Thailand's Last Name Problem

[@NameExplain]

Any Thai people watching? 🇹🇭

[@kp7295]

Yes, I have watched your content for quite a while now. Keep up the good work 👍🏼

[@natalierangkla]

I'm not Thai but I live in Thailand. Happy to see a video on Thailand

[@Bmonkeygurl]

Yes, married to a Thai. 😊

[@lilharper_]

Longtime Thai viewer here

[@Jaggerbush]

No but have vacationed there!

[@my_other_side473]

Before 1913: They don't have last name After 1913: LONG A*S LAST NAME!

[@ms.cannibal5190]

Gotta say indeed mine is ยานสุวรรณ์/Yansuwan which mean long prosperity and tbh it's not considered that long in Thai

[@chalkp]

most of the long last names are from chinese descendant families, they keep their old last name with a new last name example: Puey Ungphakorn. Ung (黃) is the same chinese last name as mine, but for Phakorn is a Thai last name assigned by the officials back then. So, now we dont share a same last name.

[@kittipong_kaewruamwong]

It's called คำสมาส

[@poomafk2555]

True last name เปล่งปัญญารัตน์

[@KRN000]

same here in india.

[@ibi6262]

Fun fact about name culture thing in Thailand that most people don't know: parents' names are used as "meanspirited nicknames" to call someone. It's VERY RUDE to call someone by their parents' names in Thailand 😂

[@EmelyPhan]

Bambam doesn't even know his siblings' (and his) names at times since they all use nicknames.

[@fairycat23]

Is Gigguk a mean-spirited nickname, then?

[@janeiserane3038]

It's not rude but it's quite weird to call someone by their family name.

[@ibi6262]

@@janeiserane3038 I was talking about their father's and/or mother's nicknames

[@EmelyPhan]

@@janeiserane3038 I think they are talking about people's government names.

[@ratathai]

Funny fact! « Porn » in Thai means « blessings » so you’ll find many people with the name « Porn » in it. My ex gf names as Chutiporn and my present gf name’s Panpaporn 😅😂

[@chetan_naik]

Fun fact "chut" in Hindi means female sex organ. "Chutiya" is a common swear word. If some Indian hears surname chutiporn he will laugh hysterically. 😂

[@ThatOneEditor740]

As an thai i agree

[@tsuaririndoku]

I mean. Can porn is truly blessing. Even in Thai or in EN XD

[@the_allucinator]

God forbid you use the words "good ride" before "blessings" ขี่ดี = good ride

[@Uunartoq2018]

Well, you don't know that they can spell differently too. Due to most of Thais doesn't understand English, so they named seem to be lame as they don't know what's the meaning of those while spelling in English. 😅

[@nailartguy3363]

The reason why Thai last names are long when written in a Latin script (despite the 10 character limit) is because Thai uses an abugida and the vowels and diacritics don’t count in the 10 character maximum for last names, which only includes consonants. So for a Thai name written in English, like Chevapravatdumrong, it is very long and consists of many characters, but it’s Thai counterpart ชีวประวัติดำรงค์ is still only made up of 10 consonants as ะ and า are vowels. Hope that helps to clear some things up about why the names are so long even though there is a 10 character limit!

[@ddobefaest9334]

Is there also an official limit to the syllables or 'payang'?

[@Zeyede_Seyum]

ቼቫፕራቫትዱምሮንግ

[@kraanialepsy]

@@ddobefaest9334 I think there is no official limit. Tooo long last name just look weird. Normally its 3-5 syllable. What considered too long and weird is smth like more than 7 syllable.

[@abnormalanorak]

That was also the case in Turkey (and her predecessors) until 21 June 1934, when the Surname Law was adopted.

[@mustafakhan5905]

Pakistanis still don’t have last names. Really confuses schools in the UK and Canada which are home to large diasporas

[@gregblair5139]

@@mustafakhan5905 - If you come to the US and don't have a last name, they give you one!

[@z0phi3l]

@@gregblair5139 Not necessarily true, at work we have way too many people with - instead of a last name, and not all still live in India or Pakistan

[@WolfSaviorZX]

​@@z0phi3lI heard When some Irish people immigrated to America way back in the day many of them didn't have last names so when they gave their name it would be something like "Barney of Reilly" the town they was from so their last name became O'Reilly.

[@KRN000]

​@@mustafakhan5905indian subcontinent me last name ka concept tha hi nahi, ye british walo ne last name ka system shuru kiya jab pahli census hui.

[@sh3n3ng]

I'm Chinese Thai, My Chinese family name is 符. my Thai family name was given to my granddad together with few Chinese immigrants that happened to live in the same apartment at the moment. right now, there're a few people who have the same family name as mine that i am not related to by blood. ...and smuk is not a word. Pearl in thai is มุก /muk̚˦˥/, from Sanskrit मुक्त (mukta, “pearl”). maybe you misheard it's muk as it's smuk or something.

[@DanDaFreakinMan]

That tripped me as well the Muk thing. Very nice name tho.

[@rynieryarom4277]

In malay, mukta turned to mutiara

[@kamenriderfourze4578]

I love Malaysia🫶

[@kamenriderfourze4578]

I love cute malaysian and thai girls🫶

[@DrunkenHotei]

Thanks for the clarification. "Smuck" didn't have the ring to it I'd expect for a word meaning "pearl."

