. And only about 20 of those are popular.
Nguyá»…n is the most popular last name in Vietnam.
I think 3 out of 10 Vietnamese people have Nguyá»…n for their last name.

angelica marie

hahah I know.
There are two guys in my class with that last name, but I don't think they are related.

guess, its really popular.

jkn.

i've noticed that too! :)
in every yearbook i have, there has to be *at least* four Nguyens in there. plus my crush is viet and his last name is Nguyen. my last name is Nguon. it's almost the same, but i'm not vietnamese, so yeah! :D haha

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