CocoaBrotha Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 ]Why are Thai names so frigging long? Hmmmm? why??! why godamnit why!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomaswd Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 ]Why are Thai names so frigging long? Hmmmm? why??! why godamnit why!? That is so they can keep you and I on our toes and confused...hahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bah_eddie Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 Give them nick names that helps alittle. but they are terribly long thinking it is to keep us on our toes agreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loburt Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 You mean like the complete name for Bangkok, which just happens to be: Krungthep Mahanakorn Boworn Rattanakosin Mahintharayuttha Mahadilokpop Noparatratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniveymahasathan Amornpiman Avatransathit Sakkathattiay-avisnukarmprasit. Say that five times fast and you'll have the katoeys eating out of your hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJTX Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 You mean like the complete name for Bangkok, which just happens to be:Krungthep Mahanakorn Boworn Rattanakosin Mahintharayuttha Mahadilokpop Noparatratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniveymahasathan Amornpiman Avatransathit Sakkathattiay-avisnukarmprasit. Say that five times fast and you'll have the katoeys eating out of your hand. Thai's will even laugh when you ask them to say the complete name Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khun_lung Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 Do I dare get serious in this thread? Let's see what happens. According to Thai people I have queried on this subject, the granting of Thai names is a function of the Royal Family (not the king personally normally). The earliest Thai families have the shortest family names, while newer immigrants are given much longer names. And names will have a distinct meaning. Once a family name is given in Thailand, it will not be given again and so you don't have people named "Smith" who are unrelated. If someone has the family name of say, "Boonmee" (one of my friends has this family name), then all of the Boonmee clan are directly related and since Boonmee is a simple two-syllable name, it comes from early times. As to WHY some names are so long, you'd have to ask someone more knowledgeable than me. I cordially invite Thai people to correct anything I've said and to please add to it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJTX Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 Do I dare get serious in this thread? Let's see what happens.According to Thai people I have queried on this subject, the granting of Thai names is a function of the Royal Family (not the king personally normally). The earliest Thai families have the shortest family names, while newer immigrants are given much longer names. And names will have a distinct meaning. Once a family name is given in Thailand, it will not be given again and so you don't have people named "Smith" who are unrelated. If someone has the family name of say, "Boonmee" (one of my friends has this family name), then all of the Boonmee clan are directly related and since Boonmee is a simple two-syllable name, it comes from early times. As to WHY some names are so long, you'd have to ask someone more knowledgeable than me. I cordially invite Thai people to correct anything I've said and to please add to it! Well, you are a brave man :!: Anyway, this is an interesting topic. I've had numerous discussion on it trying to understand. As far as I can tell it's complicated. The older the family the shorter the name. But I also wonder if where the family is from - North, South, etc has something to do with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CocoaBrotha Posted June 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 Do I dare get serious in this thread? Let's see what happens.According to Thai people I have queried on this subject, the granting of Thai names is a function of the Royal Family (not the king personally normally). The earliest Thai families have the shortest family names, while newer immigrants are given much longer names. And names will