Question

Do you know any native Vietnamese names (Vietnamese names without meaning in Chinese)?

Answer 1

One of the most popular pure Vietnamese names is Giàu , which means rich/wealthy . The Sino-Vietnamese word with the same meaning is Phú (富). Interestingly, Giàu can be either a male or female name whereas Phú is only named for boys. The names after numbers are also popular, mostly in the countryside, such as Bé Hai (little first daughter) , or simple the number itself, e.g. Mười (number 10). Other pure Vietnamese names, which can also be used as nicknames, mostly for girls, such as Lụa (silk), Cốm (young rice), Bông (flower), etc. Here are some famous people with pure Vietnamese names:

Historian Professor Trần Văn Giàu

Folk opera artist Ngọc Giàu

Late General Secretary Đỗ Mười

Answer 2

There are a bunch. Most of them are usually nouns relating to nature: Mây (cloud), Bông (flower), Trăng (moon), Mưa (rain), Cỏ (grass), Bưởi (pomelo), Xoài (mango), Sáng (bright), Nắng (sunlight), Lá (leaf), etc.

Some of them denote the parents’ wishes: Giàu (wealth), Giỏi (talent), Tốt (good), Hay (fine), etc.

Some of them borrow from Western words directly (like someone using Sơ Mi, or chemise, as a name), but these are rarely considered native names.

Some of them adhere to the Sinospheric belief of giving children ugly names to ward off evil spirits (which exists as a practice in China, Korea, and Vietnam). This is especially prominent in rural areas: Tèo (small), Phèo (intestine), Nở (inflate), Cu (penis), Chó (dog), etc.

Answer 3

I know a few: they are mostly names used by not very educated (but very nice) families, in the countryside. I like them, for example I knew a guy whose name was ‘Tăm’, meaning ‘Toothpick’.

Another was ‘Lý Sơ mi’, I think his Dad was Mr. Lý, and when he chose a name for his son, he thought of the French derived word for ‘Shirt’ (which is Sơ mi)

Answer 4

To be honest, not really. I’m sure that there are some.

According to this brilliant VietnamAnswern ’s posts (I highly and strongly recommend reading these posts):

Also, you do know that historically (before the introduction of chữ Quốc ngữ ), the Vietnamese writing system used to be binary between reading Sino-Vietnamese ( Từ Hán-Việt / Hán-Việt ngữ ) Hán tự (or chữ Hán ) and reading Native Vietnamese ( Từ thuần Việt ) Chữ Nôm .

Example of Hán tự (or chữ Hán ) and Chữ Nôm .

Red font - Từ Hán-Việt / Hán-Việt ngữ and Hán tự (or chữ Hán )

Green font - Từ thuần Việt and Chữ Nôm

English: “patriotism”

English: “cloud”

English: “wind”

English: “water”

English: “moon”

English: “earth; soil; land”

So, for the native Vietnamese names: “Vietnamese names without meaning in Chinese”, it will be “with Chữ Nôm ”.

There is Vietnamese (words) without both Hán tự (or chữ Hán ) and Chữ Nôm , it called “Foreign Loanwords” ( Từ ngoại lai / Từ mượn nước ngoài ).

Meaning “Vietnamese words from [* insert any languages] derivatives”.

* It can be English, Spanish, French, Russian, German, Portuguese, Hebrew, Arabic, Korean, Japanese, Thai, etc.

[I did not include Chinese intentionally because of Từ Hán-Việt / Hán-Việt ngữ .]

Here’s a link to what I meant:

So, unfortunately, I haven’t met any Vietnamese with tên ( của ) thuần Việt (“native Vietnamese name”).

Answer 5

There are many Vietnamese names without written with Chinese characters. These names have meanings that can be translated into Chinese, English, French, Spanish, Russian.

Answer 6

Actually a lot. In the past, Vietnamese people had the custom of giving their children Ugly names so that the devil would not harm them..

For example: Cò, Hĩm, Thớt, Tèo