About Ice

My name is Cholpisit Kiattisewee, but you can call me Ice, just a solid state of water not associated with any other ICE abbreviations you might be familiar with. But how do I get my nickname? A short answer is that all Thai people were given a nickname in addition to their legal name by their parents and we use that in everyday life. A fun full story about my name is written below.

A Thai nickname is a name of its own

In Thailand, parents commonly give their children a nickname in addition to a formal given name and family name. In Thai, a nickname is called ชื่อเล่น (chue len), literally a “play name.” It is often chosen at birth or early in childhood, rather than emerging later among friends.

What makes this tradition distinctive is how central the nickname can be. Family, friends, classmates, and colleagues may all use it as someone’s everyday name. A formal name appears on official documents and in more formal introductions, while a nickname can follow a person from childhood into their professional life. Thai names are also usually very long so that’s more of a reason to have a short nickname. The word “nickname” can make it sound optional or temporary; in Thailand, it is often simply the name people know you by.

Unlike a shortened form of a given name, a Thai nickname does not have to resemble the formal name at all. There is no need for “Ice” to be derived from “Cholpisit.” The two names can have entirely separate origins.

How I got my names, quite a long story

I was born under a different name (Arnon), the one my mom randomly picked after labor. It’s quite common for parents to change their child’s name after they have time to figure out a better one. A few weeks after that, my parents finally decided to change it to “Thuwachit” meaning “always win” and a nickname “Elf” which is kinda cute, my mom said so. I had the name/nickname until I turned 9 years old when my mom wanted to change my name again after a deep discussion with the spiritual medium! Well, there’s not much a 9-year-old can do but I was fairly rebellious and decided to negotiate that I will choose my new nickname if she’s gonna change my legal name. That’s it.

She consulted the high monk in our village and came up with “Cholpisit” meaning “Superior Water”. She was concerned that I was pretty hot headed and may instigate too many fights (she was wrong though). I was ok with the name of course, I started reading comics/manga in English at that age and realized that my previous name “Thuwachit” doesn’t sound that clean~ Anyway, I chose “Ice” as my new nickname because all my siblings have nicknames started with vowel sounds: Ink, Unk, Act, and also Elf. It also carries a very similar meaning to my legal name, just changing the temp a bit. It took me a couple years to have everyone in the family and the whole village to call me by a new nickname.

Bottomline, please feel free to call me Ice, that’s how my family calls me.

Fun fact: Ice as a nickname is gender neutral and it has been used by boys, girls, and non-binary. It is considered one of the top 10 nicknames.