[@lilharper_]

Interesting, as a Thai person i wasn’t aware that changing names is considered a bad omen. In fact, a lot of people would change their names as a way to bring good luck (usually following the advice of fortune tellers).

[@prapanthebachelorette6803]

Exactly

[@warisophanodorn9547]

Yep, shout out from another thai person, changing name IS NOT considered bringing a bad omen. on the contrary, people change their name for good luck and fortune.

[@SewolHoONCE]

Exemplar Gratis:Look up the story of Lalisa Manoban Blackpink and the fortune teller. ¿Where would Lalisa Manoban be now if she were still using her given name?

[@erni2619]

Agreeing with you as another fellow Thai เพื่อนที่เปลี่ยนชื่อ เขาก็เปลี่ยนเพราะว่าเรื่องมงคลทั้งนั้น

[@khritdisyapipat63]

Yeah this channel just be talking shit and spread misinformation 🤣

[@arunwpm]

Good video, thanks for covering our country once again! As probably already mentioned by others, pearl is not "smuk" but rather "muk" or "mook", and I'm not quite sure what Meek is supposed to be. "Mek" does mean cloud, but I haven't ever seen anyone with that last name. The 10 character limit refers to 10 Thai consonant letters, and since Thai is an abugida where vowels may be written above or below consonants, those wouldn't count. That's why you can get last names like จึงรุ่งเรืองกิจ‎ ("Juangroongruangkit") which is most definitely more than 10 letters when transcribed with the Latin alphabet, but just 10 Thai alphabet characters. Also as others have pointed out, Thai last names have since evolved to become long and complicated to make sure it is unique, and borrowing words from Sanskrit and/or extending Chinese last names if they were Thai Chinese. Fascinating subject overall -- these long Thai last names are joked about both inside and outside the country, and a great side effect is how easily identifiable and searchable they are. If you search a surname up on Google, chances are most results are actual family members.

[@lovebunny5644]

จะเป็น "เมฆา" อะไรซักอย่างมากกว่านะว่ามั๊ย

[@ddobefaest9334]

I heard there was a limit to the syllables 'Payang' as well as the letters. Is this the same thing?

[@VRMMOTH]

​@@lovebunny5644thailand d2 Chinese Rama I king

[@ภูมิสิทธิสมวงศ์]

As a Thai, I think this video is fascinating and insightful. 3:10 The word "SMUK" is actually pronounced more like "Mook." Even in the modern day, we often know each other by nickname. 7:30, and no, family names are long enough to distinguish the families. My last name is "Sittisomwong". We still need to write them. . 8:50 I even heard about cases where people went for one-night stands and loved each other so much until they found out before the marriage that they share the same family name.

[@pelletrouge3032]

That last point is kinda scary

[@hub6490]

It is not entirely accurate to say that last names were only introduced in Thai culture in 1913. family names (Takul) have existed in Thai culture for centuries, but were primarily used by nobles and aristocrats. Some of the last names used in Thailand today can be traced back to four centuries ago, such as the Amatayakul and Bunnag families, etc. However, commoners did not have surnames until 1913. In the past, commoners would introduce themselves by using their own name, their father's name, and the name of their village (for example, "I'm Dam, son of Dang from Bangrachan village"). Also Thai long last name tradition has nothing to do with foreign origins. Many people prefer to have long last names because it gives the impression of coming from an aristocratic family. When Thailand introduced surnames for commoners, there was a rule that last names longer than three syllables had to be granted by the king. This led to many people wanting to change their last names, resulting in more than half of the population having very long last names today. (because Thailand permits anyone to change their last name as they wish. some peoples even change their last name many times because of fortune teller)

[@mgp_2772]

In Myanmar, most burmese people don't have last name but some do. Names are based on the day of the week following Burmese naming system and astrological beliefs. For example if a person was born on Saturday( Dragon's day in burmese), the name begins with a set of burmese alphabets(တ ထ ဒ ဓ န - Ta Hta Da Dha Na) representing Saturday(စနေ). Most people have 3 syllables names in general but My name has 4 syllables and some have 5 or 6 .

[@lokilynn6542]

and also Myanmar names have meanings too.

[@NahMyTurn]

Some names don't follow the system tho, my name starts with က even though I was born on a Tuesday. So is my friend's.

[@yothiga]

Interesting! Thailand has some rules bases on the birthday as well but it’s all superstitious. For example, People born at Monday will not have vowels and Tuesdays boy’s name will start with “ด ต ถ ท ธ น”

[@marcusdamianbaloyo1336]

I had a Thai friend named "Bank". Basically, they'll use any noun to name you in Thailand.

[@ddobefaest9334]

Met a 'Google' and an 'Iphone'.

[@BangFarang1]

I know a girl called Miguel (pronouced Mikeow), a guy called Dream (his mum loved the Honda Dream scooter), another Border (his father was immigration officer) and a woman called Vulva because she had a prominent pubic mound at birth.

[@kraanialepsy]

I got "France" as a nickname lol. Because my mom like France soo much, learn French, shit ton of Eiffel tower pic and model. My little brother name is "Thames" because it sound nice. Yes... as simple as that. And its kinda Europe-ish linking with my nickname too. And there is a lot of "France" in Thai, normally come from their parents like France'98 World Cup. As you said, any words and anything can be a name, sometime didn't have meaning, if it sound nice in Thai, its good enough. Even literally a Latin alphabet. You can found A,B,C,F,G,J,K,L,M,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,X as a nickname.

