A Look at Ways of Assigning Names in Accordance with the Principle of “Patrilineal Name Succession” Connected to Historical Evidence for the Ha Nhi in Lao Cai Province

Abstract

The question of when the Ha Nhi minority group arrived from China into Vietnam remains controversial due to a lack of historical written documents. Since the Ha Nhi have no written language, linguistic methods were used based on their analysis of how they assign names. The Ha Nhi use the principle of “patrilineal name succession” when new children are born. Based on this fact, Ha Nhi families living in Lao Cai province may have emigrated from China into Vietnam about 250-300 years ago. In addition, the way of assigning families names are valuable in understanding an ethnic history and the kindred relations, as well as in recognizing the cultural features of the ethnic group.