Correct (Americanized) Vietnamese Name Ordering?

[ToNhi 22]

I've seen numerous posts about this topic, but I am still confused. For my Fiancee's paperwork, passport, and K-1 visa her name all matches, which is: 

Surname: Nguyen (Example)

Given Name: Thi Thu Trang (Example)

Her airplane ticket is in this order. 

In Vietnamese, her surname would be "Nguyen", her middle name "Thi", and her Vietnamese Given Name is "Thu Trang". A lot of Vietnamese have 2 names as their First Name. (Last, Middle, First #1, First #2)

 

For Social Security Administration (SSA) and Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) purposes, we know we should match it exactly like how it appears on her I-94 entry form (Thi Thu Trang Nguyen).

For everything else, including our upcoming Adjustment of Status (AOS) paperwork, Removal of Conditions (ROC) paperwork, rental/lease agreements, employer health, dental, vision insurance, utility bills, and credit card/bank statements,
Should the correct 'American Name Order' be:

Trang Thi Thu Nguyen (First #2, Middle, First #1, Last) or 

Trang Thu Thi Nguyen (First #2, First #1, Middle, Last) or
Thu Trang Thi Nguyen (First #1, First #2, Middle, Last) 

It's a bit awkward for my Fiancee to get used to having her name switched around which I am sure everyone here (and their relatives and spouse) has had to deal with as well when first coming to the states. 

Thank you so much!

 

- Tony
 

[Phamas 10]

7 hours ago, ToNhi said:

I've seen numerous posts about this topic, but I am still confused. For my Fiancee's paperwork, passport, and K-1 visa her name all matches, which is: 

Surname: Nguyen (Example)

Given Name: Thi Thu Trang (Example)

Her airplane ticket is in this order. 

In Vietnamese, her surname would be "Nguyen", her middle name "Thi", and her Vietnamese Given Name is "Thu Trang". A lot of Vietnamese have 2 names as their First Name. (Last, Middle, First #1, First #2)

 

For Social Security Administration (SSA) and Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) purposes, we know we should match it exactly like how it appears on her I-94 entry form (Thi Thu Trang Nguyen).

For everything else, including our upcoming Adjustment of Status (AOS) paperwork, Removal of Conditions (ROC) paperwork, rental/lease agreements, employer health, dental, vision insurance, utility bills, and credit card/bank statements,
Should the correct 'American Name Order' be:

Trang Thi Thu Nguyen (First #2, Middle, First #1, Last) or 

Trang Thu Thi Nguyen (First #2, First #1, Middle, Last) or
Thu Trang Thi Nguyen (First #1, First #2, Middle, Last) 

It's a bit awkward for my Fiancee to get used to having her name switched around which I am sure everyone here (and their relatives and spouse) has had to deal with as well when first coming to the states. 

Thank you so much!

 

- Tony
 

 

Trang Thi Thu Nguyen (First #2, Middle, First #1, Last)
 

I am going thru that now too with my paper work.  
 

My mom had the same thing too where her paired first name was put as her middle name.

I call my fiancée by her First #2 but when I want to get her attention I do the full name haha 🤪

 

 

 

 

[ToNhi 22]

@Phamas Thank you so much, Davis! And sames (calling my fiancée by her full first name)! It always catches her by surprise. 😂

[Liam2021 587]

23 hours ago, ToNhi said:

I've seen numerous posts about this topic, but I am still confused. For my Fiancee's paperwork, passport, and K-1 visa her name all matches, which is: 

Surname: Nguyen (Example)

Given Name: Thi Thu Trang (Example)

Her airplane ticket is in this order. 

In Vietnamese, her surname would be "Nguyen", her middle name "Thi", and her Vietnamese Given Name is "Thu Trang". A lot of Vietnamese have 2 names as their First Name. (Last, Middle, First #1, First #2)

 

For Social Security Administration (SSA) and Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) purposes, we know we should match it exactly like how it appears on her I-94 entry form (Thi Thu Trang Nguyen).

