Phạm (范) is the fourth most common
Vietnamese family name. It may be rendered as ''
Fàn'' in Chinese or ''Beom/Pom/Pem'' (범) in Korean.
It is not to be confused with
Phan (潘), another Vietnamese surname.
Origin
Phạm is the
Sino-Vietnamese reading of the
Chữ Hán
( , ) are the Chinese characters that were used to write Literary Chinese in Vietnam, Literary Chinese (; ) and Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary in Vietnamese language, Vietnamese. They were officially used in Vietnam after the Red River Delta region ...
: .
Phạm arose in historical sources from around the third century CE. It was the title prepositions before names of kings of
Lâm Ấp, kings of
Funan
Funan (; , ; , Chữ Hán: ; ) was the name given by Chinese cartographers, geographers and writers to an ancient Khmer-Mon Indianized state—or, rather a loose network of states ''( Mandala)''—located in Mainland Southeast Asia covering ...
, the eight chiefs of Jiao, and several tribal figures along the
Annamite Mountain between the third to the seventh century CE. American historian
Michael Vickery (1998) links the reconstructs the pronunciation of 范 as ''*buam'' and ''*bĭwɐm'' in
Early Middle Chinese (c. 650 CE) with
Old Khmer title ''poñ'' which was recorded in various 7th-century Cambodian inscriptions. Later, a Phạm family emerged on the coastal side of the
Red River basin in the 10th century. Vickery argues that the term was certainly of
Mon-Khmer
The Austroasiatic languages ( ) are a large language family spoken throughout Mainland Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia. These languages are natively spoken by the majority of the population in Vietnam and Cambodia, and by minority popu ...
(
Austroasiatic) origin, and the described demographics associated with the term (''*bĭwɐm'' < ''*krum'' ~ ''prum, krom, khom'') are strong linguistic indications of Mon-Khmer. The term is still preserved in few Austroasiatic languages today, such as
Temoq ''*puang'' (ritualist) ~ ''puiyang'' (shaman, + nominalizing
infix
An infix is an affix inserted inside a word stem (an existing word or the core of a family of words). It contrasts with '' adfix,'' a rare term for an affix attached to the outside of a stem, such as a prefix or suffix.
When marking text for ...
''-iy-'') < ''pauñ'' < ''poñ'', suggesting a pre-Buddhist native Mon-Khmer institution of leadership who possessed both shamanistic ritual and political roles.
Frequency
Phạm is a very prevalent last name in Vietnam.
Among the global ethnic Vietnamese population, it is the fourth-most common name, accounting for 5% of the approximately 75 million people. It is also quite common in the United States, shared by around 82,000 citizens.
It is the 951st most common surname in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and the 455th most common in Australia.
People
Notable people with the surname Phạm include:
Science
*
Phạm Tuân
Phạm Tuân ( born 14 February 1947) is a retired Vietnam People's Air Force, Vietnamese Air Force fighter pilot and Astronaut#Cosmonaut, cosmonaut. He became the first Vietnamese people, Vietnamese cosmonaut, and the first person of Asian ori ...
(born 1947), Vietnamese pilot and cosmonaut
*
Frédéric Pham (born 1938), Vietnamese-French mathematician
*
Kathy Pham, Vietnamese American computer scientist
Politics and military
*
Phạm Công Trứ (1600–1675), Lê dynasty Vietnamese scholar-official and historian
*
Phạm Ngũ Lão
Phạm Ngũ Lão (范五老, 1255–1320) was a general of the Trần dynasty during the reigns of three successive emperors Trần Nhân Tông, Nhân Tông, Trần Anh Tông, Anh Tông, and Trần Minh Tông, Minh Tông. His talent was noticed ...
(1255–1320), general of the Trần Dynasty
*
Phạm Văn Đồng
Phạm Văn Đồng (; 1 March 1906 – 29 April 2000) was a Vietnamese politician who served as Prime Minister of North Vietnam from 1955 to 1976. He later served as Prime Minister of Vietnam, following reunification of North and South Viet ...
