Addressing Vietnamese

Vietnamese name generally contains three parts: family name or surname, middle name and last name. Vietnamese family name comes first and then middle name and last name. For example: Phan Van Khai, Phan is family name, Khai is first name and Van is middle name. It is always a good idea to ask a native speaker which name is the family name and which name you should call your partner. Vietnamese always say first name when they want to mention someone.

For business purposes, it is traditionally acceptable to call a Vietnamese person by the surname, together with a title, such as "Director Pham" or "Chairman Nguyen." If a person does not have a professional title, you can address a person using his or her first name, such as Mr. Khai or Ms. Thu, but always remember say first name with title like “Anh” or “Chi”. Refer the table bellow to get the idea. Formality is a sign of respect, and it is advisable to clarify how you will address someone very early in a relationship, generally during your first meeting.

A married Vietnamese woman always retains her maiden name; she will use her husband's last name on occasions for formal addressing only.

Address people using official titles such as "General" "Committee Member”, or "Doctor" whenever possible. It is customary to address the deputies by skipping the word 'deputy,' such as, 'Chief' for 'Deputy Chief,' 'Chairman' for 'Vice Chairman' 'General Manager' for 'Assistant General Manager'.

If you are a Communist you can refer to someone as “Comrade”.

I	Tôi	toy
You	Anh (m) when addressing people the same age, formal	ang
	Chị (f) when addressing a woman who is slightly older than you	chee
	Em (m or f) when addressing some younger	em
	Ông(m),Bà(f) when addressing an elderly man(ong) or woman(ba)	ong/ba
	Cháu ( m or f) when addressing a child	chow