# How do you pronounce the name "Nguyen?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 22, 2004, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-nguyen/270542 "2004-10-22T03:10:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nurobath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a88e57/32.png) [@Nurobath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nurobath)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-nguyen/270542/21 "2004-10-23T04:45:33Z")
> [@pokey](#): > > I don’t get how it sounds like sing if you don’t pronounce the g. If it was justs nwin, that’s easy, but where does this mystery G sound go? My previous post describes (as accurately as I could) the proper Vietnamese pronunciation. In Vietnamese ~ng is used as a single consonant at the beginning or ending of words. So, Vietnamese people pronounce the g as a nasal ng like in the word sing or song. Most westerners just leave the g sound out and go with Nwin or Win or something similar. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-nguyen/270542/22 "2004-10-23T05:52:47Z")
I first learned “Gwynn” and that’s how I usually pronounce it. As a Caucasian, I’ve given up trying to pronounce it correctly, although I will certainly do what I can to accommodate the wishes of those so named. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-nguyen/270542/23 "2004-10-23T05:56:10Z")
I have been actually laughed at by someone who was trying to teach me to pronounce it correctly, so I just do my best. In addition to Nguyen being hard to pronounce even close to correctly as a westerner, my pharmacist’s name is Tuyen. Which isn’t much easier, surprisingly. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-nguyen/270542/24 "2004-10-23T05:56:16Z")
I worked with a guy with that name. He told me how to pronounce it and I heard “Nwen.” So that’s what I used and he never objected. Maybe he had given up correcting peope since they never got it quite right anyway. ---
**Author:** ![ForgottenLore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@ForgottenLore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForgottenLore)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-nguyen/270542/25 "2004-10-23T13:53:26Z")
My next door neighbor’s name is Nguyen. He pronounces it “Win”. That seemes to be the consensus here, but I figured I’d throw in my $.02. ---
**Author:** ![alylove1232](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c6cbf5/32.png) [@alylove1232](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alylove1232)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-nguyen/270542/26 "2011-12-25T07:38:23Z")
I have many friends with the last name Nguyen. It is pronounced “Win” i like to win games. like that (: All other comments are wroongg. It is NOT Wen, that is a common mistake ---
**Author:** ![loshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce73a5/32.png) [@loshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loshan)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-nguyen/270542/27 "2011-12-25T08:21:50Z")
Well, as an old timer on the poker circuit, of course it is “win”. ) Eta: as in Scotty Nguyen ---
**Author:** ![Cara\_mel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@Cara\_mel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cara_mel)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-nguyen/270542/28 "2011-12-25T08:50:06Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Interesting. There were dozens of people in my high school with this last name. And, being a “Nenno” I was in homeroom with a bunch of them. It was always pronounced New Gin (Gin like the drink). New Gin with accent on the first syllable. I wonder if the whole school just slaughtered the name and they never corrected anyone, or if they pronounced it like that, or what… > > hmmm. Interesting, **bear** from 2004. Our school has got a lot of students with the surname “Ng”. I hear from the students that it’s pronounced “mn”, of sorts, but at enrollment they must be encouraged to pronounce it “En Jee” (as in spelling out the letters). I worry that it makes our whole school look like a bunch of dumb asses that are either too bigoted or too lazy and stupid to learn how to pronounce someone’s name correctly. On the subject of Nguyen - it irks me when our deputy principal, a man who has been at the job for 15 years and has seen dozens of Nguyen children pass through the school, stumbles over the name, jokingly saying “Na-goo-in - gee, haha, have I got that right?” For God’s sake. ---
**Author:** ![GovernmentMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@GovernmentMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GovernmentMan)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-nguyen/270542/29 "2011-12-25T09:03:47Z")
It’s not pronounced “win” There’s clearly an ‘ng’ nasal sound at the beginning If you hear ‘win’ from a Vietnamese person you’re either mishearing it or he/she is simplifying it for you ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-nguyen/270542/30 "2011-12-25T11:08:02Z")
I’ve always been told it was New-yin. One of my college friends pronounced her last name, Ng, as Ing, so it seems you shouldn’t have me editing a pronunciation dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-nguyen/270542/31 "2011-12-25T11:25:32Z")
Vietnamese and Thai both have the “ng” sound at the beginning of syllables instead of just the end like English. Practice saying the word “singing” repeatedly, shortening it gradually: “Singing,” “singing,” “singing,” “inging,” “inging,” “nging,” “nging,” “nging,”. That’s a start. From there, it’s a short step to “Ngwee-en,” which is how I pronounce it. There are about 300 surnames in use in Vietnam, but about half of all Vietnamese are surnamed Nguyen. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-nguyen/270542/32 "2011-12-25T11:55:35Z")
[Depends on which dialect the person is using.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nguyen) ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-nguyen/270542/33 "2011-12-25T12:55:44Z")
Do you mean “How is it pronounced in Vietnamese” or “How is it pronounced in English.” In English, I’ve more commonly heard it pronounced as “win,” but also less commonly as “noo-yen.” (The Viet pronunciation is pretty well covered.) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-nguyen/270542/34 "2011-12-25T14:57:22Z")
How it should be pronounced I don’t know, but Nguyen told me to say “win”. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-nguyen/270542/35 "2011-12-25T15:02:19Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > **Win** with a swallowed **G** in the front is what I have been told by students with that name. 😃 This. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-nguyen/270542/36 "2011-12-25T19:44:55Z")
My friend with that surname says it as “Win.” I’ve heard others really get every letter squeezed in there. Sounds something like, “N-Gyoo-en” (with a Vietnamese accent). ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-nguyen/270542/37 "2011-12-25T21:10:40Z")
I had a friend with that name who pronounced it “Eng”. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2011, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-nguyen/270542/38 "2011-12-26T11:12:01Z")
> [@GovernmentMan](#): > > If you hear ‘win’ from a Vietnamese person you’re either mishearing it or he/she is simplifying it for you I once read, in a brain research journal, that phoneme recognition is learned by humans at a _very_ early age (1-2 years, IIRC) and difficult to relearn thereafter. Thus the “phoneme uttered” and “phoneme heard” may not always agree. In Thai, _noo_ (rat) and _ngoo_ (snake) sound similar enough to me that I usually ask for clarification: I want to know what I’m up against! 🆒 (These words differ in tone as well as consonant, but my brain has trouble with tones as well.) One needn’t leave English-speaking America to have such phonemic conflicts. I knew a Missourian named Len who called himself ‘Lin.’ But when I started calling him ‘Lin,’ he got infuriated: _“My name’s not ‘Lin’; it’s ‘Lin’!”_ :smack: ---
**Author:** ![T.Slothrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@T.Slothrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.Slothrop)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-nguyen/270542/39 "2011-12-27T06:28:55Z")
> [@Nurobath](#): > > Take the ng from song and stick it in front of win and then add a very slight hesitation and rise in tone to the win part and you’ll be pretty close. hehe. > > The initial ng is pronounced the same as ~ng in english. English does not use that sound at the beginning of words so it’s difficult to get used to. It can be a difficult name to pronounce for most westerners and most Vietnamese that I know just tell us to pronounce it Nwin or Newyen. This is correct. I spent two years in Viet Nam as an Army medic during the war and taught myself enough Vietnamese to treat patients. I was interested in being able to correctly pronounce the name Nguyen. It is the same sound used in these words: Montagnard ngowp (tickle) di ngu (go to sleep) I never learned how to spell those words, only how to say them. Jon [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-nguyen/270542.md?page=1)