Thiam
Pronunciation
  • Wolof: /caːm/
  • Chinese: /tʰi̯am/
Language(s)
Origin
Region of origin
Other names
Variant form(s)

Thiam is a both a surname of West African origin and an element in Chinese given names.

Surname

Origins and statistics

As a surname, Thiam is found among the Fula and Wolof people of Senegal and nearby countries, and originated from a family of goldsmiths.[1][2] In the modern Fula language and Wolof language orthographies, it is spelled Caam. Thiam is one of a number of older spellings which originated during French colonial rule; others include Tyam, Chiam, and Cham.[3][4] This surname is spelled Thiam in Senegal, and Cham in the Gambia. The surname originated from Toucouleur or Laobe people, and is found among Pulaar language speakers. It is not authentically Wolof, and only made its way to the Wolof through Wolof mixture.[5]

French government statistics show 508 people with the surname Thiam born in France from 1991 to 2000, 532 from 1981 to 1990, 196 from 1971 to 1980, and 143 in earlier time periods.[6] The 2010 United States Census found 935 people with the surname Thiam, making it the 26,171st-most-common surname in the country. This represented an increase from 494 people (41,522nd-most-common) in the 2000 census. In both censuses, about nine-tenths of the bearers of the surname identified as Black, and roughly two to three percent as White or Asian.[7]

Government officials and politicians

  • Awa Thiam (born 1936), Senegalese government official in the Ministry of Women and Children
  • Amadou Thiam (born 1984), Malian politician
  • Augustin Thiam (born 1952), Ivorian politician, governor of the Yamoussoukro Autonomous District
  • Brenda Thiam (born 1969), American politician
  • Doudou Thiam (1926–1999), Senegalese diplomat and politician
  • Habib Thiam (1933–2017), Senegalese politician who twice served as prime minister
  • Safiatou Thiam (fl. 2000s), Senegalese public health official
  • Samba Diouldé Thiam, Senegalese legislator and mathematician
  • Tidjane Thiam (born 1962), Ivorian banker and economic advisor to the Ivorian government

Athletes

Other people

Given name

Thiam can be a romanisation, based on the pronunciation in different varieties of Chinese, of multiple Chinese characters. Chinese given names frequently consist of two characters, as in the names of all of the people listed below. The character in common in all of the two-character names below means "to increase" (添); it can be spelled as Thiam based on its pronunciation in Hakka or various Southern Min dialects (including Chaoshan).[8][9]

  • Gan Thiam Poh (颜添宝; born 1963), Singaporean opposition politician and businessman
  • Kwee Thiam Tjing (郭添清; 1900–1974), Indonesian writer
  • O Thiam Chin (胡添进; born 1977), Singaporean writer
  • Thio Thiam Tjong (張添聰; 1896–1969), Indonesian politician
  • Tony Tan Lay Thiam (陈礼添; born 1970), Singaporean People's Action Party politician and businessman
  • Yap Thiam Hien (葉添興; 1913–1989), Indonesian human rights lawyer
  • Yeow Chai Thiam (姚再添 1953–2016), Malaysian medical doctor and politician

See also

  • Taluk Thiam, subdistrict in the Phrom Phiram District of Phitsanulok Province, Thailand

References

  1. ↑ Ezémbé, Ferdinand (2009). L'enfant africain et ses univers. Editions Karthala. p. 132. ISBN 9782811121532.
  2. ↑ Crane, Louise; Mohraz, Jane E. (1982). African Names: People and Places. African Studies Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. p. 6. OCLC 1086579564.
  3. ↑ Dilley, Roy (2014). Nearly Native, Barely Civilized: Henri Gaden's Journey through Colonial French West Africa (1894–1939). Brill. p. xvii. ISBN 9789004265288.
  4. ↑ Hill, Joseph (2018). Wrapping Authority: Women Islamic Leaders in a Sufi Movement in Dakar, Senegal. University of Toronto Press. p. xviii. ISBN 9781487522445.
  5. ↑ Simpson, Andrew (2008). language and national identity in Africa (paperback ed.). British library: oxford linguistics. pp. 86, 90, 91. ISBN 978-0-19-928675-1.
  6. ↑ "Fichier des noms". Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques. 22 May 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  7. ↑ "How common is your last name?". Newsday. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  8. ↑ MacIver, Donald (1904). "85 水". A Hakka index to the Chinese-English dictionary of Herbert A. Giles, and to the Syllabic dictionary of Chinese of S. Wells Williams. Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press. p. 65.
  9. ↑ Fielde, Adele M. (1883). "添". A pronouncing and defining dictionary of the Swatow dialect, arranged according to syllables and tones. Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press. p. 587. Additionally see "添". mogher.com. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
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