have a distinct meaning. Once a family name is given in Thailand, it will not be given again and so you don't have people named "Smith" who are unrelated. If someone has the family name of say, "Boonmee" (one of my friends has this family name), then all of the Boonmee clan are directly related and since Boonmee is a simple two-syllable name, it comes from early times. As to WHY some names are so long, you'd have to ask someone more knowledgeable than me. I cordially invite Thai people to correct anything I've said and to please add to it! Khun_Lung you gots guts man!. :mrgreen: As of now I am doing a bit of research on it as I speak. My fellow Thai friends please school me on this subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khun_lung Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 Thai surnames are commonly two or three syllables but Thai Chinese surnames are often five or six syllables long.Originally the Chinese in Thailand did not have surnames but several generations ago they were required to take on a unique Thai surname. Most of them chose long unique names where the syllables have propitious meanings such as "fortune", "wealth" or "merit". So when you hear these long surnames they are an indication of Chinese ethnicity. Since Bangkok has a lot more Chinese they are more common here than upcountry. Some other notes on names: * It's conisdered lucky by some if the name plus surname total 10 syllables * It's illegal for the surname to have more than six syllables unless it is royalty * Surnames such as "Na Ayuthaya" or "Na ChiangMai" indicate the person is descended from royalty. Each generation of royal receives a title of lower rank until they revert to being commoners after 5 generations, but they get to keep the surname showing their heritage. "Na" is formal word for "of" * Names in Thailand are supposed to be strictly Thai and have a meaning but this rule is not always enforced. OnLynx Excellent and a very informed answer, Conor. But so far the diagogue has been farang. I hope some Thai people will jump in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJTX Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 [quote name="khun_lung Excellent and a very informed answer, Conor. But so far the diagogue has been farang. I hope some Thai people will jump in! I agree, excellent info but I too would like to hear from the Thai's... HELP!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJTX Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 Found this on the Bangkok University web site. Not sure how much it applies but... Compared to those of foreigners, Thai people seem to have much longer and complicated first and last names. Although Thais do not adopt middle names, most Thai first names contain so many syllables that sometimes part of the name is mistaken for a middle name. What actually is in their names? Is there any special meaning that makes it so long? There are certain sets of words that are applicable only to male or female. Many popular female names e.g. Parinyaporn and Pattaraporn consist of the word porn - pronounced exactly like pornography in English. Porn in Thai, however, stands for "blessings" or "good wishes." Tape in male names like Tapeprasit and Tapepradipat means an angel, not self-adhesive tape. Likewise, male names such as Pongsakorn and Vuttipong contain pong referring to a family lineage, not the unpleasant smell as in British English. Some words used in Thai names, which foreigners may find humorous, are actually with auspicious meanings, for instance Chat (meaning crown or jewelry), Rat (gems), Sit (privilege or right), Nun (joyful), and Nut (prosperity or sage). When pronounced as English, some Thai names retain marvelous meanings. An outstanding example is Paradorn Srichaphan, Asia's number one tennis player. Paradorn simply denotes brotherhood. In English, para- signifies beyond and dorn, which is a homophone of dawn, implies early morning. When put together, these two words Para and dorn allegorize the great beginning of prosperity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chatty Posted June 20, 2005 Report Share Posted June 20, 2005 When pronounced as English, some Thai names retain marvelous meanings. . some more good examples include titiporn and turdporn. it's the shame my name is "chatupon" :oops: after i know it... i