Thai Last Name Generator

Because the 1913 Surname Act required every surname to be unique, and the easiest way to invent a name nobody else had was to join two, three or four meaningful words together. Early registrants got short names like Jaidee or Thongdee; later families, especially Thai-Chinese families registering in the 1940s and 1950s, often ended up with names of five or more syllables.

Almost all of them are built from auspicious vocabulary: gold (thong, suwan, kham), jewels (kaew, phet, rat, mani), glory (sri, siri), merit (boon), victory (chai), happiness (suk), lineage (wong, kul, phong), and prosperity (charoen, wattana, rungruang). The gloss after each name in this list gives the literal meaning of those parts.

Na means 'of' or 'at' and marks descent from a ruling family of that place. Na Ayutthaya is used by distant descendants of the royal house; Na Songkhla, Na Nakhon, Na Chiangmai, Na Lampang and Na Ranong belong to families that once governed those provinces. These surnames were granted by the king and are a recognised mark of old status.

Rarely. Thais go by first names and, more often, short nicknames like Nok, Lek or Ple, even in offices and news reports. The surname appears on ID cards, in formal lists and in the press. Since 2005 married women may keep their own surname, and children can take either parent's name.