[@schernein1871]

@@kraanialepsyI’ve met “England” and “Munich” lolll

[@warisophanodorn9547]

As a thai person, in the modern time, many real name and surname have sanskrit origin (as in the past many royalties and nobilities have long sansakrit name so its just a way to make their name more fancied). while nick name are very simple and short, and it can come from any language from english (Bomb, ball, best, book for example) Chinese (Lin, Yun, Yok) or thai (Muk, Mai, Chan). Another fact: Many tradition for Thai-chinese Surname were newly created from the combition of their old chinese surname, twist the pronunciation a little bit - just for it to have a meaning in thai. For example my grandfather chinese family name was Lo (羅), so my new mother's family name was "Lor"phensri.

[@patryk88]

My maternal family is Thai Chinese and my grandfather (and my mother’s) Chinese last name is Chung 鍾 our Thai surname that my grandfather used is Chongsuknirandr ช่องสุขนิรันดร์ which means shining happiness forever

[@davidpeters6536]

My wife's surname is Buton.

[@panthalassa14]

As a Thai person, I think nickname is such a unique culture. It could be any random word from any language. Just make sure it's only 1 or 2 syllables. If not so, someone would automatically shorten it because it's too long. By the way, it's not required by law that wives have change their surnames when married. I see that some people already mentioned about Chinese-Thai surnames. Yes, some surnames came from the pronunciation of their Chinese surname (like "Jia"ravanon from 謝 in Teochew chinese language), but some of them are from the meaning. Like the surname Ma 馬 ("horse") which became "acha" or "asava" ("horse" in Pali/Sanskrit).

[@davidpeters6536]

That happened to my son who I called Brian after a dear friend who had recently died. The Thais called him "Ann" which is an English girls name and in the UK Brian is shortened to "Bri". When my daughter was born I called her Stephanie and she got the short version "Anie" instead of Steph...

[@VRMMOTH]

King Rama I Chinese Thailand DNA

[@bjornmu]

In Norway, family names were not legally required until 1923, though most people had them. They could also use patronyms, or append their farm name to their given name. In the latter case, they would have to change it if they moved. But from 1923, names followed the family.

[@PennyAfNorberg]

In Sweden before the du-reform title was more or less part of the name, at least when it was something none mundane.

[@Ariverfish]

Brought to you by John Johnson

[@norcimorci]

What really baffles me to this day is why won't you use nicknames in Norway? So many kids with the same name in the same class. Yet they just use Emma E, F ,B.....so boring and unoriginal.

[@srinivasanparthasarathy]

In a state in Tamil nadu In the country of india we stopped using last names as there were discrimination based by last names other wise the rest of India there are family names for identifying we use Our name followed by our father's

[@teaburg]

@srinivasanparthasarathy Are the females using their name followed by the mother's name?

[@jojoone1099]

That makes a ton of sense. I had an Indian friend who put a lot of stock into last names. I got the sense it indicated the caste the person "belonged" to.

[@belstar1128]

i am not indian but in my country many people picked insults and other weird jokes as last names 250 years ago. sometimes the names were polite at the time but became rude as the language changed

[@blessedslave]

@teaburg No they too use the father's name, same as daughter of mr. Johnson is xxx Johnson as genealogy passes through father

[@teaburg]

@@blessedslave It bothers me. Like the female line is being obliterated. It can be stopped since last names are fairly new. Simply by females using the mothers original last name.

[@amberallen7809]

I'm an English teacher in Thailand and only have to use my students' 'real' name on certain paperwork. I know them exclusively by their nicknames. They call me 'Teacher Amber' which I like a lot more than Ms. Allen. When my mom came to visit and found out though, she freaked out, because she's super (American) southern and thought it improper 😂

[@TON._.N]

One thing to add, there are also special titles for those who came from old aristocratic bloodlines too, and they can be translated as “at (province name)”, the equivalent of it would be “of (place)” in English, I suppose. The most common one is “Na Ayutthaya”or “at Ayutthaya”, the old capital in medieval time. These titles come after the family names. For example: John Smith Na Ayutthaya (John Smith at Ayutthaya)

[@BangFarang1]

I know a "Na Yarang" and he as no other family name.

[@boubayaga_]

You can change your name super easy in the UK. You can literally print out the specific deed poll text, fill it out and have 2 friends sign it and bam, name legally changed!

[@nriamond8010]

That's so cool! In Germany, it is as good as impossible. You only can change your name if you can prove that your name is causing very serious psychological problems, you need a medical report for that and even then it does not always work and it's expensive. EVEN if you go through it, you can't choose any name but it has to be as similar to the old name as possible. With last names, you only can change your name at your wedding and have limited options for that (and if you change it, the second you sign the marriage license you can never get your old name back except at a divorce - I've seen some women carelessly taking their husband's name, regretting it very soon but now they have to live with it forever). I've heard from countries where couples can combine their last names and I'm envious - my husband's and my lastname would combine to the German poetic name for fox, that would have been so cool 😄 but well, I live in the country of bureaucratic hell, what can I do ...

[@YunxiaoChu]

@@nriamond8010???

[@kirby_tardigrade]

in the US, I spent like $450 and a few months to get my name legally changed.

