I knew a girl whose name was Dogporn....That made me laugh.....

As you can see, my name is "Ulic" as in "you lick" I have been getting grief since I was

about 8 years old. By the time I was 14 when asked Ulic? what do you lick ? I would

just reply "pussy" I still get it, I still reply. All is fine.

BTW. And this is no bullshit, I worked with a guy, (showed me his drivers license)

whose first name was Oris, family name Clitoris. His nick name was Clit.

I also met a young lady whose parents were not big thinkers. Her name was

Sally family name Swallow, they used her mothers maiden name as her middle

name as some families do. Unfortunately that gave her the full name,

Sally Wilcox Swallow. This is absolute truth no BS.

Now with my name, when in North America and I have to leave my name with a

restaurant hostess waiting for a table, I just use MAX. Nobody can spell "Ulic"

and if another hostess who did not take the reservation is trying to sound out

the name. MAX is easy to spell, easy to call out, a uncommon name so I know

it is my reservation being called out. All good. No worries

As you can see, my name is "Ulic" as in "you lick" I have been getting grief since I was

about 8 years old. By the time I was 14 when asked Ulic? what do you lick ? I would

just reply "pussy" I still get it, I still reply. All is fine.

BTW. And this is no bullshit, I worked with a guy, (showed me his drivers license)

whose first name was Oris, family name Clitoris. His nick name was Clit.

I also met a young lady whose parents were not big thinkers. Her name was

Sally family name Swallow, they used her mothers maiden name as her middle

name as some families do. Unfortunately that gave her the full name,

Sally Wilcox Swallow. This is absolute truth no BS.

Now with my name, when in North America and I have to leave my name with a

restaurant hostess waiting for a table, I just use MAX. Nobody can spell "Ulic"

and if another hostess who did not take the reservation is trying to sound out

the name. MAX is easy to spell, easy to call out, a uncommon name so I know

it is my reservation being called out. All good. No worries

Max is uncommon?

Are you mad?

English is a language of complex consonants. Thai is a language of complex vowels and tones. Ask most Thais to pronounce English words with combined consonants e.g. cloud, refrigerator and they struggle. Yes, that's another one. Just as we struggle with what looks to be the same word in Thai with phonetic spelling for white, knee, and rice. Most Thais probably think Westerners are tone deaf.

Easiest solution, as other posters have said, is just spell it differently.

I knew a girl whose name was Dogporn....That made me laugh.....

?My ex wife's name is Ratanaporn and one of her 'nicknames' (she had 4) was the shortened version, Rat, which, of course, non-native speakers just called her rat (I always used the full name because I didn't like the others either).

There are several criticisms of the RTGS but the one applicable here is that it does not distinguish between long and short vowels. I give the example below. Both Thai words are spelled with different vowels, the first being short and second, long so this adds to the confusion.

The letter 'ร' following a 'true' long vowel will act as 'น' as in 'การ' but without the 'true' long vowel as 'กร' (from royal language or as in ต่อกร) it is pronounced as 'orn (or awn)ฟห in 'corn' or 'dawn'.

พล phohnM

pronunciation guide Phonemic Thai พน Royal Thai General System phon

pronunciation guide Phonemic Thai พอน Royal Thai General System phon

พร /พอน พร phaawnM

Sorry, '(or awn)ฟห in...' should read '(or awn) as in...'

Yes blame the British. They invented this wonderful language and exported it all over the world. Then they changed the pronunciation style which plays havoc with phonetic transliteration (But it sounds bloody good). This is a perfect example of the R and a W being interchangeable when it is not the first letter of a word. Most of the rest of the English speaking world sees those sounds as distinctly different .

The problem is that many country transliterate their languages into English based on modern British pronunciation. Making it impossible to pronounce correctly the words written on signs etc. If you you want to go to Koh Larn (to many it would be pronounced Koe and Larn with a pirates arrh) you have to know to read it Gaw Lahn.

Now can anyone explain to me why in Thai, the Wa When sound (ว) is always translated as a V when Thai's have no V sound in their language, and they actually find it difficult to pronounce the letter V. What is wrong with a W? eg. Sukamwhit, Suwhanaboom... Pretty hard to get it wrong spelled like that.

Only to the English speaking nations. In Germany and Scandinavia W is pronounced as a hard V. We call it Double U but in these countries it is called Double V so substituting a V for a W will not help these countries

I have met a few porn stars..

Be happy that you nieces are not named "Bangmi" and "BoomBoom"...

I would go with changing the "p" for a "b".....Veraborn, sounds almost identical, but no chance of misinterpretation as with "porn"

My stepsons nickname is Porn but it is most definitely pronounced Barn as in cow shed.

