Nicknames

[aTomsLife]

Are nicknames a relatively new phenomenon in Thailand? Or does this custom go back a century or more?

Have any of the posters here acquired a nickname amongst Thais (other than 'the farang')?

Lastly, what are some of the more interesting/hilarious nicknames you've heard, if any?

I've asked some of my Thai friends about their nicknames, but I rarely get the kind of explanation I expect regarding origin, meaning and the like. Thanks in advance for any input or anecdotes. Cheers.

[TommoPhysicist]

Bart

[aTomsLife]

Ok, thanks for the contribution, Tommo. Care to explain why?

[Farma]

I think you'll find a lot of the Thai nicknames were given to them soon after birth. It's something to do with their belief in ghosts coming to steal or harm babies etc. The nickname will confuse the ghost.

There are some interesting threads on the different types of ghosts and what their believed powers.

[Indrid Cold]

I have moved around to much the last 3 months to get any nickname but now I have stayed in Sarakham for 3 weeks and are spending a great deal of time with a family here and i know they are considering giving me a nick.

Before that I stayed 6 months in a village there they tried giving me the name Lo or Loo or something, they stoped that rather soon since i did not respond to it. The childeren in the village called me MaPa. Gf in in village used to call me ubaka every now and then.

[Spoonman]

My nickname is "low hanging fruit"........... not sure why though.

[aTomsLife]

Spoonman, on 12 Mar 2013 - 20:01, said:

My nickname is "low hanging fruit"........... not sure why though.

haha Perhaps that you're unable to figure it out is the same reason you acquired the name.

[Travel2003]

I have moved around to much the last 3 months to get any nickname but now I have stayed in Sarakham for 3 weeks and are spending a great deal of time with a family here and i know they are considering giving me a nick.

Before that I stayed 6 months in a village there they tried giving me the name Lo or Loo or something, they stoped that rather soon since i did not respond to it. The childeren in the village called me MaPa. Gf in in village used to call me ubaka every now and then.

3 months there, 3 weeks here, 6 months there, etc.

I'm not from those parts of the world they use it, but I believe your nickname should be "The Pikey" or something?

I have a friend called Opel because his father liked those cars when my friend was born. Interestingly enough, non of his local friends can pronounce his nickname correct so they call him Open.

[GuestHouse]

The Thai use of nicknames is rooted in Hindu tradition so I'd guess goes back to the Khmer period.

[FunFon]

Usually Khwai, but those closest to me call me Keeknock.

It goes back long before there was any writing system for any explanation to have survived as to its origins. You know last names were only given out starting a few decades ago right?

The usual funny ones - Poo, Porn. I met a kid named Benz and yes the family was wealthy had a few of those.

Edited March 12, 2013 by FunFon

[lungbing]

That's because in the Thai spoken language only a few sounds can end a word and 'L' is not one of them.

When an 'L' is written at the end of a word it's pronounced as an 'N' hence 'Opel' becomes 'Open' and

HM The Kings' name written as Bhumipol is pronounced Bhumipon.

And I suspect that's why it's 'Check Bin' instead of Check Bill' although I have no evidence at all for that assumption.

[FunFon]

I suspect that's why it's 'Check Bin' instead of Check Bill' although I have no evidence at all for that assumption.

Other than common sense - seems obvious to me!

After Vietnam (when poor service workers got their first major exposure to English and our decadent Western ways <g>, they got sick of the Brits correcting them for calling it a check so they decided to use both together, very pragmatic but that doesn't give them the ability to pronounce the L at the end.

Edited March 12, 2013 by FunFon

[Indrid Cold]

I have moved around to much the last 3 months to get any nickname but now I have stayed in Sarakham for 3 weeks and are spending a great deal of time with a family here and i know they are considering giving me a nick.

Before that I stayed 6 months in a village there they tried giving me the name Lo or Loo or something, they stoped that rather soon since i did not respond to it. The childeren in the village called me MaPa. Gf in in village used to call me ubaka every now and then.

3 months there, 3 weeks here, 6 months there, etc.

I'm not from those parts of the world they use it, but I believe your nickname should be "The Pikey" or something?

I have a friend called Opel because his father liked those cars when my friend was born. Interestingly enough, non of his local friends can pronounce his nickname correct so they call him Open.

"The Pikey" makes sence, i never asked about the nick, life has taught me not to ask questions im not sure i want to know the answer to.

Thank you so much for sharing this with me, they saw and understood more then what i gave them credit for.

[dean999]

My nickname is handsome man. I got it from the first time i came to Thailand. Only problem is, everyone seems to know me and call me over.

[Star Dust]

This delightful text was given to us by George (a Member of the Thaivisa.com as well) from his book :"Thai Lite II"

It's a good laugh:

Thai nicknames

One of the most fascinating aspects of Thai culture is the rich variety of Thai nicknames. Every Thai has a nickname, and
most of them have a meaning.

Since nicknames are usually conferred at birth, sometimes they reveal what a person looked like as a baby: Daeng (Red ), Dam (Black), Khao (White), Yui (Plump), Yai (Big), or one of the several words that mean small: Nit, Noy, Goi, or Lek.

