<
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-26/foreign-names-create-confusion-administration-identity-proof/105682156>
'Trang Le almost gave up her given name to prevent confusion when proving her
identity in Australia.
In Vietnam, Trang's full name is Lê Thị Hiền Trang.
But when Trang arrived in Australia, her first name was recorded as Thị because
it immediately followed her family name, Lê.
At the advice of her friends, Trang was prepared to adopt Thị as her first name
when she became an Australian citizen.
Under Vietnamese conventions, some traditional names begin with the family name
followed by a name that indicates a person's gender and then a given name or
names.
Văn is the gender-indicator for males, and Thị for females.
"In the Vietnamese community we have a joke that every female Vietnamese
Australian in Australia has the same name, Thị, because of how it's messed up,"
she said.
"I know a Vietnamese couple who after taking Australian citizenship are now
called Thị and Văn as their first names," she said.'
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
