# Where is the family name "Skoulphong" from?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-family-name-skoulphong-from/821453>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 16, 2018, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-family-name-skoulphong-from/821453 "2018-09-16T18:33:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2018, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-family-name-skoulphong-from/821453/1 "2018-09-16T18:33:48Z")

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Asia?

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**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2018, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-family-name-skoulphong-from/821453/2 "2018-09-16T18:47:14Z")

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My WAG would be Laos.

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**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2018, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-family-name-skoulphong-from/821453/3 "2018-09-16T21:14:15Z")

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My guess would be Cambodia, Laos, or one of the northern Vietnam hill tribes.

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**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2018, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-family-name-skoulphong-from/821453/4 "2018-09-16T21:40:42Z")

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I think it is Laotian. Definitely not Cambodian. Could be a Vietnamese hilltribe, because many are ethnic Thais. The only thing that makes me think it is not Thai is the transliteration spelling, as Thai and Lao names are often pronounced the same but with different transliterations. Skoulphong is pronounced “Sa-GOON- pohng” or maybe even “Sa GOONA-pohng.” A Thai would not normally include the first O. But it could be Thai. Cambodian is right out though.

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**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-family-name-skoulphong-from/821453/5 "2018-09-17T14:50:08Z")

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FWIW, there is an [Ancestry.com entry of someone with that last name being born in Laos](https://www.ancestry.com/search/?name=Phoukham_Skoulphong&death=_CA). The house seems to be right about this one.