So if you happen to meet a skinny girl named Uan ( Fat ) or Moo (Pig ), don’t be surprised. She might have looked like that much earlier in
her career.

Some nicknames denote animals, like Maew (Cat), Chang (Elephant ), Ling (Monkey ), Seua ( Tiger ), Nok ( Bird ), Gai (Chicken ), Pet
( Duck ), Gung (Shrimp ), Phuu ( Crab ), Blaa (Fish ) Hoy ( Mussel ), Gop ( Frog ),Tao ( Turtle ) and Mot ( Ant ).

Thai nicknames don’t have to be in the Thai language, English words will also do. One of Thailand’s most famous singers,
Tongchai McIntyre, is nicknamed Bird. I have also met girls named Nooden --the Thai translation for “ Noodles “-- and Balloon. I would not care to speculate on which portion of Ms. Balloon’s anatomy inspired her nickname.

A few nicknames sound like English body parts. I’ve met guys

named Arm and girls named Knee, but never of anyone named foot, Thigh or Elbow.
There’s a singer named Heart, but none named Liver; a boy named Start, but none
named Stop; another named First, but none named Last. You might name your child
Win, but not Lose; Good , but not Bad .

At least three people I met are named after prestigious cars like Ford, Benz and Ferrari. I have never heard of anyone named Toyota, Honda, or Isuzu, but I’m still waiting for some macho Thai father to name his son Humvee, Tank , or Bradley Fighting Vehicle.

We have rock stars named Big and Fluke, and girls with names like Juicy and Pinky. One sports minded lad chose the nickname Beckham. Tennis star Paradorn Srichapan’s nickname is, suitably, Ball. It might also have been Net, Racquet, or Wimbledon. Tiger Woods could have been nicknamed Golf, Club, or Swing -- but he is already nicknamed Tiger.

I’m told that if parents want their son to be rich, they might name him Bank. Well, how about Stock, Bond, or Dividend? Not to mention
Rich, Cash, or Profit.

Sometimes Thai nicknames follow a pattern. Two parents I know of are fond of music, so they named their daughter Jazz and their son Pop.
When Jazz had two sons, I thought she ought to name them Rock and Roll or Hip and Hop. But no. She named them Pan and Knob, thereby bringing to a sad end the possibility of an ongoing dynasty of musical nicknames.

In an intercultural world, some Thai nicknames tread on dangerous ground. I would not care to count the number of Thai girls nicknamed Porn who have ventured abroad only to be devastated when they found out what their nickname means in English.

Rat, too, seems an odd nickname for a girl. A young man called Mink probably didn’t know that he’s named after an animal that is
associated with rampant sexual activity; and a girl who chose the nickname Cherry was almost certainly unaware of its meaning in American slang .

Sometimes the unwary foreigner must be careful when pronouncing Thai nicknames. When General
Chavalit Yongchaiyudh was prime minister, I asked a class of students, why people called him Big Jiew. “Jiew” means tiny, which the portly General Chavalit most certainly is not; and “Big Tiny” seems a contradiction in terms. But I mispronounced his name as “Big Joo”, which elicited gales of laughter from the class. Only later did I learn that “joo” refers to a well-known male reproductive organ. Occasionally there is a problem deciding how to spell a Thai nickname in English. A lady of my acquaintance had a nickname pronounced,
roughly, “Dtoom”. She didn’t want to spell it that way, because it looked strange. She had been told to spell it “ Tum”, but she knew that English people would pronounce it to rhyme with “bum”. This lady was very exacting. She insisted on a spelling that had flair and panache; a spelling that would bowl her friends over by its aptness, originality, and charm . A friend of mine and
I both considered the problem, and eventually we came up with two possibilities which we both thought were ideal, especially for this particular lady: Doom and Tomb. Last I looked she was spelling it Tum. There don’t seem to be any rules governing the choice of Thai nicknames, and the really good news is that when you get a nickname you don’t like, you can always change it.

Give this happy situation, we ought to be able to give people any nicknames we want. As a man of perverse tastes, I favor onomatopoeic
names like Gag, Retch, Puke, Barf, and Gargle .If a person is conceited, you could bring him down to earth by calling him Waste, Trash, Garbage, Error, or Delete .

I know foreigners who ought to have nicknames like Mao (Drunk), Bah (Crazy), or Ngoo (Stupid), not to mention Men (Smelly), Hualan (
Bald ), and Nagliat ( Ugly). Dork, Nerd, Dweeb, and Doofus also have undeniable charm.

But most of them are ought to be named Beer.

Or you just google "Thai Nicknames",or "Weird Thai Nicknames" http://thaiwomantalks.com/2011/03/04/weird-thai-nicknames/

[rookball]

i laughed when i read an actor had his son nicknamed as airbus

[cycloneJ]

I cycle with 2 Gungs; one has three children Gip, Gep (girls) and Gop (boy).

Gop for frog, don't know the other two?

And a woman we know, Lart, her son Bart.

Easy to remember.