wanna change the way to spell my name ... like Chattupon something like that... but i used it everywhere already ... it's too late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LUNATICFRINGE Posted June 21, 2005 Report Share Posted June 21, 2005 ..."Bandit" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJTX Posted June 21, 2005 Report Share Posted June 21, 2005 So, there is no Thai name like Bubba :?: :roll: (another bad joke) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neillyperrfekt Posted June 22, 2005 Report Share Posted June 22, 2005 if it is any consolation, my girlfriends name in english is 100,000 baht in thai gold. Her dad tried to change it to - nice eyes. Her mum stopped that. Still it seems a harsh name in my opinion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weldon Posted June 22, 2005 Report Share Posted June 22, 2005 My gf's name is Yiwa.........and she has no idea what that means.........anyone know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funfarang Posted June 30, 2005 Report Share Posted June 30, 2005 Thai surnames are commonly two or three syllables but Thai Chinese surnames are often five or six syllables long.Originally the Chinese in Thailand did not have surnames but several generations ago they were required to take on a unique Thai surname. Most of them chose long unique names where the syllables have propitious meanings such as "fortune", "wealth" or "merit". So when you hear these long surnames they are an indication of Chinese ethnicity. Since Bangkok has a lot more Chinese they are more common here than upcountry. Some other notes on names: * It's conisdered lucky by some if the name plus surname total 10 syllables * It's illegal for the surname to have more than six syllables unless it is royalty * Surnames such as "Na Ayuthaya" or "Na ChiangMai" indicate the person is descended from royalty. Each generation of royal receives a title of lower rank until they revert to being commoners after 5 generations, but they get to keep the surname showing their heritage. "Na" is formal word for "of" * Names in Thailand are supposed to be strictly Thai and have a meaning but this rule is not always enforced. OnLynx i also read this somewhere , but it added that the chinese immigrant were to have their names picked by buddhist autorities . not sure if i remember right cheers erawan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vampyra Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 As a name geek, I found this a very interesting topic! Tho no one might not be reading this anymo I gotta throw in some comments. I knew something about the origin but in a very general way (as posted below) but not the things posted above. But I can tell Thai names are long and hard to pronounce because they got some pali-sansakrit in them. Early Thai names are shorter and simpler, then became more elaborative at time. My name&surname are deeply rooted in sansakrit but are short and spelled in an olden way, not modern romanization. Re thai names, there's trend in naming as well. 20-30 years ago it was so cool to give your kids complicated sansakrit names, with 4-5 syllables and difficult spelling (rare alphabets on thai keyboards). It was hip to have a name that cannot be pronounced in one glance. Then ten years later parents opted for more readable names, preferably 1-2 syllables, not longer than 3. Some parents, like PM Thaksin, obviously chose simple Thai words (rather than pali-sansakrit) but put one after another to make a family rich of gold--Pan Thong Thae, Pin Thong Tha, for example. (Thong means gold). That became another trend--simple words put together to form new phrase as name (think of Alternative band like Third Eye Blind or All American Rejects ). Try dissecting thai names--every word has meaning. Ok so here's a rough translation of a text about surname: Family name: 'sakul' is a borrowed word from pali-sansakrit language meaning group, clan, family, order, descendants, or race. In Thailand 'sakul' is passed along paternal line, thus members of a family means descendants who come from the same father, grandfather, or grandfathers who are brothers. Sakul also means 'those who carry honorable blood'; meaning who act right and proper according to social standard. Thus one must act in order to preserve one's family name. Those who act