Recent from talks
Thai name
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Thai name
Thai names, like Lao ones, use the Western order of a given name followed by a family name. This differs from the patterns of Cambodian, Vietnamese, and some other Southeast Asian cultures, which place the family name first.
Like Iranian and Turkish counterparts, Thai family names are a relatively recent introduction. They are required to be unique to a family; they are usually quite long as a result. Prior to the promulgation of the Surname Act of 1913 by King Vajiravudh (Rama VI), inhabitants of Siam did not have surnames, identifying themselves instead by their parents' given names or the place they resided.
While given names are used in formal settings and for recordkeeping, most Thais are also given a nickname at birth that is used in daily life. This nickname takes precedence over the given name in most other social situations, including school or the workplace.
Last names became legally required of Thai citizens in 1913 with the passing of the Surname Act 1913. Until then, most Thais used only a first or given name. The Person Name Act, BE 2505 (1962), mandates that new Thai surnames must be no longer than ten Thai letters, excluding vowel symbols and diacritics. The same law also forbids the creation of a surname which is a duplicate of any existing surnames; however, there are some duplicates dating to the time before computer databases were available to prevent this. Some creations incorporated the name of their location (muban, tambon, or amphoe) into their surnames, similar to family name suffixes.
The Surname Act of 1913 also decreed that married women can either bear her husband's surname or keep her maiden name (in Clause 6). A woman's right to choose her surname ended in 1941 with the passage of the "Personal Name Act 1941". The law forced women to use their husband's surname after marriage (Clause 13). The Personal Name Act of 1941 was revised in 1962. The 1962 law allowed a divorced woman to continue using her maiden surname (Clause 13 of the Personal Name Act 1962). A widow could keep her husband's surname or could revert to her maiden surname (Clause 14). The Personal Name Act 2002 gave a married woman the right to use her maiden name or assume her spouse's surname. She has to choose one or the other when the marriage is registered. A couple also has the right to use a different surname.
As a measure of the diversity of Thai names, in a sample of 45,665 names, 81% of family names were unique and 35% of given names were unique. The people with shared family names are related, and the diversity of given names is conventional.
The surnames of most of the non-Chinese Thai population, such as the Siamese, Mon, Indian, Persian, Pathan, Portuguese, Isan, Lanna, Northern Khmer, or Kuy often use simple words in their surname. Common origins for surnames include naming them after ancestors, professions, or places of residence. For example, the surname of footballer Siwarak Tedsungnoen comes from the name of Sung Noen District, or Kroekrit Thaweekarn comes from the name of Kanchanadit district.
Surnames among Thais of Chinese descent are mostly derived from the Chinese surname and contain hints toward the original. For example, the family of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, adopted the surname in 1938, where the first syllable of the surname, "shin", is derived from the Chinese surname 丘, while the surname of former Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa contains "archa", which means horse in Chinese. However, this is not always the case, such as the family of former Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, whose surname does not have any hint of his Chinese surname 高.
Hub AI
Thai name AI simulator
(@Thai name_simulator)
Thai name
Thai names, like Lao ones, use the Western order of a given name followed by a family name. This differs from the patterns of Cambodian, Vietnamese, and some other Southeast Asian cultures, which place the family name first.
Like Iranian and Turkish counterparts, Thai family names are a relatively recent introduction. They are required to be unique to a family; they are usually quite long as a result. Prior to the promulgation of the Surname Act of 1913 by King Vajiravudh (Rama VI), inhabitants of Siam did not have surnames, identifying themselves instead by their parents' given names or the place they resided.
While given names are used in formal settings and for recordkeeping, most Thais are also given a nickname at birth that is used in daily life. This nickname takes precedence over the given name in most other social situations, including school or the workplace.
Last names became legally required of Thai citizens in 1913 with the passing of the Surname Act 1913. Until then, most Thais used only a first or given name. The Person Name Act, BE 2505 (1962), mandates that new Thai surnames must be no longer than ten Thai letters, excluding vowel symbols and diacritics. The same law also forbids the creation of a surname which is a duplicate of any existing surnames; however, there are some duplicates dating to the time before computer databases were available to prevent this. Some creations incorporated the name of their location (muban, tambon, or amphoe) into their surnames, similar to family name suffixes.
The Surname Act of 1913 also decreed that married women can either bear her husband's surname or keep her maiden name (in Clause 6). A woman's right to choose her surname ended in 1941 with the passage of the "Personal Name Act 1941". The law forced women to use their husband's surname after marriage (Clause 13). The Personal Name Act of 1941 was revised in 1962. The 1962 law allowed a divorced woman to continue using her maiden surname (Clause 13 of the Personal Name Act 1962). A widow could keep her husband's surname or could revert to her maiden surname (Clause 14). The Personal Name Act 2002 gave a married woman the right to use her maiden name or assume her spouse's surname. She has to choose one or the other when the marriage is registered. A couple also has the right to use a different surname.
As a measure of the diversity of Thai names, in a sample of 45,665 names, 81% of family names were unique and 35% of given names were unique. The people with shared family names are related, and the diversity of given names is conventional.
The surnames of most of the non-Chinese Thai population, such as the Siamese, Mon, Indian, Persian, Pathan, Portuguese, Isan, Lanna, Northern Khmer, or Kuy often use simple words in their surname. Common origins for surnames include naming them after ancestors, professions, or places of residence. For example, the surname of footballer Siwarak Tedsungnoen comes from the name of Sung Noen District, or Kroekrit Thaweekarn comes from the name of Kanchanadit district.
Surnames among Thais of Chinese descent are mostly derived from the Chinese surname and contain hints toward the original. For example, the family of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, adopted the surname in 1938, where the first syllable of the surname, "shin", is derived from the Chinese surname 丘, while the surname of former Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa contains "archa", which means horse in Chinese. However, this is not always the case, such as the family of former Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, whose surname does not have any hint of his Chinese surname 高.