Why a Newborn Baby is not Given a Name

There are many reasons why Vietnamese do not name their newborn babies when they were born. The reasons are belief, olden government policy in the old society and family customs.

Normally, a Vietnamese has many names from birth to death. When a baby is born, it is called as “thằng Cu”, “thằng Cò”, “con Hĩm”, “thằng Mực”, ”con Cún”, “thang Chắt em”, “con Chắt ả”… These are general names to call a newborn baby. “thằng” is for male and “con” is for female. 

First-Born Baby Custom

Normally in Vietnam especially in the countryside regions, three generations live under the same roof. Based on Confucianism telnet, when a girl gets marriage she has to follow her husband and live in her husband family. It has some difficulties for the wife when she is pregnant and has baby at the first time. The first-born baby custom means the wife come back to her family to have the first-born baby, and from the second child she stays at her husband’s family.