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The surnameNguyen

A Vietnamese surname, the 38th most common in the United States.

Pronounced /wɪn/ 2 syllables Soundex N250

Nguyen: #38 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer#10,001Dubon Nguyen #38, 437,645 people Nguyen: #38 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#1,000Archer Nguyen #38, 437,645 people
Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Nguyen is more common than 99.9% of them.

Origin

Vietnamese origin

Borrowed from Vietnamese Nguyễn.

One of 31 Vietnamese surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 437,645 people named Nguyen in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 705 Americans. That is up 41% since 2000, when the Census counted 310,125.

#38
rank among US surnames
437,645
people in 2010
148
per 100,000 Americans
+41.1%
change since 2000 (was #57)
RankSurnamePeople1 in
#29Lewis531,781581
#30Robinson529,821583
#31Walker523,129590
#32Young484,447637
#33Allen482,607640
#34King465,422663
#35Wright458,980673

Who is named Nguyen

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

96% of people named Nguyen identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 1.8% as two or more races.

  • Asian and Pacific Islander 96%
  • Two or more races 1.8%
  • White (not Hispanic) 0.9%
  • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 0.6%
  • Black (not Hispanic) 0.1%
  • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.0%

Compare: most common surnames among Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.

Famous Nguyens

16 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

  • Viet Thanh Nguyen
    American author of fiction, born 1971
  • Lee Nguyen
    American soccer player, born 1986
  • Scotty Nguyen
    American poker player, born 1962
  • Nguyễn Tiến Linh
    Association football player, born 1997
  • Nguyễn Tiến Minh
    Badminton player, born 1983
  • Men Nguyen
    American poker player, born 1954
  • Pierre Nguyên Van Tot
    Apostolic nuncio, born 1949
  • James Nguyen
    American-Vietnamese film director and producer, born 1966
  • Emmanuel Nguyễn Hồng Sơn
    born 1952
  • Ben Nguyen
    American mixed martial artist, born 1988
  • Nguyễn Thùy Linh
    Badminton player, born 1997
  • Tram Nguyen
    American politician from Massachusetts (born 1986)

Notable Nguyens come mostly from the United States (8), Vietnam (5) and French Annam (1).

Other Vietnamese surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Nguyen come from?
Borrowed from Vietnamese Nguyễn.
How common is the surname Nguyen?
437,645 people in the United States had the surname Nguyen in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 705 Americans. It ranked 38th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Nguyen?
In the 2010 Census, 96% of people named Nguyen identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 1.8% as two or more races.
Who is the most famous person named Nguyen?
Viet Thanh Nguyen, American author of fiction, followed by Lee Nguyen.