Published June 15, 2015 in Episode 8
Children in Sài Gòn have fun with the camera. (Photo: Michael Rehfelt. CC BY 2.0)
In your family, do you call your oldest sibling Anh Hai or Chị Hai? Or maybe you have an aunt that you have always called Bác Tư, Aunt 4, never knowing her real name.
Why does Vietnamese culture have the practice of giving nicknames based on birth order? It is not to simply keep track of how many children there are in a family. We learn from Professor Quyên Di of the University of California, Los Angeles that this numbering system is related to social hierarchy and close bonds in a family. There are also regional differences in how this nickname is used.
What would your nickname be according to this numbered system?
Birth Order
First Born
Second Born
Third Born
Fourth Born
Youngest
North Việt Nam
Anh/Chị Cả
none
none
none
Em Út
South Việt Nam
Anh/Chị Hai
Anh/Chị Ba
Anh/Chị Tư
Anh/Chị Năm
Em Út