ឈ្មោះ
chmŭəh
The English word 'name' can be translated into Khmer as either ឈ្មោះ (chmŭəh) or នាម depending on the context.
Meaning: word or phrase indicating a particular person, place, class or thing (noun)
Ways to say it
| Khmer | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| ឈ្មោះ | chmŭəh |
| នាម | niəm |
ឈ្មោះ refers to the specific name used to identify a person, animal or object. It is also frequently used as a verb meaning 'to be named' or 'to have the name', which is common when asking someone's name.
Which one should you use?
ឈ្មោះ is used when referring to the actual name of a person, animal or thing. In contrast, នាម is the linguistic term for a 'noun' used in a grammatical sense.
How do you pronounce it?
chmŭəh
Did you know?
- In traditional Khmer culture, some people were historically given 'ugly' or strange ឈ្មោះ as infants to ward off evil spirits who might steal a beautiful child.
- Khmer names typically place the family name before the given name, which is the reverse of the common English order.
- In Cambodia, people often refer to each other by a nickname or a familial title rather than their official ឈ្មោះ to show respect or intimacy.
Examples in context
- ឈ្មោះអី?What is your name?This sentence is useful for asking what someone's name is using ឈ្មោះ.Tatoeba #5670311 by angkorsovannnaga, translation #70623 by frpzzd
- តើគាត់ឈ្មោះអី?What is his name?This sentence is useful for asking what a man's name is using ឈ្មោះ.Tatoeba #3742316 by angkorsovannnaga, translation #287637 by CK
- អ្នកឈ្មោះអី?What's your name?Tatoeba #2847307 by angkorsovannnaga, translation #408293 by CK
- 10 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Ratanak and Mali are talking about a new person at school.
- រតនៈ Ratanakតើគាត់មានឈ្មោះអ្វី?tae koat mean chmoah avei?What is his name?
- ម៉ាលី Malyគាត់ឈ្មោះ សុខ។koat chmoah Sok.His name is Sok.
- រតនៈ Ratanakតើឈ្មោះនេះពិបាកចាំទេ?tae chmoah nih pibak cham te?Is this name hard to remember?
- ម៉ាលី Malyទេ ឈ្មោះនេះងាយចាំណាស់។te, chmoah nih ngeay cham nah.No, this name is very easy to remember.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “name” translations and entries ឈ្មោះ, នាម, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
