Interesting article I read today..thought I'd share..
"Although all Thais have a first name and a family name, everyone is addressed by their first name - even when meeting strangers - prefixed by the title "Khun" (Mr/Mrs); no one is ever addressed as Khun Surname, and even the phonebook lists people by their given name.
In Thailand you will often be addressed in an Anglicized version of this convention, as Mr. Paul or Miss Lucy for example. Bear in mind though, when a man is introduced to you as Khun Pirom, his wife will definetly not be Khun Pirom as well, as that would be like calling them Mr and Mrs Paul (or whatever).
Among friends and relatives, Phii (older brother/sister) is used instead of Khun when addressing older familiars (although as a tourist your on surer ground with Khun) and Nong is used for younger ones.
Many Thai first names come from ancient Sanskrit and have auspicious meaning: for example, Boon means good deeds. Porn means blessings, Sri means glory and Thawee means to increase. However, Thais of all ages are commonly known by the nickname given to them soon after birth rather than their official first name. This tradition arises out of a deep rooted superstition, that once a child has been officially named, the spirits will begin to take an unhealthy interest in them, so a nickname is used instead to confuse the spirits.
Common nicknames - which often bear no resemblence to the adults personality or physique - include, Yai (big) Oun (fat) Muu (pig) Kung (shrimp) Lek or Noi (little) Nok (bird) and English nicknames like Apple and Joy.
Family names were only introduced in 1913 (by Rama Vl, who invented many of the aristocracy's surnames himself) and are only used in very formal situations, always in conjunction with the first name. It's quite usual for good friends to never know each other's surname. Ethnic Thais generally have short surnames like Somboon or Srisai, while the long, convoluted surnames - such as Sonthamsompon - usually indicate Chinese origin, not because they are phonetically Chinese but because many Chines immigrants have chosen to adopt new Thai surnames and Thai law states that every newly created surname must be unique. Thus anyone who wants to change their surname must submit a shortlist of 5 unique Thai names - each to a maximum of 10 Thai characters - to be checked against a database of existing names. As more and more names are taken, Chinese names get increasingly unwieldy, and more easily distinguishable from the pithy old Thai names."
So, Porn is a blessing eh..think they got that one right at least..
My daughter's spirit attracting name is Weeparda, which means something like 'to be worldly wise'..give the lass a chance, she's only 5 months.
Anyone one else got any kids with names with ancient meanings?
