Kids names

[Ajarn Philip]

Our youngest daughters brother in law has recently married a Thai girl and her name is Apple.

Having spent a moment or two working out who married Apple, I simply can't help getting stuck in on this one. Thanks, JR!

Now the lecture starts, so, if you're sitting comfortably, I'll begin...


Thais usually have multisyllabic names, often difficult for us westerners to pronounce, but cumbersome even for Thais. Consequently they almost always have a 'nickname', given at birth, sometimes with the advice of a Buddhist monk. Sometimes these nicknames are short Thai words like 'noy' or 'lek' (both of which mean 'small'), 'wan' ('fat!'), 'whaan' ('sweet'), etc. But often, and please don't ask me why, they use English words or names. Just a handful of examples from memory (if I had my class registers to hand I'd go on for ages, so think yourselves lucky!):

Oil... (pronounced Oi! as in Oi! You!)
Quik
Benz
Porsche
Peter Pan (honestly!)
Noon
May
Ann
Jane
Sue
Lookme
God (!)
A
B
Pop
Pat
Toon (as in cartoon, I was told with a perfectly straight face)
Porn (unfortunately, many Thai names end with that sound...)
Top

This is daft, I could go on for ages, but I'm sure you get the picture. If you'd like further examples when I've had a chance to consult my registers, please let me know by email. The charge will be nominal, but I'm sure you understand that I need to supplement my meagre salary somehow...

[J.R.]

Allow me to elucidate Peter. (you can't get done for it these days !)

Our youngest daughters EX-partners older brother is married to a Thai girl. In fact he flew out to Thailand on Tuesday to finalise her paperwork to come to England.

GORRIT ??

[Great Plum]

Like Apple, Peaches and Plum you mean?

That's it...



Or Moon-unit Zappa!

At my prep school there were a number of Thai kids, and they had names like Pom and Flick I think!

[huggermugger]

Had to add to this one..

I know of someone who has called one of their children Icicle... a friend has suggested she will inevitably be known as Bicycle when she gets to school...

Poor child.

I also speak as the aunt of Siola and Farran (No, I don't know why, either).

[jhopgood]

Going back through my ancestors, they used the Christian name Boyce quite often, occasionally spelt Boys, which I thought was because he was the eldest. I had always thought it a surname.
I had an Uncle Sonny, and until he died, I had no idea his real name was Albert, the same as his father.
Here in the village, just about everyone is Vicente or Pepita. They resolve the problem by giving everyone a nickname, normally related to where their forebears came from, neighbouring village or valley (La Guarera from Val de Laguar, Benissera from Benissa), what their forebears did, barber, carpenter (Barber, Fuster) etc, even if the trade is no longer practised.
Or some completely abstract thing. I have a friend, Xileno, whose real name is Vicente, and his nickname is based on the name of a dog his father had.
Took a bit of getting used to but the stories are quite interesting. Also, no nasty nicknames.

[Katharine]

I remember a discussion with Chinese friends in Sarawak about the Christian names they used. Victor told me that he gained his name first day in Primary School (RC nuns). They each had a 'suitable name' given to them on a piece of card. His card was longer than his neighbours so he swapped without neighbour noticing. He later became firm friends with said boy, now known as Polycarp.

It was quite noticeable while we were there, amongst adults of our age and older, so now over 60s, the Roman Catholics, Chinese and indigenous tribes, tended to use Christian names and the Anglicans used traditional names. I think this dated back to the mission schools. The Anglican Bishop was Made (2 syllables Mad-ay)