Posted by Bay Hok Liong on September 02, 2002 at 23:39:56:
In Reply to: Name: BAE, or BAYE ?? (Tae Jiew dialect) posted by Alison Asawaroengchai on August 09, 2002 at 13:52:04:
My ancestors came from Fujian province and have the Mandarin surname Ma (horse). Fujianese pronounce it as Beh or Pei, and in its Romanized incarnations it is spelled BAY by the former English colonials in Singapore/Malaysia and BEE or BHE by the former Dutch colonials in Indonesia. BAE is a Korean name that does not translate into "horse."
: As are a lot of Thais, I am part Chinese. My paternal grandfater came from southern China before the time of Mao. Just out of curiosity I would really appreciate any information you guys out there may have on the family name BAE or BAYE (I don't know the English spelling) and any other interesting information such as the Chinese province where the family originated from etc.
: In Thailand this family is easily identifiable as most Chinese immigrants adopted an equivalent Thai name in order to blend into the culture of their new home. All Thai surnames starting with "ASAWA-" or "ASAVA-" is the Sansakrit translation of BAE which (as far as I know) means "Horse" in Chinese.
: I have never met any Chinese with this surname outside of Thailand though. As I mentioned before my grandfather came from somewhere in southern China where they speak a minor dialect "Tae Jiew"?? That's how we pronounce it in Thai so it may be different in Mandarin or Cantonese. Most Chinese in Thailand speak the Tae Jiew dialect; equivalent to Singaporeans speaking Hokkien I guess.
: Thanks all!