Thai nicknames

[JacksSmirkingRevenge]

I am not trying to be rude or mock Thais, but I find some of the nicknames silly and wonder why they choose silly names... well, silly to a farang like me.

I think it's interesting and unique to Thai culture, but silly.... I've lived in a few Asian countries and have visited a lot of them, but cannot remember nicknames like Thais use. I understand why they use nicknames, but ..... why use these names:

Beer, Ice, Jewelry, Bank, Foam, Nice, Meow, New, Tea, Ball, Poo(h), Oil, Jeep, etc.....

And Thais don't use their nicknames with just friends, it's what their family, friends, teachers, etc.. call them. It's basically their name, when not using their real name for ID purposes, flights, passport, etc...

Edited March 2, 2016 by JacksSmirkingRevenge

[GuestHouse]

Not much different than me calling myself Guesthouse or you calling yourself JackSmirkingRevenge ... to my mind.

[JacksSmirkingRevenge]

Not much different than me calling myself Guesthouse or you calling yourself JackSmirkingRevenge ... to my mind.

it's not real life, it is just an ID for an internet forum. My friends do not call me that, nor my family, teachers, and it's not the name I introduce myself as.

[Bench499d]

I think some of them are quite inventive, but often there are signs that the parents don't understand the foreign words they assign as nicknames such as Mafia and <deleted> for instance. Also they're probably ok when kids but then when adults it sounds a bit silly.

Much like calling your chav kid Mercedes though.

EDIT: the word that was deleted was my attempt to mask out the F word!

Edited March 2, 2016 by Bench499d

[CharlieH]

Some in my vicinity:

Helicopter, Focus (as in Ford), channel (TV), programme, (TV), Micro(soft), Computer, Rain, diesel, blumint (toothpaste), Cartoon

I think they choose them because they like the sound of them, influenced by Tv commercials etc, and often have no idea what they actually mean as it isnt their language.

[villagefarang]

Thais are not just little brown farangs and actually have their own traditions, fashions and trends which are important to them, regardless of what you may think of them. You sound pretty condescending to me.

[JacksSmirkingRevenge]

Thais are not just little brown farangs and actually have their own traditions, fashions and trends which are important to them, regardless of what you may think of them. You sound pretty condescending to me.

true, but isn't using these silly nicknames a recent trend? It cannot be traditional Thai.... i mean, can it?

[KhunBENQ]

Two granddaughters with strange nicknames.

"mee-you", Thai attempt to pronounce "mill" from "Dutch Mill" brand

"faym", Thai/Isan attempt to pronounce "frame", source unknown

The three others are conventional, Thai words for ant, melon and pearl.

Other fruits at the sister in law: Thai words for grape and pomelo/grapefruit.

Cartoon also

[Briggsy]

Nicknames often have some connection to events around the time of the birth or appearance at birth. It is the tradition.

[CharlieH]

I remember reading somewhere that Native American Indians used to name their children after the first thing they saw when the child was born.

Crazy Horse, Two dogs, Eagle flying, etc

May be it has similar origins ?? but has now been updated to modern times (words etc)

[Pacificperson]

When I was growing up, a neighbor had three boys: pickles, popcorn and peanuts. These were the mother's cravings during her pregnancies. Another friend was Stormy. He was nicknamed because he pissed on his father when his father picked him up.

Edited March 2, 2016 by Pacificperson

[JacksSmirkingRevenge]

Nicknames often have some connection to events around the time of the birth or appearance at birth. It is the tradition.

Yes, but why now it is cool and trendy for Beer, Bank, Ice etc...

[FritsSikkink]

I am not trying to be rude or mock Thais, but I find some of the nicknames silly and wonder why they choose silly names... well, silly to a farang like me.

I think it's interesting and unique to Thai culture, but silly.... I've lived in a few Asian countries and have visited a lot of them, but cannot remember nicknames like Thais use. I understand why they use nicknames, but ..... why use these names:

Beer, Ice, Jewelry, Bank, Foam, Nice, Meow, New, Tea, Ball, Poo(h), Oil, Jeep, etc.....

And Thais don't use their nicknames with just friends, it's what their family, friends, teachers, etc.. call them. It's basically their name, when not using their real name for ID purposes, flights, passport, etc...

while a name like Dick is perfectly normal

[DeaconJohn]

I am not trying to be rude or mock Thais, but I find some of the nicknames silly and wonder why they choose silly names... well, silly to a farang like me.

I think it's interesting and unique to Thai culture, but silly.... I've lived in a few Asian countries and have visited a lot of them, but cannot remember nicknames like Thais use. I understand why they use nicknames, but ..... why use these names:

Beer, Ice, Jewelry, Bank, Foam, Nice, Meow, New, Tea, Ball, Poo(h), Oil, Jeep, etc.....

And Thais don't use their nicknames with just friends, it's what their family, friends, teachers, etc.. call them. It's basically their name, when not using their real name for ID purposes, flights, passport, etc...

while a name like Dick is perfectly normal

...not to mention Peter and Willy.

[lungbing]

I remember reading somewhere that Native American Indians used to name their children after the first thing they saw when the child was born.

