Thailand Naming Customs

History of Names in Thailand
Surnames or family names are relatively a new innovation for the Thai people. For centuries, Thai people referred to the given names of their parents, or their place of residence along with their given name in order to identify themselves.

Some surnames were granted to a person if they were in charge of a government agency. Some of these individuals after working for the government received a new caste name. Other family members would then request a change in their surname to match the new caste name of their relative.

In 1913, the Surname Act was instituted legally requiring surnames in conjunction with the birth, marriage, and death registration that was instituted in 1912. Thai names now follow a more “western” pattern of surnames/family names, etc.

For more information, see the Wikipedia article Thai name.

Guidelines for Romanizing Thai Personal Names
See related section of the Thailand Language and Languages page: Guidelines for Romanizing Thai Personal Names

Websites with More Information on Thai Surnames

 * Websites for finding surnames - in Thai


 * Some roots of Thai surnames - in Thai


 * Jews of Thailand - in English