Cambodian names usually consist of two elements, a family name followed by a given name. (In Western sources the two are sometimes reversed).
Contents
Given names
Generally, women are given names relating to beauty, while men are given names of virtues. Some Cambodian given names are unisex names.
Surnames
Surnames are usually taken from the surname or the given name of the father and are generally monosyllabic. Cambodian surnames are sometimes identical to Chinese or Vietnamese surnames. Women keep their maiden names after marriage.
Origin and meanings
The meaning of Cambodian names are generally very simple and reference positive attributes. Cambodian people are called by their given names without a title (informal) or by their given names with a title (formal); surnames are not a usual form of address. (Surnames are used as a form of address, however, in the case of names that originated as revolutionary aliases.)
Different naming traditions exist among ethnic groups other than the Khmer majority. The Cambodian population is 90% Buddhist and names are often taken from Buddhism. Among the Muslim minority, Arabic names are often used as family names.
Pronunciation
Khmer names are usually pronounced with the stress (emphasis) placed on the last syllable. Khmer uses a glottal stop (the Cockney stop in "ten green bo'les") and other stops: p, t, c and k which may or may not occur with aspiration. In romanizations of Khmer script, aspiration (i.e., a breath sound) is usually marked with an h. Final r, d, g, s, b, and z sounds are not heard: Ngor is pronounced Ngow. Some final consonants are written but not pronounced.
List of some family names
Khmer "family" names are usually simply their father's given name and as such change with each generation. Other ethnic groups, particularly Chinese-Cambodians and Vietnamese-Cambodians may have a family name that is taken by each generation, in which case the name is pronounced similarly to the language of origin but within the bounds of Khmer phonology. Below is a list of some common family names some of which are also found as given names.
List of given names
Unlike Cambodian family names, given names may have multiple syllables and differ greatly. Given names were influenced greatly by Sanskrit.
Compound names
At times, many families combine shorter names to create a longer name. This happens often among the wealthier class of Cambodians.