Unique way of naming children in Nghe An coastal village

Super unique, super strange name

According to the elders in Quynh Phuong ward, this locality was originally a residential area with the majority of people living off the sea. Because the job requires a lot of labor, Quynh Phuong people have a tradition of giving birth to many children. It was not unusual for a family to have 8-9 children in the past.

Following the locals' recommendation, we went to the house of Mr. Nguyen Van Tau, who locals said was the son of a large family, whose parents gave him a rhyming name, which was considered "super unique and strange". However, Mr. Tau went to sea, and only Mrs. Nguyen Thi Chinh (Mr. Tau's wife) and her children received us.

Mrs. Chinh holds her husband's ID card. Photo: Ho Viet Thinh

Knowing that we came to learn about her husband's family's naming convention, Mrs. Chinh said: At first, when I first came to my husband's house, I didn't believe it was true when I heard all the names of the brothers and sisters in the family, but after my husband confirmed it and learned more, I was sure.

Mrs. Chinh counted on her fingers, trying to imagine the order of names of her husband's siblings, from the eldest to the youngest, the names were as follows:San, Siu, Diu, Tau, Lau, Hoa, Canh, Peach,VietnameseTo make it more rhyming, people also rearrange the order according to the reading:The Peach Blossom Blossom.

While happily talking about her husband's family, Mrs. Chinh let out an "ah" sound as if remembering something important, then she told that when she was in the army, she lived with a fellow countrywoman whose brother and sister's names made everyone laugh every time she told them:Hit, Dinh, Bang, Xinh, Xoang, Phang, Phoong, Pheng.

Talking with many people in Quynh Phuong, we also collected many other unique names such as:Sea, Gold, Jade, Diamond, DollargoodChrysanthemum, Happiness, Happiness, Prosperity, and Affliction.

In particular, some families even named their children with the following sentence:Hìm, Hợi, Wait, Await, Wait, Stalk, Lurk, Carry, Run.

Or like the family of Mr. Phan Van Gia and Mrs. Phan Thi Loan named their children after fruits such as:Apricot, Plum, Peach,...

Some families place their children in a position of expectation and hope:Love, Miss, Wait, Expect, No, Fate, Need, Overcome.

Sorry for the strange name

According to research, the reason why Quynh Phuong people have a "unique" way of naming is partly because they have many children, so they want names that rhyme for easy remembering. On the other hand, it is also because they believe that the uglier the child's name, the easier it is to raise...

According to Mrs. Chinh, her husband having a strange name is also a bit of a problem. For example, when she was in the army, every time she wrote a letter to her husband, she had to hide it so that her comrades wouldn't know, but it couldn't be hidden forever, when they read the name, everyone burst out laughing.

“What I remember most was the time I took him to the clinic. They asked my husband’s name, I told them his name was Tau, I said it over and over again but they couldn’t understand. I had to write it down on paper and they had to ask me again if it was correct,” said Ms. Chinh.

Ms. Diu's ID card. Photo: Ho Viet Thinh

Coming to Mrs. Nguyen Thi Diu's house not far away, we were greeted by her eldest daughter, Ms. Ho Thom. Holding her mother's brand new ID card, Ms. Thom said: "My mother's name is strange so she often has problems with paperwork. Like the last time my mother changed her ID card, she declared her name as Nguyen Thi Diu, but it was mistaken as Nguyen Thi Dieu. In the end, my mother had to go and get it reissued."

Nowadays, Quynh Phuong people no longer give birth as rapidly as the previous generation, and today's names are more modern. However, the unique and strange names of the ancestors are still a funny story that people tell their children and grandchildren through many generations.

Ho Viet Thinh