Thai names
Thai given names are often lyrical compound words meaning things like happiness, brightness, or good fortune, Suriya (sun), Malee (flower), Chai (victory), then paired with a separate, casual nickname used by family for everyday life. The formal name is chosen carefully, sometimes with a monk's or astrologer's guidance, for the luck it's believed to carry.
Achara celestial nymph (from Sanskrit apsara)
Akara great, mighty
Anong beautiful lady
Anucha younger brother
Anurak to protect and cherish; a guardian
Aom from a Thai word for holding close; an affectionate modern girls' call-name
Apinya wisdom, intelligence
Arthit the sun (Sanskrit Aditya root)
Arun dawn (from Sanskrit Aruna, charioteer of the sun god); shared sound-for-sound with the Indian name Arun, which gives it an established footprint in US classrooms
Bank an English-word Thai nickname for boys, picked for its prosperous ring; a marker of the post-1990s cohort, where a boy whose papers read Thanakorn may be Bank to everyone he knows
Beam an English-word Thai nickname (a beam of light), given to both boys and girls of the 2000s cohort
Boon merit, good deeds (common nickname and prefix)
Boonmee rich in merit (boon = merit + mee = to have); carried worldwide by the Palme d'Or film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Bua lotus
Busaba flower, blossom (from Sanskrit pushpa)
Chai heart; strong (also a common nickname)
Chaiyo hurray, a victory cheer
Chatchai victorious in war
Chatree warrior, swordsman
Chompoo pink; also 'rose-apple'
Chutima one who possesses beauty
Dao star
Darika star (a literary Sanskrit-derived word, beside the everyday dao)
Decha power, might
Duangjai heart, center of the heart
Ekachai foremost victory (ek = one, first + chai = victory)
Fah sky
Fern an English-word Thai girls' nickname taken from the plant; unusually for a Thai call-name it doubles as a vintage American given name, so a Thai American girl called Fern reads native in both cultures
Fon rain
Golf an English-word Thai nickname borrowed from the sport; one of the most recognizable examples of the modern call-name custom, common among boys born in the 1990s and 2000s
Ice an English-word Thai nickname used for both sexes, part of the same modern wave as Golf and Bank
Kaew crystal, glass, precious gem
Kanokwan golden complexion (kanok = gold + wan = complexion, from Sanskrit varna); a staple formal name of the 1980s and 90s school cohort
Kanya young lady, maiden
Kasem happiness
Kiat honor, glory (the kiat of Kittisak, also given alone as a compact name)
Kittichai honor and victory
Kittisak power and strength that brings honor
Krit achievement (a common short name)
Kwan blessing, soul, spirit
Lawan grace, loveliness (from Sanskrit lavanya)
Lek small, little; a classic of the Thai nickname system, in which every child gets a short call-name (chue len) used everywhere but paperwork, alongside a long formal name. Lek belongs to the grandparent generation of call-names, from before English-word picks took over.
Malee flower, garland (from Sanskrit mala); the spelling most often found in Thai American records, sitting beside the jasmine name Mali as an equal romanization tradition
Mali jasmine flower
Mint an English-word Thai nickname; since the 1990s Bangkok parents have drawn call-names from English, and Mint sits near the top of the list for girls, used daily in place of whatever long formal name is on the birth certificate
Mongkut crown; famously borne by King Mongkut, Rama IV, whom the West knows from The King and I
Mook pearl
Nam water
Namtan sugar (a sweet common nickname)
Nan a common Thai girls' call-name; matches the English Nan exactly in sound and spelling, and is also a northern Thai province and river
Narong warrior
Nattapong one blessed with wisdom
Nawin new
Ning quiet, calm (a common nickname)
Niran eternal, everlasting
Noi little; an affectionate older-generation call-name, often given to a youngest child or a small baby
Nok bird
Noon kapok down, cotton-soft (Thai nun); a gentle modern girls' call-name
Pakin gold, golden
Phailin blue sapphire
Phu mountain
Pim likeness, model (Thai phim); a girls' call-name that also fronts formal names like Pimchanok
Pimchanok the image of her father (pim = image, likeness + chanok = father); a modern formal name whose bearer usually answers to Pim, the standard formal-plus-nickname pairing
Ploy gem, gemstone
Praew elegant, refined lady
Prasert excellent, superb; a mid-century men's classic
Preecha wise, learned
Rangsan light, radiance
Ratana jewel, crystal
Sakda power, authority
Siri glory, splendor, auspiciousness (root of Queen Sirikit's name)
Siriporn glorious blessing
Somchai real man, good man; a beloved everyman classic
Somsak worthy of honor (som = worthy + sak = honor, rank); with Somchai, one of the Som- everyman classics borne by the restaurant-founding immigrant generation of Thai America
Suchada well-born (from Sanskrit sujata; in Buddhist tradition Sujata offered the Buddha his first meal after his austerities); a formal classic of the grandmother generation
Suda goodness, virtue
Sumalee a beautiful garland of flowers (from Sanskrit su + mala)
Sunisa a good, fine day
Suriya the sun (from Sanskrit Surya)
Tan sandalwood; the last-born
Tanawat wealth, fortune
Tara star (Pali-Sanskrit root shared with the Western name Tara)
Tarn waterfall
Teerapat one who acts wisely
Thana wealth, prosperity (the thana of Thanakorn, used alone as a compact modern pick)
Thanakorn city of wealth, prosperous city
Waan sweet (a common affectionate nickname)
Wichai victory, wisdom
Win victory (a genuine Thai nickname)
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