Names: family name first, address by the given name (Nguyễn Văn An is anh An)

A Vietnamese name runs from family to given: in Nguyễn Văn An, Nguyễn is the family name, Văn the middle name and An the given name. The given name comes last, and it's the one people use. You address him with an address word and the given name: anh An, chú An, thầy An, not anh Nguyễn. Many people go by their last two names, such as Thu Hà or Minh Anh: then it's chị Thu Hà or chị Hà, as they prefer.

That holds at work and in formal settings too: a teacher is cô Thảo, a doctor bác sĩ Hùng. One reason is that a handful of family names, Nguyễn, Trần, Lê and Phạm, are shared by well over half the country, so they wouldn't tell people apart.

On forms, họ is the family name and tên the given name; họ và tên means full name. Em tên là gì? can be answered with your given name or your full name: Em tên là Mai, or Em tên là Nguyễn Thị Mai. Your English first name works like a given name: anh Tom, chị Sarah. Women keep their own family name when they marry.