Vietnamese man has longest fingernails after spending 34 years growing them to over 19 ft

A Vietnamese artist who has spent three decades of his life growing out his fingernails is officially a record holder.

Lưu Công Huyền has the world’s longest fingernails on a pair of hands (male) with an unbelievable measurement of 594.45 cm (19 ft 6 in).

That's more than the height of the average adult giraffe.

His incredible talons were measured by Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief Craig Glenday, who made the trip to his home in Nam Định province, Vietnam, earlier this year.

Mr Huyền’s record-breaking nails are truly a sight to behold.

Hanging from each hand and twisting into intricate shapes, his nails are covered in multi-coloured splashes of the paint he uses to create beautiful murals on the sides of people’s houses.

He stopped cutting his nails 34 years ago after deciding he’d like to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a shaman.

"These fingernails originally started because my father was a shaman," he said. "I wanted to become a teacher, so I grew them to look more majestic.

"But later, my father told me to forget about pursuing this profession, saying it's too troublesome and not worth it.

"So, I just kept growing them from then on and they just kept getting longer. In short, if I were to trim them off I'd feel really uncomfortable and exhausted, both mentally and physically."

He added: "Just thinking about trimming my fingernails makes me feel tired, and sick."

Naturally, his nails do break off from time to time and he has bits of them lying in a cabinet in his living room that he’s held on to, although of course, they didn’t count towards his final measurement total.

Craig explained: “Measuring Mr Huyền’s nails was no easy feat. We had to run a piece of string around every twist and turn on each nail, marking the length then comparing this against tape measure.”

The total length is based on the average of two sets of measurements. The nails of his left hand total 388.85 cm while his right nails total 205.6 cm. His longest fingernail is on his left thumb, which measures 127.5 cm (4 ft 2 in).

Mr Huyền, who features in Guinness World Records 2026, smiled as he was told he had officially broken the record, and his loved ones who had been watching the measurements take place broke into applause.

Growing your fingernails to this kind of length is a huge commitment, and people living with nails like this often have to make big adjustments to the way they live their lives.

Mr Huyền is particularly careful about keeping his nails dry.

He told us: "If it rains, I have to keep them dry. If they get wet, they will soften and fall right off.

"In a crowded place, if someone bumps into them, they'll be broken for sure, so I have to protect them.

"Furthermore, when working I have to be extremely careful. Climbing up and down the scaffolding, every move has to be deliberate. And I mean really careful."

Mr Huyền said he also has to take great care when he's changing his clothes and sleeping, doing his best to make sure his nails are not being pressed and snapped.

But showing he can still do all the things he wants to do, Mr Huyền demonstrated his painting skills for us, carefully holding a pot of paint in one hand and working magic with the brush in the other.

His paintings are so beautiful and people are so amazed that he can paint so well with such long nails that crowds often gather round him while he's working.

"They never react negatively," he said. "They just say, 'How can you paint so well with such long fingernails?'"

We also saw him whizzing around the streets of Nam Định province on his moped, and he showed us how he manoeuvres himself into a shirt, carefully putting his hands through the sleeves with the help of his wife, Thi Thuan, who also assists him on his painting jobs.

Mr Huyền says people often ask Thi why she doesn't force him to cut his nails, but she is very supportive of his passion.

He explained: "People keep telling my wife to make me trim them - 'why bother with all that maintenance and trouble?'

"But this is my choice, I choose to keep them, and she helps me a lot. 

"Without someone as supportive as my wife helping me, I could never maintain them this well. She's an absolute trooper - she helps me with everything."

Mr Huyền added that he was "incredibly happy" to have his achievement recognized by Guinness World Records.

Craig said after his visit: “It was really lovely to meet his family. They were all so welcoming and they made us an amazing meal.

“It was just a real honour to be there and to meet them and to measure his nails. They’re very impressive, apart from one which had snapped off.

“Given there’s not been a holder of this record since Melvin Boothe passed away, it’s great to be able to fill the category and to celebrate Mr Huyền’s achievement.

“He’s such a lovely, spiritual being. He talked about being a shaman, and although it didn’t happen he still seems very spiritual. He’s part of a long line of men, particularly, who have had a sort of spiritual or shamanistic aspect to their fingernails.

“In fact, in the Guinness Word Records book back in 1960, the first ever holder of the longest fingernails was an unnamed Chinese priest.

“There’s definitely something there in the spirituality, and he definitely embodies that.”

Melvin (USA) still has the record for longest fingernails on a pair of hands ever (male).

The longest fingernails on a pair of hands (female) and longest fingernails on a pair of hands ever (female) belong to Diana Armstrong (USA) and measure 1,306.58 cm (42 ft 10.4 in).

Read about Mr Huyền's record and much more in Guinness World Records 2026 - on sale now!