unceremonously or uncivilized are called 'sans family name'. (very harsh and biting cuss for Thai people, almost like 'son of a b*' or bastards in literal sense.) The origin of Thai surname dated back during the reign of King Rama VI, with the act of B.E. 2456 (A.D. 1913) which was announced 1 July B.E. 2456 (excerpt from "His Royal Deeds of HM King Rama VI, "Origin of Surnames" by Jaminamorndarunaraksa or Jam Sundharawej--forgive wrong spelling). Family name indicates a paternal line and one's action affects the whole family. Family name thus is considered an anchor of moral code because your action can affect others who share your family name. Read full text (In Thai): http://www.sakulthai.com/DSakulcolumndetailsql.asp?stcolumnid=3751&stissueid=2634&stcolcatid=2&stauthorid=19 Ê¡ØÅ Ê¡ØÅ à »ç¹¤ÓÂ×èҡÀÒÉÒºÒÅÕÊѹʡĵÇèÒ ¡ØÅ á»ÅÇèÒ ½Ù§ ËÃÙè ¤Ãú¤ÃÑÇ ǧÈì à ª×éÃÊÒÂ à ¼èҾѹ¸Øì ä·Âãªé Ê¡ØÅ 㹤ÇÒÃËÃÒÂÇèÒ ¤Ãú¤ÃÑÇ ǧÈì ¡ÒÃÊ׺ʡØŢçä·Â¹ÑºµÒüÙé·Õèà »ç¹ºÔ´Ò à Ã×èþٴ¶Ö§¤¹ã¹Ê¡ØÅà ´ÕÂǡѹ ¨Ö§ÃÕ¤ÇÒÃËÃÒÂÇèÒ à »ç¹¤¹·ÕèÃÕ¾èÃà ´ÕÂÇ ÃÕ»Ùèà ´ÕÂǡѹ ËÃ×ûÙèà »ç¹¾Õè¹éç¡Ñ¹ à »ç¹µé¹ ¹Ã¡¨Ò¡¹Õé ¤ÓÇèÒ Ê¡ØÅ 儤ÃÕãªé㹤ÇÒÃÇèÒ à ª×éÃÊÒ¼Ùé´Õ ¤ÇÒÃà »ç¹¼Ùé·ÕèÃÕÃÒÃÂÒ·Êѧ¤Ã¶Ù¡µéçµÒÃÅѡɳüÙé´Õ à ªè¹ à ¸ÃÃÕ¡ÔÃÔÂÒÃÒÃÂÒ·à ÃÕºÃéÃÂÊÃ¡Ñºà »ç¹¼ÙéÃÕÊ¡ØÅ à ÃÒà »ç¹¤¹ÃÕÊ¡ØŨ÷ÓÃÃäáçµéçÃÑ¡ÉÒª×èÃà ÊÕ§¢Ã§Ç§ÈìÊ¡ØÅäÇéºéÒ§ ¤¹·ÕèäÃèÃÕÃÒÃÂÒ· à ÃÕ¡ÇèÒ ¤¹äÃèÃÕÊ¡ØÅ ËÃ×à äÃèÃÕÊ¡ØÅÃعªÒµÔ ¤ÓÇèÒ ¹ÒÃÊ¡ØÅ á»ÅÇèÒ ª×èÃÊ¡ØÅ ËÃÒ¶֧ ª×èâçǧÈì ª×èâçµÃáÙÅ ¹ÒÃÊ¡ØŢçä·Âà ÃÔèÃãªéã¹ÊÃÑÂÃѪ¡ÒÅ ¾ÃúҷÊÃà ´ç¨¾ÃÃç¡Ø®à ¡ÅéÒà ¨éÒÃÂÙèËÑÇ â´ÂÃÕ¾ÃúÃÃÃÒªâç¡ÒÃãËéµÃÒ¾ÃÃÃÒªºÑÂÂѵԢ¹Ò¹¹ÒÃÊ¡ØÅ ¾Ø·¸ÈÑ¡ÃÒª òôõö ¢Öé¹ áÅûÃáÒÈãªéµÑé§áµèÇѹ·Õè ñ ¡Ã¡®Ò¤à ¾.È.òôõö ¹ÒÃÊ¡ØÅ ÃÕÅѡɳÃÊӤѤ×à ?à »ç¹ËÅÑ¡¢Ã§¡ÒÃÊ×ºà ª×éÃÊÒµèÃà ¹×èç¡Ñ¹·Ò§ºÔ´Ò¼ÙéãËé¡Óà ¹Ô´ à »ç¹ÈÑ¡´ÔìÈÃÕ áÅÃáÊ´§ÊÒÂÊÑþѹ¸ìã¹·Ò§ÃèÇÃÊÒÂâÅËÔµ¢Ã§ºØ¤¤Å? (¤Ñ´¨Ò¡ ¾ÃÃÃÒª¡Ã³Õ¡ԨÊÓ¤ÑÂã¹ ¾ÃúҷÊÃà ´ç¨¾ÃÃç¡Ø®à ¡ÅéÒà ¨éÒÃÂÙèËÑÇ à Ã×èç ¡Óà ¹Ô´¹ÒÃÊ¡ØÅ à Åèà ñ â´Â ¨Ã×è¹ÃÃôÃسÒÃÑ¡Éì (á¨èà Êع·Ãà Ǫ) ¹ÒÃÊ¡ØŨú觺áÇèÒã¤Ãà »ç¹ÅÙ¡à »ç¹ËÅÒ¹¢Ã§ã¤Ã ã¤Ãà »ç¹¾èà ã¤Ãà »ç¹»Ùè ¼Ùé·Õèãªé¹ÒÃÊ¡ØÅà ´ÕÂǡѹ ¶×ÃÇèÒÃÕ¤ÇÒÃÊÑþѹ¸ìà »ç¹Ç§Èìà ´ÕÂǡѹ ¨Ã·Ó´Õ·ÓªÑèÇ¡ç¨ÃÃռšÃ÷º¶Ö§¡Ñ¹ ¹ÒÃÊ¡ØÅ ¨Ö§à »ç¹à ¤Ã×èçÂÖ´à ˹ÕèÂÇã¨ÃÔãË餹·Ó¼Ô´·ÓªÑèÇ à ¾ÃÒèáÃ÷º¶Ö§¼ÙéÃ×è¹·Õèãªé¹ÒÃÊ¡ØÅà ´ÕÂǡѹ´éÇ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narmada Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 All Thai SURnames are based on Pali-Sankrit and mostly compounded of severall nouns, which is why they are so long and unpronouncable for most foreigners - they don't know where the one noun ends and the next one begins, so they can't break down the name properly. Just a few translations of names: King Phumiphon - from Skt./Pali bhumi (earth) and pala (keeper) Shinawatra - from Skt./Pali jina (winning) and patra (person, personality). The first name Thaksin is from Skt. dakshina, which can mean 'gift/offering to the gods', but also 'south', and by extension 'right'. On old Indian maps East was up, which meant that the South was on the right side. Geddit? Many Chinese immigrant families have -kul or -wongse at the end of their family names. Kul is from Skt./Pali kula (family, clan), wongse from Skt./Pali vamsa (dynasty). Suriwong Road is really Surya-vamsa Rd., the Road of the Sun-Dynasty. A very interesting subject, for lack of time I have to leave it at that ... :cry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
appun Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 My name's"Thippawan" .. It means the lady who has the magic beautiful skin .... I am so DUM ...Thanks MOM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
literature Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 I noticed as well that thai-chinese people, whose their roots are chinese, have long family name when it compares to their real chinese family name ( Sae Lim, such as ) and compares to thai ppl Almost of thai ppl 've got 2 names , nick name for their family, friends to use and real name for official stuffs. Anyway, some of them have only one name coz their real name is short and their parents didn't make a nick name for them. If you are thai person, you can guess the name owner is male or female from their real name ( except some lady boys changing their real name ( that their parents originally named them ) to be a female name. ) there are some words which are used as names for either female or male. For example, :idea: My real name is Piyatida. Piya = beloved ( can be used for both of sex ) Tida = daughter or a woman ( that means only female can use this word ) So my name means " beloved daughter" :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vampyra Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 My gf's name is Yiwa.........and she has no idea what that means.........anyone know? Is it "ÂÔËÇÒ"? If so, it means ´Ç§ªÕÇÔµ, ´Ç§ã¨ or a poetic version of 'heart' (The Royal Institute Dictionary) http://rirs3.royin.go.th/ridictionary/lookup.