For everything else, including our upcoming Adjustment of Status (AOS) paperwork, Removal of Conditions (ROC) paperwork, rental/lease agreements, employer health, dental, vision insurance, utility bills, and credit card/bank statements,
Should the correct 'American Name Order' be:

Trang Thi Thu Nguyen (First #2, Middle, First #1, Last) or 

Trang Thu Thi Nguyen (First #2, First #1, Middle, Last) or
Thu Trang Thi Nguyen (First #1, First #2, Middle, Last) 

It's a bit awkward for my Fiancee to get used to having her name switched around which I am sure everyone here (and their relatives and spouse) has had to deal with as well when first coming to the states. 

Thank you so much!

 

- Tony
 

You really don't need to made thing more complicated. Thi Thu Trang Nguyen is a correct name(this is happens a lot due to the name on VN passport ). Keep everything simple and all the same: GC, SSN, DL, Bank. You can correct the name order later for your fiancée when apply for N400. 

[TimmyT 1]

I agree her name should be Trang Thi Thu Nguyen.

 

My question is at what point do you want to start correcting her name? I heard stories where you can have the fiancée’s name corrected when getting the marriage certificate.

 

Then when applying for GC, just show the marriage certificate and have the name corrected there as well. From that point on, her name will be the correct one on every other legal document.

 

Not sure about SSN though. Might have to match the passport still.

[TimmyT 1]

On 11/17/2024 at 6:13 PM, Phamas said:

 

Trang Thi Thu Nguyen (First #2, Middle, First #1, Last)
 

I am going thru that now too with my paper work.  
 

My mom had the same thing too where her paired first name was put as her middle name.

I call my fiancée by her First #2 but when I want to get her attention I do the full name haha 🤪

 

 

 

 

Would you mind sharing the experience, when you get all that done? I.e. which document they allow the name correction, and which they don’t, etc…

 

much appreciated!

[Phamas 10]

On 11/21/2024 at 8:08 AM, TimmyT said:

Would you mind sharing the experience, when you get all that done? I.e. which document they allow the name correction, and which they don’t, etc…

 

much appreciated!

Sure! I am still early on the process.  Our interview will be in December or January.  But I do know when this occurs.  When marriage occurs her name will be her VN name because it will be her legal name at the time.  After marriage, and applying for AOS is when we'll request for name change.  She wants to take my last name and adopt a similar pattern like mine.  [US name] [Viet Name] [Last Name].  Then every document after that will use her new name. SSN, GC on the I485, driver license then her VN passport.  

 

SSN, green card and passport are the major documents that will be updated.

 

 

[ToNhi 22]

Hmm, so would it be best to apply for the name change when applying for AOS (I-485), like @Phamas mentioned, or when applying for naturalization (N-400), like @Liam2021 suggests?

Also, do most Vietnamese drop their "middle name" (Văn for male/ Thị for female) when they apply for the name change? Do they allow that? So essentially her name will be [Thu Trang] [Nguyen or Phan (My Last Name)] without the 'Thị' after the name change. From 'Thi Thu Trang Nguyen' to 'Thu Trang Nguyen' or 'Thu Trang Phan'. 

My immigration consultant said to keep everything consistent and all the same with the name on her USCIS account, K-1 Visa, and Vietnamese Passport like @Liam2021 said to avoid mixups between different government agencies (Federal, State, City, etc.) so her name would be essentially 'Thi Thu Trang Nguyen' until we start her name change process later on.

 

Edited November 24, 2024 by ToNhi

[Phamas 10]

3 hours ago, ToNhi said:

Also, do most Vietnamese drop their "middle name" (Văn for male/ Thị for female) when they apply for the name change? Do they allow that? So essentially her name will be [Thu Trang] [Nguyen or Phan (My Last Name)] without the 'Thị' after the name change. From 'Thi Thu Trang Nguyen' to 'Thu Trang Nguyen' or 'Thu Trang Phan'. 

I think it depends on your community.  I don't live around many Vietnamese people so it was easier for my family to assimilate to America by having an English name.  

[Bill Hamze 116]

We went with 'Thi Thu Trang Nguyen' as far as name order. Just moved the last name to the end to keep her passport consistent with all other legal docs. But some of other docs like bank statements just have 'Trang Nguyen' (dropping the 'Thi Thu' part). 