[@okaysad7990]

What if someone doesn’t have friends?

[@kawaiilotus]

​@@nriamond8010that seems really terrible for people who are victims of domestic abuse! Imagine not being able to escape your old identity! Also it's terrible that you cannot double barrel the surname (if I got married I would like to take on my husbands surname but not necessarily get rid of mine.

[@abmong]

How I got my nickname was pretty funny. My mum had 7-Up cravings when I was in her womb, so she gave me the nickname อัพ (Up) When I was sent to primary school in England the kids started calling me Ab, I guess it sounded less strange to them than calling someone "Up", I went with it. In Secondary school that got changed to Abs because the primary school teacher who took me to view my secondary school introduced me as Abs, he was a northerner and was the only one who called me Abs at primary school. So in Thailand I'm อัพ, to my primary school friends I'm Ab, Abi, Abigail, Abbey National... to my secondary school and after I'm Abs Abmung/Abmong is from a girl at secondary school who called me that because she thought it sounded like a cartoon character from Pokemon or something. This was back in the 90s.

[@ernestcline2868]

Keep in mind that Thai uses an abugida, not an alphabet, so each character can represent a syllable.

[@ThoraninC]

The law state that they only count inline character. I have to write specific script to process Thai word length

[@ItsPForPea]

About small usage of last names: since the usage of nickname is already popular, and unlike in western cultures where names and nicknames of a person will sound similar, Thai names and nicknames are nothing alike. So most people would only learn others' names and nicknames. You call others by names to be polite and by nicknames to be more casual, like surname-name dynamic in western cultures. In fact, traditional media would frequently refer to actors/superstars by just their nicknames and names. (Imagine something like Mike Michael instead of Michael Jackson) So yeah, surnames are just too complicated for Thai people to remember others, some can go on for 5-6 syllables with difficult spelling! I only know my friends' surnames because it's still used often in school settings, but once I'm out, I doubt I'll learn many surnames.

[@MANOFKILLER]

Hello that pvz youtuber I did not expect to see

[@yukkurioniisan]

Fun fact Indonesia in 21 April 2022 now legally required every newborn Indonesian to have at least two words name. The 'second word' in the name doesn't necessary be a surname though.

[@niranam017]

When I was in collage they're four dudes that nickname "film" so we name them by their most notable trait in northern thai dialect like "Derng" mean lengthy/high "Tui" mean fat "Mai" mean wood because he good at carpentry and lastly "moi" which literally mean public hair because he have a curly hair and in the end no one was call "film" anymore

[@kraanialepsy]

I got called moi before because of curly hair lol.

[@fubytv731]

it's very common in some parts in southeast Asia to not having surnames, I think. Surnames are a rather new invention here. I don't quite understand what's the fuss anyway. Like, there are plethora of ways to differentiate people, it doesn't even have to be using verbal cues to begin with.

[@asantaraliner]

​@momytik Well, that is 2 names, not forename and surname. Even if there is 2 names, it's probably forename and middle name without the surname.

[@MariaMartinez-researcher]

Having surnames, or any other way to establish lineages and precise identities, is very useful for history, genealogy, inheritance, many aspects of civil law (adoption comes to mind), police records, military service, driving ID cards and all manner of ID cards, hospital records, pensions and other social benefits - etc. You don't need surnames in your family or group of friends to know who is who, but a country sure needs the best possible ways for not arresting innocent people or for sending a tax letter to the right rich guy, not to the poor guy who has the same name and lives in the same city.

[@notusneo]

​@@asantaralinerthis is actually true

[@AzureFides]

Probably because it’s a tradition from their nobles to show their lineage and also because they have limited number of names unlike some other languages, so they need a surname or even a middle name to make their name unique. That’s why there were so many king Henry, Edward or Charles.

[@VisibleMRJ]

There was also this Thai girl who changed her named for good luck. She changed her name to Lalisa. She been dropping some money ever since.

[@NisarKhan-jm1uh]

I know who you are referring to.

[@jonathanlojitin2300]

Here's something similar within Kadazan culture in Sabah, Malaysia. Traditionally for a Kadazan, that person is given a name based on what happened or what their parents witnessed during the child's birth. Eg: Kuyung - Tumblebug Longkoyung - A giant leaf Kojuli - To be able to get revenge Kuntao - Martial arts Kazu - A tree Yazou - To praise And just like Thai culture, were called by nicknames mostly by distant relatives or friends. But one's parents will most likely refer to the birth name. Surnames didn't become a thing when we started to intermarry with the Chinese. But surname practice is prevalent during the British colonial era when educated Kadazans emulated the practice. Notable Kadazan families are Malakun, Moujing, Lasimbang and Mojuntin. If the family is considerably big, we refer to them as a clan. Surnames are even emphasised during the spread of Christianity where Catholic priests would baptise the locals with names such as: "David, Rose, Julius, Benedict, Philip, Angela, Felix, Beatrice etc." Some of these names were very common so some of the locals chose surnames to differentiate from one another. Kadazans will usually use surnames that are derived from the name of their last male ancestor. Either their father, grandfather, great grandfather and even their great-great grandfather.

[@to_cya_]

7:35 middle names act had already existed for more than 50 years, but still not that widely used. Mostly used by married women who preferred to transfer their maiden name into middle name after marriage. Other usages are maternal surname or western middle names for the half-Thai.

