Traditionally, Vietnamese family has a kinship system and abided by the concepts of filial piety. However, these are often regarded as old wisdoms and traditions of Vietnamese culture rather than enacted policies.
Traditionally the head of the Vietnamese family (Vietnamese: gia ÃÂình) was the husband, often named gia trðá»Âng. Many families which have the same origin compose a "line of the blood", called ÃÂại gia ÃÂình or gia tá»Âc or há»Â. The head of a ÃÂại gia ÃÂình was the man who is at the highest status in the ÃÂại gia ÃÂình, named tá»Âc trðá»Âng. According to the Vietnamese creation myth, all Vietnamese people descend from two progenitors Lạc Long Quân and ÃÂu Cá.
Nine generations (Vietnamese: thế há» or ÃÂá»Âi) are recognized in terms, including:
Kỵ (Kỵ ông/ Kỵ bà): my great-grandparents' parents (my great-grandparents' father/mother)
Cụ (Cụ ông/ Cụ bà): my great-grandparents (my great-grandfather/great grandmother)
ÃÂng bÃÂ : my grandparents (my grandfather/grandmother)
Cha Mẹ: my parents (father/mother)
Ta/Tôi: I
Con (Con trai/Con gái): my children (my son/daughter)
Cháu (Cháu trai/Cháu gái): my grandchildren (my grandson/granddaughter)
Chắt (Chắt trai/chắt gái): my great-grandchildren My great-grandson/great-granddaughter)
Chút (or ChÃÂt)(Chút trai/Chút gái): my great-grandchildren's children (my great-grandchildren's son/daughter)
Usually, there are three generations are in co-residence, called tam ÃÂại ÃÂá»Âng ÃÂðá»Âng.
Horizontally, there are brothers/sisters that share our same parent, named anh chá» em ruá»Ât and cousins who share the same grandparents, named anh chá» em há»Â. The adopted brothers/sisters are anh chá» em nuôi. The half-brother/sisters who share the same father, but different mothers are anh chá» em dá» bào and the half-brothers/sisters who share the same mother, but different fathers are anh chá» em ÃÂá»Âng mẫu dá» phụ. The husband of the sisters are anh/em rá» and the wife of the brothers are chá»Â/em dâu. The brothers/sisters of the husband are anh chá» em chá»Âng and the brothers/sisters of our wife are anh chá» em vợ. Two men whose wives are sisters are anh em cá»Âc chèo and two women whose husbands are brothers are chá» em dâu.
There are multiple terms for fathers and mothers depending on their status relative to the family. Traditionally, there are three terms for fathers (Vietnamese: tam phụ) and eight terms for mothers (Vietnamese: bát mẫu).
Thân phụ: blood-father.
Giá phụ or cha dðợng or cha ghẻ: mother's present husband
Dðỡng phụ: adopted father.
ÃÂÃÂch mẫu: father's official first wife
Kế mẫu: father's wife, replacing the position of official first wife after death
Từ mẫu: adopted mother, belonging to family
Dðỡng mẫu: adopted mother, does not belong to family
Thứ mẫu: blood-mother, official non-first wife
Giá mẫu: blood-mother remarried after blood-father died
Xuất mẫu: blooded mother divorced or separated from our blood-father
Nhà © mẫu: wetnurse (i.e. an unrelated woman who breastfed them)
The principle named ÃÂạo hiếu is the same concept as filial piety.
An engagement ceremony usually takes place half a year or so before the wedding. In the past, most marriages (Vietnamese: hôn nhân) were arranged by the parents or extended family, and while children were sometimes consulted, it was nearly always the parents' final decision. It was not unusual for the bride and groom to meet for the first time at the day of their engagement. However, in the last few decades, Vietnamese women and men marry based on love rather than arranged marriages. This level of freedom is attributed to the influence of the Western cultures beginning from the French.
A Vietnamese name consists of three components, há»Â, tên ÃÂá»Âm, and tên gá»Âi.
Há» is the name of the person's line of blood.
Tên ÃÂá»Âm is the person's middle name.
Tên is the person's given name.
Vietnamese personal pronouns are formed according to the position of the speakers and listeners in their families.