East Side Nomenclature

Today's adventure begins with a bit of curiosity... I mean, really - I have a Vietnamese surname and I don't have a Vietnamese given name, so why not pick one?
Now, I can't simply pick a name that sounds nice. It also has to mean something important to me. Granted, I don't speak Vietnamese, nor do I have an etymological understanding of the language. What to do? Goodness, there's the Internet, of course! Naturally, there is a website based on the etymology of first names in many languages - takes all the work out of it, leaving only the fun...

BehindtheName.com

Here's what I found, a handful of likeable Vietnamese names with their approximate translations:

Bính - peace
Hoa - flower
Hong - pink, rose
Lan - orchid
Mai - apricot blossom
Ngoc - precious stone, gem
Quy -precious
Thanh - clear, tone, sound, delicate, blue azure sky
Thi - poem
Thuy - gentle, modest
Tíen - spirit, fairy
Tuyet - snow

How about Tuyet Tíen? "Snow Fairy" sounds like a very nice name.  Or perhaps Lan Thuy, which seems to suit my shy personality. Another apt name would be Thanh Thi,  I think - given my deep love of music and poetry. Hmmm, maybe I should do this for all my other ethnic groups!

After all, life's too short to die...