The surname Nguyen... is it only Vietnamese?

[TheThoughtfulBoxful]

trying to figure this out for a character design.
could it be used for a Japanese or Chinese person's surname?
or would that be viewed as offensive/inaccurate??

help me. please.

(also, FUN FACT: Nguyen is pronounced "gwen". Go figure!)

[unicornfield]

Nguyen is a Vietnamese surname. A bit of research shows that it comes from 阮, and the same character in Mandarin Chinese is pronounced 'Ruan', and it's different in other Chinese languages. I'm not sure if it's a surname in Japanese though.

If you're having a character with the surname Nguyen, I think you'd expect them to at least be of Vietnamese descent. If you're designing a Japanese or Chinese character, why not use a Chinese or Japanese name?

[TheThoughtfulBoxful]

Thank you

If you're designing a Japanese or Chinese character, why not use a Chinese or Japanese name?

I have a couple written down; I just really liked how this surname looked/sounded, but I wanted to see how specific it was regionally.
i guess i need to pinpoint my characters roots...

[indagold]

If the character has vietnamese heritage but part chinese or japanese i'm sure that would work as a last name?

[TheThoughtfulBoxful]

Quite possibly that could work

[TheThoughtfulBoxful]

funny how I'm doing all this research for a story set in a fictional world...
i guess I'm just bent on accuracy, wherever it may show itself

[Samuraiflame]

Hey! As someone with the surname, I can say it is Vietnamese in origin, but you can also find it in a lot of mixed Viet people. (I'm half-Chinese so I'd say it's pretty common) I'd recommend your character have at least some Vietnamese descent for it to make the most sense.

[jiany0u]

Nguyen is a very Vietnamese surname; it would be quite weird to have a full Chinese/Japanese character with the name without in-text explanation. If I came across a full Chinese/Japanese character with the last name Nguyen, I would expect this dissonance to be some sort of plot point, or at least explained as part of their backstory. If it was never explained, it would look like an error, and I would assume the author didn't do their research.

[69Michi]

Nguyen is a popular Vietnamese surname. As far as I know there is no exact same surname like that in Chinese or Japanese and if there is, they probably just sound kinda similar. If a character has said last name, I really would expect them to have at least a bit of Vietnamese descendant.

Also trust me “Gwen” isn’t how you pronounce it, it’s just the closest sounding thing a non-Vietnamese speaker can utter the word “ng” LOL but it’s still better than nugent or other similar thing people have tried to call me before.

[TheThoughtfulBoxful]

thank you everyone for your insight! you've all been extremely helpful

I think I have enough information to move forward.
if one of the mods could close this thread, that would be great

@ratique

[ratique]