Naming children

[uncle tom]

OK - it's official - yours truly, devout bachelor of 51 years - is on course to be a daddy for the first time, D-day (all being well) late November..!

Now, I'm not making any big plans or grand strategies, but I am broadly content that the child will be brought up as a Thai with part English parentage, rather than the other way round.

At this point, I am thinking that I will let my little lady have her way with regard to the child's nickname, if she will let me have the last word on the child's (- probably her, from first ultrasounds..) formal name.

What I really need now is some guidance on the structure and tradition of Thai naming, so that I can find a happy compromise between the traditions of east and west, and arrive at a name that is both acceptable to me, and will meld well in Thai society.

- All input gratefully received!

Tom

[Big Boy]

Congratulations uncle tom

Personally, when my son was born, I let my wife decide the name. I don't get very excited about minor things such as names. However, if she'd wanted to call him something outrageous, I'd have probably intervened.

[shunpike]

Uncle Tom wrote:

OK - it's official - yours truly, devout bachelor of 51 years - is on course to be a daddy for the first time, D-day (all being well) late November..!

Wow, talk about a sea change...best of luck to you three and a heartfelt congratulations!

[PeteC]

Congratulations Tom. There's a lot to look at in the below links. Pete

http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.co ... names.html

http://www.babynology.com/thai_babynames.html

http://babynames.merschat.com/index.cgi ... rigin=Thai

http://www.babynamenetwork.com/baby_nam ... _names.cfm

http://www.thaibabyname.com/ (Thai language site)

That's five sites out of at least 30 on Google for "Thai baby names".

EDIT: As a suggestion, perhaps make her middle name Western. We did that and recorded on all her birth documentation and passports. She can then choose later in life which she would like to use in school, with her friends, or whenever suits her fancy.

[PeteC]

More on this just to give you an idea. You can combine things, but I don't know of an on-line source that explains the choices fully, maybe that Thai language site I gave you above has something on it.

When my wife and I were going though this I mentioned that I liked and had a lot of respect for Princess Sirindhorn. If you're going to live here it's really a no-no to name your child after royalty, but you can use portions of a name. We took Sirin which roughly means that people will give you high respect, and tacked on taya which roughly means that you will think carefully before making important decisions. End result, Sirintaya which has a good sound to it. There's probably hundreds of combinations like this that have a good meaning, and a good ring to it. I'm just at a loss as to where you can find a guide. Pete

[richard]

Ingenious Pete

[migrant]

[tood ling]

congratulations uncle tom i did not have my son until i was 48 your going to love your new life
no matter what name.

p.s. get in shape

[kalbow]

Many congratulations Uncle Tom!

Went to a wedding last night (here in Singapore) with all the usual stuff, music, dancing, food, drinks etc. all very good but the highlight of the night was a narak 6 year Thai girl teaching me how to write in Thai. My heart melted and I wanted one

Oh, and I've got no idea about names, sorry

[Takiap]

Congrats Uncle Tom


I too was a devoted bachelor, and then that ended 11 years ago. Now I have three little brats....all girls.....lol. As with you, I am happy for them to grow up being Thai, so.........

I figured that if they're going to be Thai their real names should be Thai. We chose their names using a Sanskrit name guide site, although to be honest, I was happy to let my wife make the final decision regarding their names. For nicknames we chose Farang names as we (well certainly me) felt nicknames won't really have any impact on their lives in terms of Thai society. I hate to say this, but I have a sneaky feeling that if their real names were Farang names they could end up facing some discrimination later in life whether they are Thai or not.

Now, the ironic thing about this is...............a short while back my wife and all the other girls in the office went to some temple and were advised by a monk that it would bring them good fortune if they were to change their names to Farang names. Well, that's exactly what they did so now only our kids have Thai names, while both Mom and Dad have Farang names....lol.


Anyway......good luck mate, your life is about to change more than you ever thought possible, but for the better. Hell, I'd have another 20 if I could.....lol

[bcrglobal]

The Boss Lady and I came up with a workable compromise that made us both happy.

I got to select the first name (With her having right of refusal) and we went with Charles (Charlie) That is my middle name, my fathers name, and my grandfather's name, so a bit of a family tradition, and The Boss Lady was happy with it.

For the middle name we went the traditional Thai route--we contacted a trusted monk after the birth with all the key details--date, time, location of birth, etc. and he and a group of colleagues meditated on the matter. The next day they came back with 3 options for us to choose from. We quickly ruled out Tittipong (For no discernable reason) but got a great name that we're both very happy with for his middle--Nattanan (Wealthy in an intellectual sense)

The family nickname is up to The Boss Lady and her family to sort out, but around the house and at school he's Charlie....

[JimmyGreaves]

We wanted a name that we could both pronounce so our boy was called skitteryjim

[Takiap]

[uncle tom]

Many thanks for all your kind messages and suggestions.

Asking some monks to suggest a shortlist of names appeals to me as a good starting point.

I must admit, the whole exercise is feeling a bit surreal - I'm only just over twice the age of my little lady, but I've discovered that I'm also ten years older than my mother-in-law - and there's a full forty year gap between the ages of the grandmothers!

Anyway, everyone seems happy, which is the important thing!

Tom

[Dr Mike]

When I was an Obstertrician in Canada, Asian patients would ask my advice in picking western names. I usually suggested short old-fashioned names--Paul, Marc, Tom for boys and names with terminal open vowels for girls--Debbie, Kathy, Sherri. On other occasions I would counsel against their choice of Asian names---I always thougt that Vietnamese mothers choosing--Phuc might regret it later.