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Thai Nicknames


Baht Simpson

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Most Thais I have met tend to have nicknames like Gor or Mek etc. They don't always appear to be shortened versions of their full names and I was wondering how they chose them. A friend has two young girls whose nicknames are Fanta and Pop, which is quite amusing. :o Any other funny ones?

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The real names tend to be their official Buddha names (usually but not always chosen by monks in accordance with your fortune) so parents will choose a name in which to refer to their children, these names are usually not so nice ( oan=fat, Moo - Pig etc) as superstious thais will not want to tempt fate by giving their child a boastful name. :D

Some children as they get older (school age) will then choose their own nickname which tends to get confusing with family members calling them one thing & friends using the other & I know quite a lot of thai freinds who have then chosen a western nickname after working in tourist areas as it's easier for farang to pronounce :D All in all can get very confusing if you know someone by one name & someone knows them by another :o

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Most Thais I have met tend to have nicknames like Gor or Mek etc.  They don't always appear to be shortened versions of their full names and I was wondering how they chose them.  A friend has two young girls whose nicknames are Fanta and Pop, which is quite amusing.  :o  Any other funny ones?

They get nicknames at birth to prevent "Phii" from stealing them when they know there real name. Most names are animal names or inanimat objects. like 'pla'=fish

'ling"=monkey , colors like Deng="red", ect..

thinl modern names from western cultures are starting to creep in :D

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The real names tend to be their official Buddha names (usually but not always chosen by monks in accordance with your fortune) so parents will choose a name in which to refer to their children, these names are usually not so nice ( oan=fat, Moo - Pig etc) as superstious thais will not want to tempt fate by giving their child a boastful name.  :D

Some children as they get older (school age) will then choose their own nickname which tends to get confusing with family members calling them one thing & friends using the other & I know quite a lot of thai freinds who have then chosen a western nickname after working in tourist areas as it's easier for farang to pronounce :D All in all can get very confusing if you know someone by one name & someone knows them by another :o

Indeed boo

My wife's real name is Rawita

Her nick name is path, or tolek, or phon...

Sometimes i have to ask friends you talking about who? which then turns out to be my wife :D

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Hubby has gone through life with his "real name" being the cause of some mirth amongst freinds & new aquantancies as it has traditionally been a ladies name but when he was born & taken to the temple the monks said this name would be VERY fortuitious for him & so he was stuck with it. In the beginning of the Siam empire it WAS a kings name but over the course of generations turned to be a female name. A bit like the thai equivilant of a name called Sue :o

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On Koh Chang a bar near where I stay is owned by a Katoy lady who introduced herself as "Emma Thompson", this was two years and many trips ago ad myself and all my friends still refer to her in the third person, "will Emma Thompsons get me a beer please?"..."how much will Emma Thompson be charging for the meals?" "does Emma Thompson have any pinapple left?" ect ect

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Chuchok, why on earth would they do that??? :o

Most popular man thai name has got to be Dum, pretty much every thai man I have ever met from Nakorn si thammarat is called Dum, so many in fact that it became a running joke. Whenever someone asked where they were from & they answered "nakohn si thammarat" the next question was always "is your name Dum?" At least 95% answered yes, how did you know?? :D:D

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Ain't it got to do with there only being a limited no. of Thai legal names?

I know a guy who has sons called 'beer' and 'booze'!!

Maybe it is also that Thais think that they can't have more than a first name and a surname. I was told that my kids couldn't have a western name or a middle name - wrong, they have both a western first name and a Thai middle name on the Thai Birth certificate, along with my surname, spelt wrongly and means something silly.

If you are having kids be very careful what you call them, as they might get the piss taken when they are at school.

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It took me some time getting used to my wifes many names.

I call her Sopha (her "real" name) but I have heard her answer to Meow (cat), Mai (new) and La (last of three children). I have to remember who knows her by what name when I'm talking to them.

Sopha uses only one name for me...daaarrrllliiiiiinnnnnnngggggg :o

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Thai-Chinese christians are a real pain. They have their real name. A nickname used by their family and maybe one shortened from their real name like 'Porn' from Pornthip, Pornsawan, etc.

Then they'll have a nickname that will be used by their friends. And of course they'll adopt a christian name, usually it'll be John or James.

Only humorous nicknames I've come across that I can recall are; Dumbo, Super (superman) Toffee, Mimi, Kii (shit) Bond, Boss seems to be getting popular even though it's pronounced 'Bot'.

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Wy wife already had two children when we were married. Their real names were Tienchai and Khunchit but they went by nicknames. When I brought them back to the U.S., I had to come up with anglicized spelling so they could use them in school. So they had their names legally changed to Nigh and Dome. (I guess the oldest could have been Nye). Many years later, the oldest was a starting running back and kick returner on his high school football team. After he ran back the opening kickoff, the stadium announcer pronounced his name "Nij" (with a short i). Guess I should have used Nye! :o

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Well my wife's first name is Arvepan (Thai Chinese) but here in the UK and back in Thailand she is called 'Pat'.

Her maiden name is a real nightmare for people in the UK - it is 'Rungrodborirux' but pronounced nothing like it is spelled! Thank goodness she now has my surname!

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Yes, "Cheu len arai krap/ka?" means "What is a your nickname?" Len simply means "play" and can be used for sports and stuff...like "Len giilaa arai krap/ka?" means "What sport(s) do you play?"

Dum is a common nickname...I once met a Thai boxer with really dark skin and it was no surprise when he told me his name was Dum.

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Yes, "Cheu len arai krap/ka?" means "What is a your nickname?" Len simply means "play" and can be used for sports and stuff...like "Len giilaa arai krap/ka?" means "What sport(s) do you play?"

Dum is a common nickname...I once met a Thai boxer with really dark skin and it was no surprise when he told me his name was Dum.

I thought 'len' was more like fun as in when you say 'phom pud len' means i'm joking. but then I suppose 'play talk' works aswell

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