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narmada Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 Many town names in Thailand are based on Sanskrit. For those interested, here some examples (in brackets the Sanskrit original): Ayutthaya (ayodhya) - not to be warred upon Buriram (puri-ramniya) - charming town Isaan - (ishaana) - another name for Shiva, also: Northeast Kalasin (kala-sindhu) - black river Kraburi (kara-puri) - the town of the elephant trunk (Kraburi is located in a part of the country which indeed looks like an elephant trunk on the map; but I'm not 100% sure about the etymology of kra) Kanchanaburi (kancana-puri) - town of gold Nakhon Nayok (nagara nayaka) - town of the chieftains Nakhon Pathom (nagara prathama) - first town Nakhon Sawan (nagara svarga) - town of heaven Nakhon Si Thammarat (nagara shri dharmaraja) - town of the noble King of Dharma Narathiwat (nara-dhi-vasa) - abode of good people Phitsanulok (vishnu-loka) - the place of Vishnu Petchaburi (vajrah-puri) - town of diamonds Prachinburi (pracina-puri) - ancient town Sukhothai (sukhodaya) - dawn of happiness Surat Thani (surashtra dhani) - town in the good kingdom Surin (sur-indra; I'm not 100% sure about this one) - (town of) the good Indra Ubon Ratchathani (upala raja-dhani) - royal town of the lotus Udon Ratchathani (uttara raja-dhani) - royal town in the north There must be more, but these spring immediately to mind. Most of the town names are from Central and N.E. Thailand, some from the South. In the North, the names are usually derived from Lanna language or Tai. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farangy Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 Many town names in Thailand are based on Sanskrit. For those interested, here some examples (in brackets the Sanskrit original):Ayutthaya (ayodhya) - not to be warred upon Buriram (puri-ramniya) - charming town Isaan - (ishaana) - another name for Shiva, also: Northeast Kalasin (kala-sindhu) - black river Kraburi (kara-puri) - the town of the elephant trunk (Kraburi is located in a part of the country which indeed looks like an elephant trunk on the map; but I'm not 100% sure about the etymology of kra) Kanchanaburi (kancana-puri) - town of gold Nakhon Nayok (nagara nayaka) - town of the chieftains Nakhon Pathom (nagara prathama) - first town Nakhon Sawan (nagara svarga) - town of heaven Nakhon Si Thammarat (nagara shri dharmaraja) - town of the noble King of Dharma Narathiwat (nara-dhi-vasa) - abode of good people Phitsanulok (vishnu-loka) - the place of Vishnu Petchaburi (vajrah-puri) - town of diamonds Prachinburi (pracina-puri) - ancient town Sukhothai (sukhodaya) - dawn of happiness Surat Thani (surashtra dhani) - town in the good kingdom Surin (sur-indra; I'm not 100% sure about this one) - (town of) the good Indra Ubon Ratchathani (upala raja-dhani) - royal town of the lotus Udon Ratchathani (uttara raja-dhani) - royal town in the north There must be more, but these spring immediately to mind. Most of the town names are from Central and N.E. Thailand, some from the South. In the North, the names are usually derived from Lanna language or Tai. Hey really cool list there!!! How about Khon Kaen or Korat? Both sound a bit dissimilar from the list above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narmada Posted January 10, 2006 Report Share Posted January 10, 2006 Ok, a few more ... Chanthaburi (chandra puri) - town of the moon(god) Chonburi (jala puri) - town of water (not quite sure, but should be right) Nakhon Ratchasima (nagara rashtra sima) - town by the border of the kingdom Nonthaburi (nanda puri) - town of happiness Pathum Thani (padma dhani) - town of lotusses Thonburi (dhana puri) - town of riches Uthai Thani (udaya dhani) - town of rising/developing Yasothon (yashodhara) Yashodhara = name of Buddha's wife Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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