[phuturatica]

I have red hair so I get called daeng by my students quite a lot.

I have hundreds of students so I have LOTS of nicknames. Some are hilarious!

Also my friend used to teach Kindergarten students with 2 students called "piggy" and "&lt;deleted&gt;" and they happened to be best of friends too!

[Scottythai]

Hmm seems like I go by KeeMao or Jai Rai. Either way I am to drunk and busy trying to yell at people to bring me a beer to care

[lomatopo]

As mentioned, the Thai nicknames given by parents shortly after birth are meant to confuse ghosts, who presumably work off government records/birth certificates, so they will not take the child away (aka: premature/infant death),.

It is not unusual for Thai youths to take on other monikers, which are usually western/cultural in nature, i.e Golf (pronounced Goff), Pancake, Benz, Mint, Ball (Bahn), Apple (Appuhn), etc.

I think the former is quite old, while the later is a more recent phenomenon, as is perhaps changing one's legal name here, which seems to happen more frequently than in the west?

[aTomsLife]

Thanks everyone for the enlightening and entertaining posts so far. I'm now thinking, given that for Thais 'Tom' is already a funny alternative to Thomas, perhaps that's why I've yet to receive any new monikers. Much like a Thai with a nickname like 'Porn', 'Cherry', or 'Mink' is funny to us, I'm sure 'Tom' is rather silly to them, likewise.

[KhunBENQ]

The nicknames of children in our clan are Thai words for "ant", "pearl", "pomelo".

One is named "kathun" after the english word "cartoon".

And so on..

Those are the nicknames of the grandchildren that live on our grounds.

As long as I come to Thailand (only 17 years though) there were always nicknames.

On the other hand there are male adult familiy members called by their real first namens: Paitoon, Paiboon,

[KhunBENQ]

Thanks everyone for the enlightening and entertaining posts so far. I'm now thinking, given that for Thais 'Tom' is already a funny alternative to Thomas, perhaps that's why I've yet to receive any new monikers. Much like a Thai with a nickname like 'Porn', 'Cherry', or 'Mink' is funny to us, I'm sure 'Tom' is rather silly to them, likewise.

Thomas: they can not say that, it would like Thomat.

Tom: with a short "o" it sounds like the Thai word for spitting.

With a longer "o" it sounds like the Thai word for a lesbian with masculine appeal (a "tom boy").

[aTomsLife]

Thanks everyone for the enlightening and entertaining posts so far. I'm now thinking, given that for Thais 'Tom' is already a funny alternative to Thomas, perhaps that's why I've yet to receive any new monikers. Much like a Thai with a nickname like 'Porn', 'Cherry', or 'Mink' is funny to us, I'm sure 'Tom' is rather silly to them, likewise.

Thomas: they can not say that, it would like Thomat.

Tom: with a short "o" it sounds like the Thai word for spitting.

With a longer "o" it sounds like the Thai word for a lesbian with masculine appeal (a "tom boy").

I didn't know about the word for spitting, but was aware that my name meant lesbian/Tom boy. As for being called Thomat, I quite enjoy it, as it's quite endearing to me. Admittedly, it's because it sounds child like. Edited March 13, 2013 by aTomsLife

[garycm]

A guy I know was called Girl by his parents. He changed it into Gun. Also I met a guy I believed was named Mik but when he spelled it, it was Milk.

[Barabbas]

My sister-in-law's nickname is Off (she was obviously born on a weekend - i.e. "day off")

When I first learned about it I cracked up, remembering the timeless classic:

- Hello, my name is Bond, James Bond.

- Off, bugger off!

Some of the nicknames are just parts of the original given name, i.e Te (from Sante).

Regarding the unfortunate Porns - only the English spelling makes it funny, because it's for most cases just a shortening of the final syllable of the name, i.e. กนกพร - can be spelled as Kanokporn - but the roots of those transliterations come from the Royal institute transcription rules, and are not quite negotiable.

A quote from George is good, for the sakes of good fun, but some of the points he makes are not really funny and strange to a Thai-speaking and reading-writing person (Farangs included).

[Neeranam]

I knew a couple of brothers called, 'beer' an 'booze'.

It's very easy an cheap for Thais to change their name - I know one girl who has changed her real name 3 times.

[Bluetongue]

Some of them seem to go in sequences, I know Boy, Bom, Boss born one after the other. Then there was Ping and Pang, and Pete and Mick. I was asked to nickname a new baby (real names I believe are chosen from a book and go on your day of birth). I very unimaginatively called him Marco after the then dead racer, it still sticks 18 months later, but sometimes shortened to Co. The second one I named Lisa after a daughter whose mother I became estranged from, name originally coming from the Simpson.

I get called Ung Ahn after the toad (great) or in the third person by Thais to other Thais gaer or old (great)

Edited March 13, 2013 by Bluetongue

[HeavyDrinker]

When I lived in Chanthaburi which has a large Catholic community, I was nicknamed 'Jesus' due to my long hair and (then) beard....

[Neeranam]

Just thinking, my kids are Thai citizens and do not have nicknames. I gave them Thai middle names.