Phạm

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Phạm is a common Vietnamese family name.

1 Origin
2 Frequency
3 Usage
4 Notable Phạm's
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Origin

The surname is of Chinese origin, written in Chinese as 范.

[edit] Frequency

Although Phạm is not as common a surname among Vietnamese populations as Nguyễn or Trần, it remains prevalent. Among the global ethnic Vietnamese population, it is the 5th most common name accounting for 5% of the total 75 million. In the United States, Phạm is the #1455 most common last name^[1] with about 0.008% of all last names. It is the 951st most common in France^[2] with 5,509 persons sharing that name. It is ranked 943rd in the Social Security Index^[3].

[edit] Usage

In Vietnamese custom as with other East Asian cultures, the surname precedes the given names. However, Vietnamese traditions dictates that a person is primarily addressed by their title followed by their given name.

However, women almost always keep their family names once they marry, just as in other East Asian cultures. Some Vietnamese have a dual family name usually as a means to combine both the paternal maternal surname. For example, "Nguyễn Phạm". Some groups will use this to distinguish themselves from other families with similar last names. However, some groups distinguish themselves from other Phạm by passing elements of their names that are usually considered middle names to their children rather than their the mother's maiden name. This practice is more common with male than with female children.

[edit] Notable Phạm's

There are many notable people named Phạm, including:

Phạm Tuân first Vietnamese cosmonaut and the first Asian in space.
Phạm Văn Đồng Prime Minister of North Vietnam (1955-1976) & reunified Vietnam (1976-1987)
Jean-Baptiste Phạm Minh Mẫn Cardinal Priest & Archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City in the Roman Catholic Church.
Quang X. Pham, author of A Sense of Duty: My Father, My American Journey, founder of Lathian Systems
Andrew X. Pham, author of Catfish and Mandala
Elyzabeth Pham, Miss Winsconsin USA 1999
Pham Duy, composer and songwriter
Khanh Pham, Captain, US Army, Viet Refugee
Le Uyen Pham, Illustrator
Pham Thi Hien, Olympic rowing athlete
Hung Kim Pham,politician from Alberta, Canada.
David "The Dragon" Pham, professional poker player.
Mark Pham, Magician
Cici Pham Singer, host of Asian Comedy tour