English and Vietnamese Female Names: A Comparison and Contrast

Abstract

Onomastics as a branch of linguistics and sociolinguistics has been recognized as being important in disclosing interesting features of the language and culture of a community. This research aims to identify the features of female names in the two language systems of English and Vietnamese. After investigating the names of 12,879 female students attending two universities in England and 12,936 attending three universities in Vietnam, the study reveals interesting results concerning the linguistic features, meanings and cultural characteristics of female names in English and Vietnamese. In relation to those contents, the research provides in-depth analyses on the social and historical development of the two countries.