Baby Fame

No, not a famous baby, well, kinda. He's famous in our neighborhood, but I'm not talking about being famous. That's his nickname, Fame.

Every Thai has a nickname. This is the name used by parents, friends, coworkers, just about everyone except the official records. It's common for a Thai to have more than one nickname throughout his/her life. Often names change as people grow up, maybe during a move away to college or with a new group of friends. Sometimes there's a name used by close family, a different name used by childhood friends, and another name used during university/working years. Yes, it gets confusing at times (at least for me.)

It's common for a nickname to reflect the person's character, something they like, something their parents liked when they were born, a cool English word, or just a word that sounds cute. I have friends named Dow (Star), Top, Mee (Bear), Uan (Fat, culturally that's okay) Peace, Faa (Sky), Best, Neui (Butter), Jack, Nam (Water), and Bakery (because his mom likes baked goods.)

By the way, he didn't actually get to eat this chocolate. He was just holding it for his momma. :)