[@kraanialepsy]

I meet one teacher that got middle name. It's her real last name, and the last name she's using is of her husband. She kept them all because both are prestige last name.

[@notthatcreativewithnames]

1:48 Pretty sure that names like Kittisak or Anong would be too fancy around 1913. Thai people around that time used shorter names which are less based on Pali/Sanskrit. Fancier Pali/Sanskrit-derived names came even later than surnames, and names these days tend to get fancier and fancier.

[@lovebunny5644]

Nah bro we go straight up animals colour or just one word

[@natalieo7539]

I had a kid in my class in Thailand named Baby Shark.

[@sandybarnes887]

Do do do do do do

[@s0cc451]

Back when I was in Elementary school, we have Shogun, Facebook, etc. And of course, the problem of having the same nickname, so we get something like Boom-2.

[@kraanialepsy]

@@s0cc451 In my class I got loads of Boom too lol. But normally for the same name we just call them from their major appearance. Like, Boom black, Boom fat, Boom glasses, Boom curly hair, smth like that.

[@WaterShowsProd]

It's very common in Thailand to know someone and not know their name or surname, and only know their nickname. However, with social media and e-mail that is starting to change somewhat. Even celebrities are referred to by their nickname followed by their name, but usually not their surname, so it's as if the nickname acts as their name and their name acts as a surname. Regarding westerners living in Thailand, middle names cause tremendous confusion, especially when our passports are in the order of Surname, Name, Middle Name. Someimes when we're making a film or a show that's set in a western country I have to vainly try to explain that you don't call the doctor "Dr. Sam" or somesuch. I have friends who have changed their name to alter their luck. You should consult with a monk who will use astrology to select the right name for you, based on your birthdate. Also when a foreigner gets Thai citizenship they have to register a Thai name. In Myanmar they still do not have surnames, people there have 3 or 4 names and might be called any one or two of those names, or have a nickname.

[@mikaelarpfrandsen9443]

Fun fact, in Danish. Smuk means beautiful

[@isaacbobjork7053]

And if you go like 150 years back in Sweden (and other countries) we used to have patronyms like in Iceland, like Johansson if your father's name is Johan and so on. Then at some point we just "froze" the patronyms into inherited last names, and that's why we have all the Andersson and Johansson and Eriksson. And not all of them related. I would really have been a Johansson myself if my father hadn't invented and taken a unique surname before I was born.

[@zobblewobble1770]

Cool, that explains my friend’s name (he is an Anderson and has told me he has Scandinavian ancestors)

[@Cokediction]

I'm Thai but was born in the States. However, when I was born, my family was told I needed a middle name, so they made my nickname my middle name. My middle name is Peter, but in Thai, it's slang for cockroach. When I show my ID to my Thai friends, they always think it's cool that my nickname is actually a part of my name. 555

[@hakuwapuyad9891]

A related case here in the philippines especially in the areas not conquered by the spanish. The cordilleras for example, especially in more remote areas. There quite a number of people who did not even have surnames until the 21st Century when more people started going to school and identification documents are needed. A lot of people didn't have birth certificates before. My grandfather didn't even have a surname and our last name is literally just his name. It's been the same for people in my villages for my generation, it's just their grandfather's name.

[@lylelaney8270]

Even in Europe, last names/surnames is also a new thing for example in Scandinavia, it was only mandatory (it think) for people to have last name in the early 1900. Just slightly earlier than Thailand. Some country still don't have this customs and seen as unnecessary.

[@nokaton]

Before surname exists in Thailand, people always use many things to append to their name to make it unique and identifiable, like prominent body parts, skin color, place of origin, favorite fruits, etc. In some part of Thailand, like the North, specific words to describe the shape or size of one's genital can also be a part of the name. It wasn't considered rude or embarrassing.

[@nvneville]

meanwhile in neighbouring Myanmar, last name still isn't a thing.

[@Mashfi23]

Based Burmese naming system

[@ApatheticNonbuynary]

Huh? Fr?

[@prfwrx2497]

As for how "long-ass surnames despite 10 character limits" came to be - recall that Thai script is classified as abugidas. To make a massive oversimplification - in Thailand (written, not typed), (most) vowels aren't counted as separate characters. Only consonants are counted as characters. Some vowels (generally long vowels) occupy the same spatial space as consonants or latin/cyrillic letters. Other vowels (generally short vowels, but notably "e" and "u" toned vowels) occupy spaces above or below individual letters. The only vowel I readily recall that's considered a character/letter is "au" (second last alphabet), which represents either "a" (single occurrence) or "o" (two of them back-to-back) vowels. Thai script, if you haven't noticed by now - is a bit of a clusterfuск. There are multiple consonants and vowels that represent the same sounds (and are used chiefly to distinguish the different linguistic origins of the root word). There are four tone marks, but they also modify the tones inconsistently depending on which consonants they're placed upon. Laotian script also have a few redundant features, but much less so than Thai script. They're both further development of Sukhothai (AKA, Loe Thai) scripts, which is descended from Khmer script (still currently used in Cambodia). Thailand's para-fascist dictator Plaek Phibunsongkram tried to simplify the Thai script to eliminate the many redundancies, but these weren't well-received and was backtracked within a few years. I'd imagine Thai script would be functionally very similar to Laotian script if such simplifications endured.