My niece, Bam, pronounced Bum, studied in Australia. She quickly changed it to Bam, like in the Flintstones!

OP, we should have a play date. In all seriousness, my GF's boys are "Big" (11) and "Boom" (9). That makes two Booms and a Big Bang!

5555 and "Who's on first?"

Nothing in Western and Asian pronunciation sounds the same. What's the big deal on this topic? Check with Google and you will read that Thai is one of the hardest languages to translate. Not because of spelling, but the tone of the words vary so much. One word could mean 5 different things based on how that word is said. Besides, you need to just go by your given name and live with it. In the States, this is a true statement, I have a female friend her parents names her Fonda Peters. Another acquaintance of mine is named Richard (Dick) Head. They all survived almost 70 years now. Today, people are so bothered by the smallest things in life.

Phonetic translations can be tricky. The anglicization of my GF's last name on her Thai ID is spelled Bunplook, while daughter's is spelled Boonpluk. Fancy that.

And none of these follows the rules (double "o" is always an "inventive" transcription).

We also have three different transcriptions of the same Thai family name in the kinship.

All thanks to the island in the North Sea drifting away from rest of world (first Brexit)

Great Vowel Shift

That is the problem, there is no "Set standard" when it comes to Thai/English phonetics. That's why now when learning new words I have to see t written in Thai so I know how to say it properly. Who decided that a P sounds like a B or a G like a K?

...perfection.............in paradise...........don't you know.......

...the final word in anything........

I was in a bank two weeks ago, and the man creating my new Master card had a name tag "Kittiporn Bumrunpong"

I was thinking of the hard time he would have giving anywhere in Europe or US.

Hold up, why should she change her name to suit the ignorant mindset of a westerner.

I'm sure it may make life difficult at times, but I have a similar problem with my surname.. most westerners cannot pronounce it correctly and get frustrated ..

I think your good wife should give the name she is happy with, and if ignoramuses have issue with that then it is their problem and not your wife's..

+1 Mr. Tee

My wife is a สมพร, [appropriate (proper); suitable; well matched] - [blessing (gift, benediction)]

and she keeps it as Somporn. It is both a female and a male Thai name.

If some "official" pen pusher ever asked what kind of name is that? I would call for their supervisor and report unacceptable and their abusive behaviour.

I would not enter any discourse with the "official" nor would I punch their lights out (however much I felt like doing so).

I would calmly, but in a loud voice, say. I need to speak to your supervisor now please!

I can see how some "officials" may think they have the upper hand and that they have got you by the small spherical objects but that would not stop me!

May I suggest that the OP does something similar!

How very Dare they?

Bit sensitive, aren't we? If you were overly PC enough to waste the supervisor's time to make an extremely petty complaint about something as trivial as that, you deserve everything you get. Just smile and tell them it's a Thai name.

OMG. This bought all the "english and thai" professors out. All the know all, know f%$# all crew that do not have a life.

Hold up, why should she change her name to suit the ignorant mindset of a westerner.

I'm sure it may make life difficult at times, but I have a similar problem with my surname.. most westerners cannot pronounce it correctly and get frustrated ..

I think your good wife should give the name she is happy with, and if ignoramuses have issue with that then it is their problem and not your wife's..

+1 Mr. Tee

My wife is a สมพร, [appropriate (proper); suitable; well matched] - [blessing (gift, benediction)]

and she keeps it as Somporn. It is both a female and a male Thai name.

If some "official" pen pusher ever asked what kind of name is that? I would call for their supervisor and report unacceptable and their abusive behaviour.

I would not enter any discourse with the "official" nor would I punch their lights out (however much I felt like doing so).

I would calmly, but in a loud voice, say. I need to speak to your supervisor now please!

I can see how some "officials" may think they have the upper hand and that they have got you by the small spherical objects but that would not stop me!

May I suggest that the OP does something similar!

How very Dare they?

Bit sensitive, aren't we? If you were overly PC enough to waste the supervisor's time to make an extremely petty complaint about something as trivial as that, you deserve everything you get. Just smile and tell them it's a Thai name.

Hold up, why should she change her name to suit the ignorant mindset of a westerner.

I'm sure it may make life difficult at times, but I have a similar problem with my surname.. most westerners cannot pronounce it correctly and get frustrated ..

I think your good wife should give the name she is happy with, and if ignoramuses have issue with that then it is their problem and not your wife's..

+1 Mr. Tee

My wife is a สมพร, [appropriate (proper); suitable; well matched] - [blessing (gift, benediction)]

and she keeps it as Somporn. It is both a female and a male Thai name.

If some "official" pen pusher ever asked what kind of name is that? I would call for their supervisor and report unacceptable and their abusive behaviour.

