Nguyen is the most common surname in Vietnam and among the top 100 last names in the United States, Australia, and France. Meaning "musical instrument" and actually rooted in Chinese, Nguyen is an interesting name that you'll encounter throughout the world. Alternate spellings include Nyguyen, Ruan, Yuen, and Yuan.
The etymology of Nguyen, like many other Vietnamese words and names, comes from the country's northern neighbour of China. Beginning in the 4th century AD, Chinese migrants with the surname referring to an ancient string instrument, Ruan (Mandarin)/Yuen (Cantonese), started to trickle into the country.
Nguyễn (sometimes abbreviated as Ng̃) is an Asian surname and the most common surname of the Vietnamese people. The Nguyen surname also appears in Korea and China (Chinese: 阮; pinyin: Ruǎn; Vietnamese: Nguyễn) but is less common. In Korean, this surname is pronounced as Won or Wan (원 or 완)."
Nguyễn is the Vietnamese transliteration of the Chinese surname (阮), which is often transliterated as Ruan in Mandarin, Yuen in Cantonese, Gnieuh /ɲɥø˩˧/ in Wu Chinese, or Nguang in Hokchew.
Southern Vietnamese tend to clip some of their sounds, so Nguyen would be pronounced something like “Win” or “Wen.” Northern Vietnamese would keep it, giving a pronunciation more like “N'Win” or “Nuh'Win,” all done as best you can in one syllable.
No, but in this case, the “n” is actually part of a digraph (“ng”) and it's the digraph that is sounded and not the letters “n” and “g”.
This was the name of a ruling dynasty in Vietnam, and over the years, many families took on Nguyen as a surname, to stay on the right side of the rulers. Around 40 per cent of Vietnamese people now have this surname, which explains why it's so common in Australia, especially in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide.
Why are so many people from Vietnam called "Nguyen"? It started from Ly Dynasty, about 1000 years ago. The Ly Dynasty was overthrown by Tran Dynasty, and the new regime tried to kill all relatives of the previous king. So people had to change their surname to survive, and they mostly chose Nguyen.
Yet there's no doubt about which surname is the most popular in the world: Wang. More than 106 million people have the surname Wang, a Mandarin term for prince or king. It's not too surprising that the top surname is Chinese, as China has the world's largest population.
The most common family name is NGUYEN (阮), with approximately 40% of the Vietnamese population sharing this name. Other common family names include LE (黎), TRAN (陳), PHAM (范), PHAN (潘), HOANG (黃).
The country was usually called Annam until 1945, when the imperial government in Huế adopted Việt Nam.
Trần (陳) or Tran is a common Vietnamese surname (second most common). More than 10% of all Vietnamese people share this surname.
The Nguyen family emerged into prominence in the 16th century, when Vietnam was under the Le dynasty (see Later Le dynasty). After Mac Dang Dung usurped the Vietnamese throne in 1527, Nguyen Kim fought to restore a Le emperor in 1533, leaving the Mac family in power in the northern section of the country.
I Have One Of Australia's Most Common Surnames, But No-One Can Pronounce It. Nguyen is second only to Smith in the Melbourne White Pages, and the seventh most common family name in Australia. And yet people still struggle to pronounce it correctly. Nuh-goo-yen.
Sydney is host to Australia's largest Vietnamese community.
In Brisbane they are concentrated in Darra and Inala. There are also significant Vietnamese Australian communities in Adelaide, Canberra and Perth.
Siobhan (pronounced sheh-VAHN) is an Irish Gaelic form of the name Joan, meaning "the Lord is gracious."
Ng (pronounced [ŋ̍]; English approximation often /ɪŋ/ or /ɛŋ/) is a Cantonese transliteration of the Chinese surnames 吳/吴 (Mandarin Wú) and 伍 (Mandarin Wǔ).
Actually, 'n' or 'ng' or even 'm' doesn't matter for native Japanese speakers. They are all written as ん'n', and we don't care about the pronunciation difference. However, if you do care, there is some tendency: ん followed by 'g' or 'k' is often pronounced as 'ng. ' Like まんが、さんがい。