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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Well, as an old timer on the poker circuit, of course it is “win”. )
Eta: as in Scotty Nguyen
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.
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
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.
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.
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.)
How it should be pronounced I don’t know, but Nguyen told me to say “win”.
This.
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).
I had a friend with that name who pronounced it “Eng”.
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:
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