Why are there so many people with the surname Nguyen in Vietnam?

Every country has its most popular surnames and its most used surnames. According to surveys, in Vietnam, the most popular and commonly used surname is "Nguyen", because people with the surname Nguyen account for 40% of the total population of Vietnam. This is not an exaggeration. For example, the current General Secretary and President of Vietnam is named Nguyen Phu Trong, the Prime Minister of the country is named Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and even the name of the President of the National Assembly of this country is Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan. These Vietnamese leaders all have the surname Nguyen, which shows how large the proportion of the Nguyen family is in Vietnam. So, why do so many people in Vietnam have the surname Nguyen?

Distribution map of common surnames in Vietnam

To understand this issue, we need to analyze the ancient and modern history of Vietnam. For Vietnam, the Nguyen clan has long been a surname with a large population, a vast distribution, and a long history. However, when it comes to its origin, the Vietnamese surname Nguyen actually originated in China. The current Ruan family genealogy in my country records the population flow of the Ruan family.

The Ruan surname was originally an ancient clan living in northern China. Due to wars and various other reasons, the Ruan surname began to migrate on a large scale. The genealogy of the Ruan surname records three large collective migrations of this clan to Jiaozhi. The first migration occurred during the Liu and Song Dynasties in the Southern Dynasty. Empress Dowager Wenxuan Ruan was conquered by the Western Wei Dynasty. This group of Ruan clan members entered Guangxi from Hunan, and then entered Jiaozhou from Guangxi. Some Ruan clan members also moved into the Fujian-Guangzhou area. This is The Ruan family's first large-scale collective migration recorded in literature.

Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly

The second migration occurred in the late Chen and early Sui dynasties. With the support and encouragement of the people, it gradually developed into the overlord of maritime trade. However, in the late Chen Dynasty and early Sui Dynasty, due to the Sui soldiers moving south, the powerful Ruan family was regarded as a remnant of the Chen Dynasty and was suppressed militarily. After Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty unified the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Ruan family living in the Fujian and Guangdong areas wanted to avoid the war. , another part of the Ruan family moved into Jiaozhou and Linyi. These Ruan clan members brought the more advanced material and spiritual culture of the Central Plains Dynasty to the local indigenous people. As a result, they were supported by the local people. They gradually developed into a feudal separatist force that dominated one side and held great power.

Vietnamese people

The third great migration of the Ruan family occurred in the late Southern Song Dynasty. Due to the Mongolian and Yuan cavalry going south, the Ruan family moved to many places, and finally moved to Jiaozhi and Annan. After these three large-scale population migrations, the Nguyen surname in Vietnam eventually grew and entered its heyday.

Of course, the reason why the Nguyen family became the most popular surname in Vietnam is also related to the changes in dynasties in ancient Vietnam. In 1232 AD, the Vietnamese Li family was overthrown by Chen Shoudu. According to historical records, after the Chen Dynasty replaced the Li Dynasty, Chen Shoudou ordered that all the people in the country with the surname of Li be changed to the surname Nguyen. Although there is no mention of Chen Shoudu in the Vietnamese history books The reason for this practice is that it has invisibly increased the population of people with the surname Ruan.

Officials of the Nguyen Dynasty

Of course, the reason why the Nguyen surname is so large in Vietnam today is also related to the French who colonized Vietnam. In 1802, Nguyen Anh colluded with the French colonists, overthrew the original Tay Son regime, and established the Nguyen Dynasty, the last feudal dynasty in Vietnam. In the 19th century, Vietnam was completely reduced to a French colony. When the colonial rulers wanted to conduct a national census in Vietnam, they found that many of the lower-class people in Vietnam did not have surnames, because during the feudal dynasty, only Vietnamese nobles could have surnames. For this reason, the French colonial rulers proposed the practice of letting these lower-class people without surnames take the surnames of the last Vietnamese dynasty as their surnames. This decision allowed the Nguyen family in Vietnam to grow unprecedentedly. This is why 40% of the population in Vietnam have surnames. Ruan’s reason.