Hi

I am a web developer, working at eBlogs.com, RubyOnRails and TestDrivenDevelopment

I need suggestions for an English first name, because it's difficult for my coworkers to call me "boy".

''What is wrong with "Nyew Yen"?  If your coworkers can't handle the pronunciation of your name, do you really want to work there?''

Nguyen is a last name, and is very common. I don't call none of my colleagues by their last name! --PhlIp
*Some of my colleages do call by their last names.  This is particularly true if you have multiple people with the same first names (e.g., David Hu versus David Coleman -- when both are in the same room, calling "Dave!" will result in a collision of attention). --SamuelFalvo
*I suppose the next best choices, if you do wish to anglicize your first name, would be ''either'' Roy or Bob.  The former is closest in pronunciation, the latter starts with the same Latin letter. --SamuelFalvo

''My organization has several people with Nguyen as a last name, and several people with Nguyen as a first name.''

That's because Viets traditionally go family-name-first (like Bajorans), and they don't all anglicize in lockstep.

''I'd take one look at the name and say: Win Boy, if only because I know at least two people with the last name who pronounce it (as close as I can tell) 'Win' (as in winner).  There's a limit to the number of different languages I'm willing to learn, and it's made harder by the fact that the English versions usually fail to capture the distinctions.  Suggestions for an English name?  Well, 'Winn' is accepted for both guys and girls.  But I very well may have the pronunciation of your particular 'Nguyen' incorrect.''

Welcome Bui. Though I have not met anybody called Bui, I do like Bui as a name. But if you do not like the boy pronunciation, what about booee, as in the American pronunciation of buoy, or even bewee as in beauty without the t? You are certainly not alone here in being interested in RubyLanguage and RubyOnRails.  -- PeterLynch