[@Oriqinite]

Hey! A Thai here. My nickname is Focus :) Thank you for giving insights about our culture! I’ve never really look into this topic hahah

[@MisterNameGame]

I'm Thai and my nickname is... ...Name. Confused a buncha foreign teachers I've had but it's a part of my identity now lmao

[@nongwithawat]

Thai-Chinese last name often comlpicated and long was resulted from anti Chinese sentiment during WW and cold war era. Chinese was baned from running business . But solution was simple to adopt Thai nationality and change thier last name from sae(last name in Taechew dialact) xx to Thai last name.

[@samuraijackoff5354]

Not Thai but Lao. My nickname was something like "Tall boy" or "Older boy." My younger brother's two nicknames were pronounced something like "Doi Doi" or "Boy-noi" which was basically "Tubby" and "Small boy". Ironically, he was the taller one of my siblings.

[@Kairikey]

The long last name definitely came from Chinese descendant and immigrant. If you know, Chinese last name aren't really that huge, and so a lot of people that aren't really related can have the same last name. When they came to Thailand, the law mentioned in this vid dictated that your last name must be unique to your family, so the Chinese has to get creative. A lot of time, they tried to preserve their last name by adding more Thai words into it to make it unique and meaningful. Take, for example, a Thai Kpop artist Ten. His last name is Leechaiyapornkul, which came from his Chinese last name Lee/Li combined with Chaiyapornkul. Besides, Lee is probably already taken by some other Lee family. And there are many who just made up their last name totally unrelated to their own.

[@AuldeyST]

My nickname is Fame. My newphew suggested this name to my parents to match with my elder sister name Foam (my parents met each other at Foam factory). I had other options like Frame or Film. But Fame won out. So yeah, nicknames are adedicated thing here, it's a even split between English and Thai nicknames, and they are usually sperated from our actual surnames and last names.

[@lovebunny5644]

There are thai family names that come from just smack clan founder together like "มีนรักเรืองเดช" pronounce ,meen luck roung desh, just four dudes names combined 😂

[@guide198]

As a Thai person, I believe that every nickname has origins story and every name have meaning. My nickname is Guide because my father jobs is Tourist-Guide and my name is Chayut its mean ‘Glorious’.😊

[@jarupongch]

My great great grandparents were those chinese immigrants who are required to change their last name from 許 to Thai. It ended up breaking the family into two halfs (two brothers chose different lastname). So to this day, our family has two branches from that act in 1913. Which we all still know eachother generations afterward.

[@pyeitme508]

Welp that's Thailand 😂

[@DrHydroxide]

Meanwhile in Indonesia... Only a few ethnic groups in Indonesia use family names, e.g. Batak, while an overwhelming majority of Indonesian don't have a family name since ever.

[@perla5465]

Why does everything you say end in wuhh

[@SANESX]

Thai here. Long lastname usually come form ask Buddhist monk to create family last name. So the monk use pali-sansakrit word to create unique last name. Shorter last names are many tho. Usually come from town, village or district name. For example my last name is Karnkrasang. Mean Work (Karn) from Krasang Town.

[@daev7350]

I'm Thai-Swedish. I got my nickname since I'm little. It's Day because i was born on Saturday then I was called Holiday. In Thai word it's mean Holidays or just Day. But in Swedish word it's mean You.

[@ThoraninC]

Lots of modern women just don’t change their lastname. Same sex marriage would be too. Marriage but use your own name as usual because it is not use that much anyway. Also, we have a crush joke. You just change your friend last name into who ever the hell their crush is last name.

[@notthatcreativewithnames]

7:37 Middle names are not illegal, but they are optional. Only a few people have middle names.

[@ms.cannibal5190]

Yeah, if we haven't borrow words from Pali - Sanskrit and Cambodian we would probably only have a few thousand words and only a few 100 names or probably only 60 the name might be revolve around colour like ดำ(black) แดง(red) ขาว(white) เขียว(green) glad that we borrow them

[@elainebenes7971]

There are still many places in Asia that don't use last names. I've seen birth certificates from the 90s that only have one name

[@PennyAfNorberg]

When naming our daughter it was stated in the document that patronyms ( -son , -dotter) are allowed as last names here in sweden.

[@hydrailce3404]

I've heard that Myanmar doesn't have last names whatsoever.

[@lokilynn6542]

@@hydrailce3404 Yeah. We have one legal name and nicknames called by family and friends.

[@AirWindStorm]

Kittisak and Somchai were not the names people used 100 years ago before family names became a thing. Names were more simple than that, usually with only one syllable.

[@BangFarang1]

The names of the past became the nicknames of today because one syllabe name were perceived as rural/illiterate by the administration in the 1950 and people were stigmatized.

[@immicz]

Many 90' and after kids were given with foreign language inspired nicknames. It's a big deal for parent to give nickname. A child could be bullied in school for having an unusual nickname for the generation. Example, nickname of unfamilaired language or nickname that is just 'too traditional'. I'm going to be 30 soon. Both parents are Thai-Chinese. And guess what. My nickname is Mickey. Lol

[@yamin4007]

I've always found it so funny that in Myanmar, because we don't have surnames but traditionally name kids based on the day of the week they were born (it's an astrological thing), when you meet someone, you have no way of figuring out if you know their family or where they might come from or if they end up being a very very distant relative of yours- but hey, you can easily guess which day of the week they're born!

