TL;DR: Naming a child by the Five Elements is a folk custom that weighs the Kim, Mộc, Thủy, Hỏa, Thổ relation between the child's name and the nạp âm destinies of the parents and the child, usually picking a name whose element generates the destiny. Supplementing a lacking element is the Bát Tự school's method, which looks at all four pillars, not the birth year alone. The custom has no scientific basis, but it reflects a wish for family harmony and good things for the child.
What Is Naming a Child by the Five Elements?
Naming a child by the Five Elements (五行取名) is the custom of choosing a child's name according to Five Elements theory, so that the element of the name suits the destiny of the parents and of the child. The custom is found in many countries that used Chinese characters, Vietnam among them, and often goes with the notion that "a name shapes one's path in life."
Two layers should be kept apart. The first is Five Elements theory itself, rooted in ancient Chinese thought: the Hong Fan (Hồng Phạm) chapter of the Book of Documents is one of the early texts that names all five elements, in the order "first Water, second Fire, third Wood, fourth Metal, fifth Earth"[1]. The second layer is the folk use of that theory for choosing names, dates and directions. This layer has no scientific verification; it is a notion passed down orally and recorded in books on customs.
What Are the Five Elements and the Rules of Generation and Overcoming?
Five Elements theory has two main rules:
- Generation: Kim generates Thủy, Thủy generates Mộc, Mộc generates Hỏa, Hỏa generates Thổ, Thổ generates Kim.
- Overcoming: Kim overcomes Mộc, Mộc overcomes Thổ, Thổ overcomes Thủy, Thủy overcomes Hỏa, Hỏa overcomes Kim.
Feng shui and the traditional calculation arts (thuật số) use these two rules, together with directions and the four seasons, to judge what is auspicious or inauspicious. Naming follows the same line of thought: choose a name whose element generates the destiny, avoid one whose element overcomes it.
| Element | Nature according to the Hong Fan | Numbers in the Hà Đồ | Season | Conventional colour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thủy (Water) | Soaks downward | 1, 6 | Winter | Black, dark blue |
| Hỏa (Fire) | Flames upward | 2, 7 | Summer | Red |
| Mộc (Wood) | Bends and straightens | 3, 8 | Spring | Green |
| Kim (Metal) | Yields and changes | 4, 9 | Autumn | White |
| Thổ (Earth) | Sowing and reaping | 5, 10 | End of each season | Yellow |
The "nature" column is the wording of the Hong Fan: "Water soaks downward, Fire flames upward, Wood bends and straightens, Metal yields and changes, Earth is for sowing and reaping"[1]. The numbers, seasons and colours are conventions of later thuật số.
Naming a Child by Parents' Ages: What Is Considered?
Folk practice usually considers three things when naming a child by the parents' ages:
First, the parents' nạp âm destiny. A person born in a given can chi year carries that year's nạp âm destiny (for example, Giáp Tý and Ất Sửu are Hải Trung Kim). People choose a name whose element stands in a generating relation to the parents' destiny; for example, if the father's destiny is Kim, a name of the Thổ element (Thổ generates Kim) or the Thủy element (Kim generates Thủy).
Second, the child's destiny by birth year. A child born in a given year takes that year's nạp âm destiny. The birth-year method usually picks a name whose element generates the child's destiny; for a child born in a Giáp Thìn year (Phú Đăng Hỏa), a name of the Mộc element, since Mộc generates Hỏa. Supplementing a lacking element belongs to the Bát Tự school, which looks at all four pillars, not the birth year alone.
Third, yin-yang balance in the name. A name should balance level and oblique tones, sound and meaning. This is a matter of language and taste, not of destiny reckoning.
How Is the Five Elements Destiny Determined by Birth Year?
The nạp âm destiny is looked up in the Lục Thập Hoa Giáp, the 60-year cycle pairing Heavenly Stems with Earthly Branches. Every two consecutive years share one nạp âm name. For example:
- Giáp Tý, Ất Sửu: Hải Trung Kim (gold in the sea)
- Bính Dần, Đinh Mão: Lư Trung Hỏa (fire in the furnace)
- Mậu Thìn, Kỷ Tỵ: Đại Lâm Mộc (wood of the great forest)
- Canh Ngọ, Tân Mùi: Lộ Bàng Thổ (earth by the roadside)
- Nhâm Thân, Quý Dậu: Kiếm Phong Kim (metal of the sword tip)
The Lục Thập Hoa Giáp table is printed in many almanacs and Tử Vi books. It is a convention of thuật số, not a fact of natural science.
How Is One Naming Example Worked Out?
Suppose the father is Canh Ngọ, destiny Lộ Bàng Thổ; the mother is Nhâm Thân, destiny Kiếm Phong Kim; the child is expected in a Giáp Thìn year, destiny Phú Đăng Hỏa.
According to folk belief:
- The father's destiny is Thổ, the child's is Hỏa. Hỏa generates Thổ, so the child generates the father, which is seen as good.
- The mother's destiny is Kim, the child's is Hỏa. Hỏa overcomes Kim, so the child overcomes the mother, which is seen as not good.
Under this reasoning, people often choose a Thổ-element name for the child, since Hỏa generates Thổ and Thổ generates Kim, forming a generating chain from child to mother. Thổ-element names are often characters such as Sơn, Thạch, Điền, or Chinese characters with the earth radical.
This reasoning is a convention of thuật số, not a law of nature, and each school may choose differently.
What Are the Different Schools and Viewpoints on Naming According to the Five Elements?
The schools do not agree on how to name by the Five Elements:
The nạp âm method relies on the nạp âm destiny of the birth year and mainly compares the parents' destiny with the child's. It is the common way in Vietnamese folk practice.
The Bát Tự school examines all four pillars (year, month, day and hour of birth) to see which element is strong and which is weak, then chooses a name that supplies the missing element. It is more complex and can give a quite different result from the birth-year method.
The method by Chinese character radicals takes the radical of the character in the name to set its element; a character with the water radical belongs to Thủy, one with the wood radical to Mộc.
Where Does the Custom Come From, and What Do Old Vietnamese Books Record?
Naming by the Five Elements comes from Chinese culture and entered Vietnam through cultural exchange. Phan Kế Bính's Việt Nam phong tục (1915) records how names were given in Vietnam in the early 20th century: a name was given only a year or two after birth, often taking a rhyme or a meaning close to the parents' names. He also notes that educated families looked for fine names, "above all by choosing characters of one radical", such as using only characters with the jade radical: if the elder brother is Hoàng, the younger ones are Hành, Cư, Vũ[2]. His account of naming does not mention the Five Elements.
What to Keep in Mind
First, this is a folk belief, not science. There is no scientific evidence that a name affects a person's path in life, health or wealth.
Second, a name is first of all for calling someone. A name chosen by the Five Elements that is hard to read, hard to write or causes friction in the family works against the very aim of the custom, which is to wish the child well.
Third, the books differ. Yin-yang and Five Elements theory is used in many fields; one practical feng shui book lists traditional medicine, chiêm bốc, dịch lý and thuật số as all built on the rules of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements[3]. Applying the theory to naming is only one interpretation among many, and each book may choose differently.
