Thien

Thien is a romanized form used for Vietnamese given names and, less commonly, surnames. It corresponds to two Vietnamese names with diacritics: Thiện and Thiên. In romanized form, Thien may appear in international contexts, passports, and digital identifiers where diacritics are omitted. The diacritics denote distinct tones and meanings in Vietnamese.

Thiện (with diacritic on the e) commonly conveys virtuous, good-natured, or benevolent, and is frequently used as a given name or as part of compound names. Thiên (with diacritic on the i) generally means heaven, celestial, or sky, and can function as a given name or as a component of longer names. Both forms are common in Vietnam and among Vietnamese communities worldwide.

Because Vietnamese uses a multi-syllable naming system, Thien can appear as the given name in a full name of the form family name + middle name + Thien. In non-Vietnamese settings, the diacritics are often dropped, producing the form Thien. The name is used across genders and is found among people in arts, sports, academia, and other fields, reflecting its cultural versatility within Vietnamese naming traditions.

See also: Thiên, Thiện.