Thai name

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Thai names follow the Indian/Western pattern in which the family name follows a first or given name. In this they differ from the family-name-first pattern of the East Asian tradition.

Thai names, both given name and family, are often long and there are a great many of them. The diversity of family names is because they are required to be unique to a family, and they are a recent introduction. Further, Thai people change their family names relatively frequently (this practice being virtually unknown in many other countries outside of marriage).

Last names only became legally required of Thais in 1913:^[1] before then, most Thais used only a first or individual name. The names generally convey positive attributes. Under Thai law, only one family can use any given surname: thus any two people of the same surname must be related, and it is very rare for two people to share the same full name.

Thai names are often long, particularly among those of upper-class families and also among Thais of Chinese descent, whose lengthy names stem from an attempt to translate Chinese names into Thai equivalents. The family of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, for example, who are of Chinese descent, adopted the name Shinawatra ("does good routinely") in 1938.

As a measure of the diversity of Thai names, in a sample of 45,665 names, 81% of family names were unique, and 35% of given names were unique: the people with shared family names are thus related, and the diversity of given names is conventional.^[2]

1 Noble names
2 Formal and informal names
3 See also
4 References

[edit] Noble names

The nobility, a legally recognised class in Thailand, add the preposition "na" (ณ) to geographical names to create surnames, in exactly the same way that members of German noble families use "Von." Thus Mongkol Na Songkhla, a minister in the current Thai government, has a name which indicates he is a member of the nobility. The name of Kasem Sanitwong Na Ayutthaya, another minister, indicates that he is related to the royal family, since Ayutthaya is the former royal capital.

[edit] Formal and informal names

In polite speech, Thais will address each other or refer to each other by their given name, preceded by the honorific "khun" (for men) or "khunying" (for women). This applies particularly to persons of public distinction. Thus, the ministers mentioned above would be addressed and referred to as "Khun Mongkol" and "Khun Kasem," especially since they are members of the nobility. Women prominent in public or cultural life are routinely referred to and addressed as "khunying": for example Dhipavadee Meksawan, the most senior woman in the current government, is always called Khunying Dhipavadee.

In less formal situations, Thais will address each other by nicknames (chue-len or Thai: ชึ่อเล่น "play-name"). Given by parents or relatives in early childhood, these nicknames are typically one syllable (or worn down from two syllables to one). They may often be nonsense words or humorous, and usually have no relation to the person's actual name. All Thais have such a name, and they are freely used in everyday life regardless of how childish they may seem to non-Thais. The King's nickname, for example, is Ong Lek (TH: องค์เล็ก ; Ong is a numerative noun for kings, princes, princesses, priests, images of Buddha, gods, angels, palaces, pagodas; "Lek" means "little (one)", a common name for younger brothers). Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's is Maew, the Thai name for the Hmong.

Westerners meeting Thais in everyday life will usually be introduced to the Thai person only by their nickname, and will not discover the person's real name unless they ask: Thais tend to assume that Westerners cannot pronounce or remember long Thai names. Except in the most formal situations (meeting a government minister, for example), it is quite acceptable to address or refer to a Thai by their nickname. The nickname can be preceded by "khun" or "khunying": this will seem slightly comic to Thais, but will be understood as a gesture of respect.