[@anlumo1]

In the town my grandfather is from in the Austrian alps, there were only two last names roughly split in half over the whole population. Every house there had a nickname to differentiate the different families. He kept that nickname even when he moved out.

[@vertigq5126]

Great video, thanks for the explanation!

[@nattacit]

As a native thai, I have some points about your video I would like to point out. - Kittisak and Praew are modern names. Traditionally, thai names before the modern era would be like: Daeng (Red) Thong Kam (Gold) Rueang (Glitter) Soi (necklace) - Smuk might be an uncommon variation of the name muk which means pearl. But there are a lot of people named “Snook” after the game of snooker. -I’m not sure where you got that word “meek” that you said means happiness from, I can only think about very few last names with that phoneme. - You might see “Boon” in last names because Boon as a noun means merits or good deeds. However, “Tham Boon” is a verb. Tam (to do) + Boon (Merit) = to make merit / do good deeds. -The government does allow people to have middle names.

[@kenwongsa5273]

When my friend had to spell his Thai last name on the phone, he usually had to repeat it at least 3 times before someone got the correct spelling which consisted of 17 letters.

[@adzizi]

I don't have last name/surname. It's normal for us Southeast Asian (with exception of Chinese, Eurasian, Vietnamese and newer generation Indonesian).

[@user-yt198]

Many Indonesians still do not have last names.

[@ImSizo]

My wife is Thai and the nickname thing is true. my wife name is Mei but goes by Bella. and her cousin name is Nonglok but goes by June

[@joline2730]

Kemal Attaturk ruled in 1948 everyone in Turkey had to choose a Surname - some are very interesting choices 😮

[@tokayrepublic]

at birth mum gave me a Sansakrit nickname Trai which meas “3” In school my friends started to call me Ling which means monkey. now I identify almost solely as Ling

[@HuyQuangBui]

One of my Thai friends is Kitniti Witchayapaisitsakul, and his nickname is Prize. He made some awesome word games-related stuff.

[@batya7]

Jewish last names ( Ashkenazi / European Jews) became a thing in the 1820s.

[@mrbutch308]

Due to political and legal decrees to facilitate collecting taxes, municipal records, military conscription. Wealthier Jewish families could buy "fancy" surnames like "Rosenthal" (valley of roses) or "Goldberg" (mountain of gold) "Bernstein" (amber - called 'burned stone'). Poor Jewish families were often assigned simple family names like Gross (big), Klein (small), Weiss (white) and Schwartz (black).

[@CJnectar]

My nickname is A. Yeah that's it that is my nickname 🥲 Compared to my full name, Chaiwat Jatutanasuwan, so it is more likely for thai people to call each other by nickname.

[@NotiaRS]

Never heard any Thais named Smuk before. I think you meant Mook or Muk which is a common nickname for a girl.

[@evolancer211]

Worked with a Thai fellow with the name of Chanwit and he has an unspellable & unspeakable last name lol

[@Orianna_Bumssen321]

Even the Nobles before 1913 have no surnames? That is kinda odd because you'd expect them to have one for prestige purposes.

[@chetawanung-adjmagool9967]

Nobles have fancy court titles or royalty titles that are generally unique. Imagine giving your noble 2-3 word Latin titles and calling them by that. For example: a famous diplomat in the 1600s who engaged official relations between Siam and France was named Pan (means birthmark), but his title as foreign minister was "Chaophraya Kosathibodi". "Chaophraya" is a very high noble rank and "Kosathibodi" is Pali compound meaning "great treasurer". Interestingly, he shared this title with his brother Lek (means iron), so they are often referred to by their title + name.

[@piggysiblings_official]

Well my last name is Leelawatanasuk! It's long right? Some Thais has places name as their last name. Mostly from royal(in the past) family. We used "ณ" pronounced "Na"(short sound) following by places name. For Example, "Na Ayudhaya" "Na Lamphun " "Na Taguotoong". It usually have word before "Na" for EXP. "Montreekul Na Ayudhaya".

[@thekingminn]

We don't have last names in Myanmar either.

[@Morshed2005]

Also in Bangladesh , most people don't have last names . I think we also should adopt surnames .

[@kruloon9381]

I love this video! I deal with a lot of people’s names and last names because I work with a lot of documents and certificates. Lately, newer generations have even longer names and last names. I had to adjust the font on some of the certificates just to fit the entire thing in! I wonder what will happen if we start using middle names. Our names would kind of stretch into a paragraph.

[@janepaireepinart6549]

Before the Siamese Revolution in 1932, it wasn't normal for Siamese commoners to have long fancy names as you'd be accused of 'trying to be the royals', which could get you in a huge trouble. Long Pali/Sanskrit names were reserved for royals only. People normally went by short, one or two vowel names like 'Dang'(red), 'Dum'(black), Oun (warm), Im (full), Gulab(rose).

[@denseone]

Prior to 1932, Thai names were often neuter, neither masculine nor feminine, but then General Pleak, issued an edict that names must also connote gender. My grandmother’s name was “Sanngob” meaning peaceful, a name for both boys and girls, but she had to adopt a new name “Usa” meaning dawn, a feminine name instead.