(1906–2000), Vietnamese politician
*
Hung Pham (born 1963), Vietnamese Canadian politician
*
Phạm Ngọc Thảo (1922–1965), Vietnamese communist sleeper agent of the Việt Minh
*
Phạm Phú Quốc (1935–1965), Vietnamese fighter pilot and lieutenant in the South Vietnam Air Force
*
Phạm Văn Phú
Major General Phạm Văn Phú (16 October 1928 – 30 April 1975) was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam.
Military service Vietnamese National Army
Phú began his military career as an interpreter for the French Far East Exp ...
(1928–1975), Vietnamese officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
*
Phạm Quang Khiêm (born 1946), Vietnamese first lieutenant and co-pilot in the South Vietnam Air Force
*
Khanh Pham (born 1978), American politician and activist
*
J. Peter Pham (fl. 2000s–2020s), American diplomat
Arts and entertainment
*
Phạm Duy
Phạm Duy (5 October 1921 – 27 January 2013) was one of Vietnam's most prolific songwriters with a musical career that spanned more than seven decades through some of the most turbulent periods of Vietnamese history and with more than one ...
(1921–2013), Vietnamese composer and songwriter
*
Linh Dan Pham (born 1974), Vietnamese-born French actress
*
Hoa Pham, Australian author
*
Phi Nhung (1970–2021), Vietnamese-American singer, actress and humanitarian
*
Quang X. Pham (born 1964), Vietnamese-American businessman and veteran
*
Andrew X. Pham, Vietnamese-born American author
*
Thái Thanh (1934–2020), Vietnamese-American singer
*
Pham Thi Hoai (born 1960), Vietnamese writer, editor and translator
*
Phạm Xuân Ẩn (1927–2006), Vietnamese journalist and communist spy
*
Phạm Xuân Nguyên (born 1958), Vietnamese writer and literary translator
*
Phạm Hương (born 1991), Vietnamese model and beauty pageant titleholder
*
Đan Trường (born Phạm Đan Trường, 1976), Vietnamese singer and actor
*
Thanh Hằng (born Phạm Thị Thanh Hằng, 1983), Vietnamese actress and beauty pageant titleholder
*
Hanni Pham (born Phạm Ngọc Hân, 2004), Australian Vietnamese singer, member of girl group NewJeans
*
Phạm Đoan Trang
Phạm Đoan Trang (born 1978 in Hanoi) is a Vietnamese author, blogger, journalist, publisher, and democracy activist. She received the 2017 Homo Homini Award from People in Need (Czech Republic), People In Need, who called her "one of the lea ...
(born 1978), Vietnamese author and democracy activist
Sports
*
Thierry Pham (born 1962), French retired tennis player
*
Phạm Thành Lương (born 1988), Vietnamese football manager
*
Phạm Đức Huy (born 1995), Vietnamese footballer
*
Phạm Xuân Mạnh (born 1996), Vietnamese professional footballer
*
Phạm Tuấn Hải (born 1998), Vietnamese professional footballer
*
Phạm Như Phương (born 2003), Vietnamese artistic gymnast
*
ana (gamer) (born Anathan Pham, 1999), Australian professional ''Dota 2'' player
*
Tommy Pham (born 1988), American professional baseball player
Religious figures
*
Phạm Công Tắc (1890–1959), leader in the establishment and development of the Caodaism religion
*
Phạm Minh Mẫn (born 1934), Vietnamese cardinal
Fictional characters
* Pham Tai, protagonist of the 18th century epic poem,
Phạm Tải – Ngọc Hoa
* Pham Thi La, a character in the
Muv-Luv spin-off series Schwarzesmarken
See also
*
Fàn (surname)
*
Vietnamese name
Traditional Vietnamese personal names generally consist of three parts, used in Eastern name order.
* A family name (normally patrilineal, although matrilineality is possible, in cases such as divorce, children of a single mother, or if a child ...
References
External links
* https://web.archive.org/web/20070927024735/http://static.namesdatabase.com/names2/P/H/Pham.html
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pham
Vietnamese-language surnames
Surnames of Vietnamese origin