I would not enter any discourse with the "official" nor would I punch their lights out (however much I felt like doing so).

I would calmly, but in a loud voice, say. I need to speak to your supervisor now please!

I can see how some "officials" may think they have the upper hand and that they have got you by the small spherical objects but that would not stop me!

May I suggest that the OP does something similar!

How very Dare they?

Bit sensitive, aren't we? If you were overly PC enough to waste the supervisor's time to make an extremely petty complaint about something as trivial as that, you deserve everything you get. Just smile and tell them it's a Thai name.

Change their name to "Bob" then if their real name embaresses you. Just think how embaressing your name is to them in Thailand. The name "Pathetic" may be acceptible in western world but being Pathetic in Thailand is not.

Varaporn? Well, vara is Finnish and translates to spare and porn is porn. So spare porn.

Yup! its those pesky English again!

Yes blame the British. They invented this wonderful language and exported it all over the world. Then they changed the pronunciation style which plays havoc with phonetic transliteration (But it sounds bloody good). This is a perfect example of the R and a W being interchangeable when it is not the first letter of a word. Most of the rest of the English speaking world sees those sounds as distinctly different .

The problem is that many country transliterate their languages into English based on modern British pronunciation. Making it impossible to pronounce correctly the words written on signs etc. If you you want to go to Koh Larn (to many it would be pronounced Koe and Larn with a pirates arrh) you have to know to read it Gaw Lahn.

Now can anyone explain to me why in Thai, the Wa When sound (ว) is always translated as a V when Thai's have no V sound in their language, and they actually find it difficult to pronounce the letter V. What is wrong with a W? eg. Sukamwhit, Suwhanaboom... Pretty hard to get it wrong spelled like that.

Only to the English speaking nations. In Germany and Scandinavia W is pronounced as a hard V. We call it Double U but in these countries it is called Double V so substituting a V for a W will not help these countries

You're out of luck either way if you want to say it right. There is no Vee sound in Thai, and they make all foreign Vee sounds into W (double U) sounds. Which really makes the choice of a V to replace ว a total head scratcher.

MY Thai GF told me it meant "Lucky". I guess the same as blessed.

Yes blame the British. They invented this wonderful language and exported it all over the world. Then they changed the pronunciation style which plays havoc with phonetic transliteration (But it sounds bloody good). This is a perfect example of the R and a W being interchangeable when it is not the first letter of a word. Most of the rest of the English speaking world sees those sounds as distinctly different .

The problem is that many country transliterate their languages into English based on modern British pronunciation. Making it impossible to pronounce correctly the words written on signs etc. If you you want to go to Koh Larn (to many it would be pronounced Koe and Larn with a pirates arrh) you have to know to read it Gaw Lahn.

Now can anyone explain to me why in Thai, the Wa When sound (ว) is always translated as a V when Thai's have no V sound in their language, and they actually find it difficult to pronounce the letter V. What is wrong with a W? eg. Sukamwhit, Suwhanaboom... Pretty hard to get it wrong spelled like that.

well with that name in Brazil sounds bad...Vara means stick(wood stick) and porn maybe have a connection on that..so better change once married to Farang

Nothing wrong with the name in LOS

hi pom porn pam, how are you? im fine!

would you like to come over for a drink?

sure, when?

right now if your free time

The op should get over it

I've never been asked in any place in any country what my or my Thai wife's name means

I think the op's telling porky pies

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Just a silly Brit transliteration, since "porn" is pronounced as "pawn" in Thai why not just change the spelling to Varapawn.

Or change your dentist!!

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To bad you didn't have another niece named "Bing". Then you could have had "Bing", "Bang", "Boom".

The op should get over it

I've never been asked in any place in any country what my or my Thai wife's name means

I think the op's telling porky pies

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We live in England and Mrs Thanaporn is asked about her name, I've been asked at the chemist, dr surgery and other places, usually its just a polite(nosey??) question ..."that's unusual name where is it from?"

Plus I've noticed no one's sure how to pronounce it they usually have a couple of goes to get it right, i guess that triggers the question about the name. (Is the Th at the beginning said like an F or th sound or like i say it just as a T sound)

rocketboybkk have you lived in another country with your wife or just had a holiday, it probably makes a difference, i can't imagine staff at airlines/hotels/taxis/bar staff/waitresses etc caring about a name.

If i had of seen this thread 5 years ago, I would have changed Thanaporn to Thanaborn or Thanpawn too...I just didn't think about it at the time as i was use to it, i didn't think about life in England with word porn in the wifes name....

OP..I would change it, this is my recommendation for you change porn to born or pawn as others have suggested. If it bothers you then change it.