[@herren1809]

Thai name is made of Bali Sanskrit word so there is a lot of variation and can be very long Dynasty name is like 2-3 line long

[@herren1809]

And now it have new Meta coming to mix the most hard to read sequence of alphabet to make a name like รรรรร

[@kathleenwoods8416]

I'm really bad about remembering that people have last names, everyone I know introduces people on a 1rst name basis, which means that even without this really interesting context I didn't know my brother in-laws name until I needed a job reference.

[@unitcharles8278]

My name have a meaning of : Polite man with a last name which mean : Protect the family wealth. Basically my name mean : A polite man who protect the wealth of family. And I live all my life make everything opposite of my name.

[@Tonnyboi]

Not Thai but Karen. Last names are also rare for us and we usually identify same names with parents or villages. My family got our last names after migrating to Australia

[@notthatcreativewithnames]

5:00 My surname is pretty simple. This fact means that I have a lot of people asking if I am related to Mr X or Ms Y whom they know, and the answer is always "no".

[@notthatcreativewithnames]

In fact, in the 1913 Act, checking whether the surname has already been taken was only done within the district or the adjacent ones, which means that the same surname could still be registered for two different families in two districts not neighbouring each other. Many Thais are not aware of this fact and assume that the same surname means the same family, and I still got that "do you relate to Mr A over there with the same surname as you" question. At my place of work, there are _three_ people who are totally unrelated but have the same surname.

[@Rostam-vk9hx]

Most people in Iran didn't have last names until 1919. Could u do a follow up video on that?

[@ABCD-bl5rw]

Struggling to find out the profession of my ancestors - my last name is Dickinson

[@lovebunny5644]

Sweet home Alabama

[@thinaphonpetsiri9907]

I actually found my long lost relatives by seeing their last name to be identical to mine. It’s very rare for Thais to share last name and not being related.

[@richardmiller9883]

I think you have a few errors. Praew is generally a nickname, although it is frequently a component of given names (*nam jing* or "real name" I don't know much about the 10 character limit, but it didn't last long. The family name (*nam segune* just a Thaicization of "second name", is ten characters in Thai, but when he was granted the noble rank of Luang in 1928, he was given a new last name Phibunsongkhram (which only needs 11 characters in Thai). It also became the basis for his new nickname Phibun. Nicknames are changed pretty much as frequently as in the West. I've had a handful of students change their given names (in 20 years) and always for "luck". Back to surname length, a glance at the roster for one of our seventh-grade classes has at least 10% with names longer than 10 Thai characters. My wife's family name (8 characters) was granted in 1914.

[@ddobefaest9334]

Are you able to find out more information about something I heard from some Thai people a couple of times? That in 1962, if a family donated an amount of money to a government institution, they could extend their last name limit. People who seem to have a name longer than four syllables don't seem to know about if this happened or not.

[@richardmiller9883]

@@ddobefaest9334 Not sure who I would ask--for any of my students, it's something that their great- or even great-great-grandparents would have done--I really only know about my wife's name because they have a little commemorative plack. But that story does track with my experience of Thai bureaucracy.

[@ddobefaest9334]

@@richardmiller9883 I guess it would have to be their family from however many generation ago as you said lol. Doubtful they'd be particularly bothered or entitled to ask though. Though if 1962 is significant, shouldn't be too many generations behind.

[@notusneo]

Not having last name is quite common in south east Asia i guees, Indonesians are also not required to have last name except for some ethnic group like the Bataks and Minangkabau we name our childrens whatever we like so having a three or four words name are pretty common

[@darkkdemon1316]

I’ve been watching for a year at this point and I just now realized I wasn’t even subscribed this whole time (love from The US 🖤🖤)

[@Olafje]

You seemed surprised of the fact that Thai people, however wanting to become more western, don't have middle names. I didn't at all since I am from Belgium, undoubtably a western country, and I don't have a middle name. My parents do however, so I guess it's a more recent thing.

[@spinozatheobvious626]

Nah, pretty much only Americans and some Brits have middle names. Your parents have multiple given names, but that's not exactly the same thing, though sometimes the lines get blurred a bit.

[@Olafje]

@@spinozatheobvious626 Oh, I haven't seen it that way yet.

[@BangFarang1]

@@Olafje In western Europe we used to have multiple given names, usually our name and the uncle/aunt or Grand pa/ma names, or a christian saint's name.

[@xriex97]

Atthisat Khunwanwong Which came from Sanskrit, Adhisatya Gunavanvamsa But my nickname is Rew ริว

[@alee2046]

Same as Java tribe in Indonesia , rich and royal have last name

[@thanatthanompong3769]

fun facts :many thai kids and teens are teasing others about their parents name and sometimes it can start a fight.

[@oxvendivil442]

As a fellow southeast Asian, this is illuminating.

[@aaa00705]

My nickname has quite an interesting background. I was born in 1998, during September, when the Asian Games was on-going. My grandpa decided to go for a letter “A” to be called as my nickname. It literally stands for “Asian”. And of course, my long last name can be seen from my username.

[@ferretman6790]

Great video, but the 10 Character limit is simply not true. My grandfathers last name has 12 characters. I have one relative with a 16 Character last name.

[@ddobefaest9334]

Would you be able to ask them if they were able to get that name officiated in 1962? I heard that for a fee, people would be able to extend the limit of their names upon payment during that year.

[@chetawanung-adjmagool9967]

​​@@ddobefaest9334 The rule is no more than 10 Thai "consonants". Vowels and tone marks don't count and it doesn't matter how it's written in English.