Thai names

[Jetlag]

Does anyone have any knowledge of common or traditional Thai names and any meanings that they may have ? All sensible replys appreciated.

Regards

Jason

[Jackie Chan]

I have a couple of books that you can buy locally. It has Thai names and their meanings. What exactly do you want?

[D80]

What is the name that you are looking for?  I could translate some (I'm Thai).

[Toybox]

Also, do western names have their Thai counterpart?  I mean like a translation, say Peter in English, Pedro, in Espanol, and ___ in thai?

[Jetlag]

I'm looking for idears to name a new baby. What are the names of the books you know of ? Do you know what " Taan " means ? I was also wondering if "Angey" is a Thai name or not. As for boys names i'm only aware of Dom, Mongol, Boss and Bomm. I'm looking for a name that is Thai but easy to pronounce by non Thai speakers therefore ovoiding the need for a nickname. Thanks.

Jason

[D80]

Formal names are quite complicated but I'll try my best to explain.

'Angey' is not a Thai name but some kids may be given the name as a nickname.  

As you probably know already, a typical Thai has 3 names: a formal name (which is usually longer than nickname and more elaborate, usually not a simple Thai word but a mix of Pali/Sanskrit/Thai), last name (family name) and a nick name (shorter name for friends and relative, in the past these are usually simple Thai words like Noi, Oi, Nu, Pla, Tai etc etc The meaning is usually quite simple).

These days, kids are not named by just Thai language anymore.  Parents give names like 'gib' (Thai pronunciation for 'gift') or 'bom' (Thai pronunciation for 'bomb').  There are usually no reasons why they choose these words, apart from they like the sond of it.  The meaning there is irrelevant.

So 'Boss and Bomm' are not Thai names.  Mongol is Thai and is usually used as a formal name, meaning 'goodness, holy'. I'm not sure about Dom but it's not likely to be Thai and it's more likely to be used as a nickname.  

'Taan' (I assume pronounced with the strong 'T'?) means sugar palm tree/ sugar/short version of 'brown' (Naam Taan = brown).  With the soft 'T', it could mean a polite form of the word 'to eat' or 'a gift to make merit').  

There are many books on the market in Thai names for babies but as far as I have seen they are all in Thai (maybe Asia book might have an Eng version??).  If you can read Thai then just go to any good bookshop around you and they should have one.  I have seen a few in Prae Pittaya and Dok Ya bookstores last year.  

You could give your baby Western sounding name without much problem.  Some of my friends (who are Thai) are actually called 'Ann' or 'Art' or 'Ken' and that's pretty normal as nickname goes.  If you are looking for a good formal name, it's more difficult.  I've heard people using 'Kathareeya' for girls (Thai but not too difficult for a Western person to pronounced, quite common name for half western half Thai kids-not sure what it means though), 'Dirake' for boys (meaning 'comfortable, fun, happy'-this is not in simple Thai).

Suggestions for formal names for boys and girls off the top of my head (these are the ones that are pretty timeless and not out of date):

Gilrs:

Pimpavadee = proper woman (or something along this line)

Mingkwan = one who is loved

Pimpaka = pretty flower

Nyanate = one with beautiful eyes

Apsara = angel

Isaree/Isariya = young woman

Boys:

Akekawee = one who is gifted in fine Art (more precisely poetic art)

Weera/Veera = winner/victory

Pittaya = knowledge

Akekachai = one who is good at winning (literally)

Surasak = one who posesses great honour/dignity

The meanings may slightly be different as these are my translation of the names which are consist of some Pali/Sanskrit words.  But it will be something along those lines anyway.

[D80]

Jetlag,

I did some more research on the net out of interest and found some websites that might interest you.  They've got a few ideas for names in there:

http://www.korats.org/thinms.htm  

(This link above is from a Korat cat fancier association.  I know... a bit strange to be a place for Thai names but I can assure you they are pretty accurate although some of the names on the lists are a bit old.)

http://www.bambi-bangkok.org/links.htm

(Another website that's got more stuff about having babies in Thailand including links to Thai baby names web sites)

http://www.cool-baby-names.com/

(Baby names in general, but this site helps you find the origin of the names & meaning etc as well)

http://www.thaibabyname.com/

(Looks like a great website for Thai names but unfortunately, it's in Thai.  If you can read Thai though, this is a good one.)

http://www.thai-uk.org/parentskids.html

(More on having babies in Thailand)

Anyway, if you are interested, there are loads more around the net.  Hope these help!  

::    

[Brian]

These sites have an extensive list of names, also has an analysis of each name.

Females

Males

[Jetlag]

Thanks for the replies, the websites suggested are very helpful.

Regards

Jason