Strategies of Thai Monk Naming

Abstract

The purposes of this article is to study criteria in Thai monk naming, explore strategies used in Thai monk naming and compares criteria and strategies of Thai monk naming in four regions. The data used for analysis are 2,000 monk names collected from four provinces : Chiang Mai, Maha Sarakham, Nakhon Pathom, and Nakhon Si Thammarat, representing respectively the Northern, Northeastern, Central and Southern regions of Thailand. The results of the analysis show that there are four criteria in Thai monk naming : day of birth, day of ordination, name, and surname. The four criteria used in Thai monk naming are classified into two strategies. First, it is based on only one of the four criteria : day of birth, day of ordination, name, and surname. Second, it is based on two of the four criteria : day of birth and name, day or birth and surname, day of ordination and name, day of ordination and surname, and name and surname. The most popular strategy found in this analysis is based on the day of birth. However, there are some Thai monk names which are based on none of the above criteria. The comparison of Thai monk naming in four regions of Thailand shows that the criterion found in all four regions is the combination of the day of birth and name. The most popular strategy of all four regions is based on the day of birth.