Crazy Horse, Two dogs, Eagle flying, etc

May be it has similar origins ?? but has now been updated to modern times (words etc)

Yes, the brilliant, late and very lamented author Terry Pratchett knew that. He had two characters as brothers that sometimes appeared in his stories. One was called "One Man Bucket" the older one was never named..........

Edited March 2, 2016 by lungbing

[willyumiii]

My name is William.

Can you explain why people want to call me Bill?

and what about Robert? why do you call him Bob?

I can only guess why a Richard is a Dick!

[The Dancer]

Some weeks ago walking to a BTS station I passed obviously a mother and her young daughter. They looked perfectly respectable and middle-class, the mother dressed conservatively in a long dress and blouse and the daughter in jeans and tee top. Except the girl's top said in the front "Eff off you lousy Wannkers". All spelled out correctly.

Clearly, they didn't know what it meant. And I guess neither did friends or family who might've told them. Neither did I notice any other passerby doing a double take. For most Thais English is just a lot of noise. Which is perfectly good to make names from because you really don't want a name to mean anything.

E.g, if your name were Hansuman Smith but you look like Chris Farley, then you're going to be ribbed a fair amount. On the other hand, if it was Larmuk Smith no one would care, at least in the US.

Edited March 2, 2016 by The Dancer

[jacky54]

we have i phone and google around the corner about 4 years old and a niece called idea,

[georgemandm]

I am not trying to be rude or mock Thais, but I find some of the nicknames silly and wonder why they choose silly names... well, silly to a farang like me.

I think it's interesting and unique to Thai culture, but silly.... I've lived in a few Asian countries and have visited a lot of them, but cannot remember nicknames like Thais use. I understand why they use nicknames, but ..... why use these names:

Beer, Ice, Jewelry, Bank, Foam, Nice, Meow, New, Tea, Ball, Poo(h), Oil, Jeep, etc.....

And Thais don't use their nicknames with just friends, it's what their family, friends, teachers, etc.. call them. It's basically their name, when not using their real name for ID purposes, flights, passport, etc...

What's the big deal, did you not have a nick name when you was a kid growing up I did my mates did .

You are reading to much in to

Thais lifestyle who cares it is thailand when you are here try not and change the way Thais are .

I get sick of people like you trying to change thailand.

[AZBill]

Ever been to Central Pennsylvanis? Boob, Bum, Short, Bem, Butt, Bub and those are just my uncles!

Edited March 2, 2016 by AZBill

[sipi]

One of our neighbours is called "Fat", and yes she is. Not exactly endearing but she doesn't mind.

Most Thais will commonly call little boys "hum noi" or "small balls".

[chas39]

I spent time with a Nun recently.First time for everything..

[MartinL]

What I find strange re. Thai names is that often people only know others by their nickname and have no idea of the full ID card name.

From time to time, letters will be delivered to our house by mistake (or because the postman can't be bothered to travel further along the soi) for neighbours or relatives. My wife & her brother next door never recognise the names the first time it happens.

Some time ago, a letter arrived for Nangsow Khetkeaw .......... - "No idea who that is" says Mrs. L. Turns out it was for her niece, known to all as Gam, who was 17 years old at the time and had lived in the house next to my wife all her life.

When my stepson married, my wife had to visit many of those she wanted to invite to the celebrations to ask their full names to put on the envelopes.

[Eclipse]

Can't be any worse than American golfer "Bubba" Watson.

[AYJAYDEE]

havent heard most of those. they use them because their real names are quite long.

[shunter]

Nicknames were given to children and people in general in the past so as the spirits could not lure them away.Spirits needed the full proper name of a child or an adult person so as to be able to lure them to where ever they wanted them to go.

Remember too that in many cases even now a new born Thai child is not given a name until it is 7 days old as the belief is that the child is in transit so to speak from a previous incarnation or the spirit world.

Don't criticize the practice remember that times change and although the names may seem bizarre to non Thais, those names all have a connection to events surrounding the child, its conception and personal parental choices and feelings.

[daviddabit]

One of the reason every Thai were given a nickname when they were young was because their traditional Thai name is very long and often not convenient to pronounce daily.

About the funny name I think is because they know limited English words and having English name is easy to pronounce...so comes Beer, Pancake, Oily and etc..

[Dmaxdan]

My wife's daughter recently had a son and named him French Fry. I did tell her that it should be French Fries, as in the plural, but of course not many Thais can say that correctly. I did plead with them to choose a different name.

Other children's nicknames around where I live are FIFA, Fanta, and possibly my favourite Sim Card....

[sipi]

With my name Phillip and my wife Tuk, we called our daughter Tulip (half Tuk half Phillip).

When we had a son I wanted to call him half Phillip and half Tuk...Phuk.

It didn't happen.

[keeniau96]

Remember that Thais will often change their names as they grow older or when they want to change their luck. Rationale has nothing to do with it, just what feels good. My massage lady is a wonderful person, all 70 kg of her (gives superb, very strong massage), name is K. Nu (meaning mouse in Thai).