Tôn Thất

Not to be confused with Tôn.

Tôn Thất^[a][b] (or Tôn Nữ for female^[1]) is a two-character Vietnamese compound surname, originating from the Nguyễn dynasty. It is the surname for members of the imperial family that were not direct first-born descendants of the Emperor, and therefore considered collateral relatives of the Nguyễn dynasty.^[2]

This surname was originally Tông Thất (宗室), which is derived from a Sino-Vietnamese word, meaning "clan members" or "royal family members".^[3] The surname was changed to Tôn Thất (尊室) after Thiệu Trị (né: Nguyễn Phúc Miên Tông) became the emperor due to naming taboo.

Notable people

• Tôn Thất Đính (1812–1893), Nguyễn Dynasty mandarin
• Tôn Thất Thuyết (1839–1913), Nguyễn Dynasty regent
• Tôn Thất Xứng (1923–2018), South Vietnamese general
• Tôn Thất Thiện (1924–2014), South Vietnamese nationalist
• Tôn Thất Đính (1926–2013), South Vietnamese general
• Tôn-Thất Tiết (born 1933), music composer
• Tôn Nữ Thị Ninh (born 1947), Vietnamese diplomat and educator
• Hoan Ton-That (born 1988), Vietnamese-Australian programmer/entrepreneur
• Tôn Thất Vỹ Matthew (born 1988), Vietnamese-American philosopher and urologist

See also

• Nguyễn
• Nguyễn dynasty

Notes

1. pronounced [ton˧˧ tʰət̚˧˦] in Hanoi, [toŋ˧˧ tʰək̚˦˧˥] in Hue and [toŋ˧˧ tʰək̚˦˥] in Saigon; the closest English approximation is "tong-tuk" or "tong-tut".
2. often simplified as Ton That, Ton-That, or Tonthat in English-language text