Given name & surname
Nguyen
Nguyen is a surname from Vietnamese. It is used in English, French, and Czech.
Meaning & origin
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1975. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Nguyen through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 599
- 482 boys · 117 girls
- Most popular year
- 1982
- 29 babies
- 2025
- 5
- #13,330 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −30%
- Easing
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 5 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 13,330 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 6,887 as a first name in 2020; 531,404 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Nguyen’s family of names
In English usage, Nguyen has a later derivative in ങ്വിയൻ. In English usage, Nguyen as a surname has a conventional equivalent in the French form Nguyên. In Czech usage, Nguyen as a surname has a related form in Nguyên.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Nguyen has relatives in 14 languages. Lines run from its Vietnamese roots to each of them.
Vietnamesewhere Nguyen comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 14
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- ങ്വിയൻderivative · Malayalam
- ങുയെൻborrowing · Malayalam
- Nguyễnsource · Vietnamese
- เหงียนThai
- เหงวียนThai
- НгуенRussian, Bulgarian
- Nguyē̆naLatin
- Nguyē̆nusLatin
Show 6 moreShow fewer
Similar names
If you love Nguyen, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Huy
“a bright or glorious man”
>99% boys
Dinh
“one who is peaceful; calm”
>99% boys
Chinh
“a righteous man”
>99% boys
Chien
“a combative man”
>99% boys
Tuan
“a gentleman”
>99% boys
Thuan
“one who is tamed”
98% boys · 2% girls
Sinh
“a flourishing boy”
>99% boys
Canh
“of the endless environment”
>99% boys