[SK1905 3]

I had this issue while filling DS-160 for me (2009, my F-1), my brother (2018, for his F-1 visa), and my parents (2019, for their B1/B2 visas)

Before 2015 or 2016, US Consulate would match the order of the name on VISA data to follow Vietnamese passport name ordering, which was LastName - MiddleName - FirstName.

After 2016, US Consulate changes the policy so that, anything filled in Given Name field will need follow the US format (which is FirstName-MiddleName)

So, my VISA data was correct, and my other US paperwork has my name filled correctly.

Lets pretend my full name is Nguyen Van Quoc An, I filled the GivenName field as "Van Quoc An", my VISA data has An as First Name, Van Quoc as MiddleName, Nguyen as Last Name.

 

However, in 2018, I was doing the same thing, and when I helped my brother getting his I-20, and his driver license, it turned out that his name, while still printed on his VISA as Nguyen Van Quoc Binh, has its VISA data completely reversed

• Last Name: Nguyen
• First Name: Van
• Middle Name: Quoc Binh

The DMV and every other US immigration-related office said that the data is like that (it still is now), and if we want to fix it, we would have to go back to Vietnam and redo the DS-160, or pay a big fee to have it fixed.

 

So, after checking with a few others who had the same issue, I did the following on DS-160 for my father (and similarly for my mother).

Lets pretend my father's full name is Nguyen Van Quoc Viet, I then filled the DS-160 as below:

• SurName: Nguyen
• Given Name: Van Quoc Viet

His name was printed on the VISA as "Nguyen Van Quoc Viet"

Later, when I helped him applied for the driver license, I asked the DMV to show me if the VISA data was correct, it indeed was.

• Last Name: Nguyen
• First Name: Viet
• Middle Name: Van Quoc

So, yes, while printed on VISA exactly the same, the data behind is different.

[SK1905 3]

A government site also shows instruction about Given Name field on SEVIS form, which should also be the same when we fill out DS-160 form.

[SK1905 3]

On 9/9/2025 at 10:49 PM, SK1905 said:

I had this issue while filling DS-160 for me (2009, my F-1), my brother (2018, for his F-1 visa), and my parents (2019, for their B1/B2 visas)

Before 2015 or 2016, US Consulate would match the order of the name on VISA data to follow Vietnamese passport name ordering, which was LastName - MiddleName - FirstName.

After 2016, US Consulate changes the policy so that, anything filled in Given Name field will need follow the US format (which is FirstName-MiddleName)

So, my VISA data was correct, and my other US paperwork has my name filled correctly.

Lets pretend my full name is Nguyen Van Quoc An, I filled the GivenName field as "Van Quoc An", my VISA data has An as First Name, Van Quoc as MiddleName, Nguyen as Last Name.

 

However, in 2018, I was doing the same thing, and when I helped my brother getting his I-20, and his driver license, it turned out that his name, while still printed on his VISA as Nguyen Van Quoc Binh, has its VISA data completely reversed

• Last Name: Nguyen
• First Name: Van
• Middle Name: Quoc Binh

The DMV and every other US immigration-related office said that the data is like that (it still is now), and if we want to fix it, we would have to go back to Vietnam and redo the DS-160, or pay a big fee to have it fixed.

 

I want to fix a bit of the above.

Below is correct. My original one was a typo.

 

So, after checking with a few others who had the same issue, I did the following on DS-160 for my father (and similarly for my mother).

Lets pretend my father's full name is Nguyen Van Quoc Viet (SurName + Middle Name + First Name), I then filled the DS-160 as below (Given Name = First Name + Middle Name)

• SurName: Nguyen
• Given Name: Viet Van Quoc

His name was printed on the VISA as "Nguyen Van Quoc Viet"

DS-160 shows as "Nguyen, Viet Van Quoc"

 

Later, when I helped him applied for the driver license, I asked the DMV to show me if the VISA data was correct, it indeed was.

• Last Name: Nguyen
• First Name: Viet
• Middle Name: Van Quoc

So, yes, while printed on VISA exactly the same, the data behind is different.