Malaysian name

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A Malaysian name defines a person's culture as Malaysia is made up of different ethnic groups and cultures. Each group has a different naming system. However, personal names in Malaysia are restricted by the government, especially after the introduction of MyKad , the Malaysian identity card . Malaysians of Chinese origin are the only group in Malaysia with a family name . The other groups, including the largest group of Malays , use a personal name followed by a patronymic .

Malay name

Malay names very often use the Arabic name and its naming system. However, there are still several names with Malay , Javanese and Sanskrit origins. A Malay name consists of a personal name , which must be used in all cases, followed by a patronymic. Most Malays do not use family names. For men, the patronymic consists of the word bin (from Arabicبن, "Son of"), followed by the personal name of the father. So if Osman has a son Musa , Musa is named as Musa bin Osman . For women, the patronymic consists of the word binti (from Arabicبنت"Daughter of"), also followed by her father's personal name. So if Musa has a daughter named Aisyah , Aisyah is named as Aisyah binti Musa . After marriage , a woman does not change her name, unlike in other cultures.

The words bin and binti are very often used in B. for men, and Bt. Or Bte. abbreviated for women. The abbreviation is often misunderstood as an initial for an intermediate name, which is common in Western cultures . However, in common usage most Malays omit the word bin or binti . So the above two examples are referred to as Musa Osman and Aisyah Musa . The second part is very often mistaken for a family name. However, a person is always called by their first name and never by their second name, which is the father's name. Musa Osman is Mr. Musa or Encik Musa in Malay or Mr. Musa in English. Aisyah Musa is comparable to Mrs Aisyah or Puan / Cik Aisyah or Mrs / Ms / Miss Aisyah .

A small minority of Malay families use family names ( e.g. Merican ). Such a name is passed down patrilineally and very often denotes Arabic or Indian ancestors. When Musa is called Musa Merican in this sense, Aisyah is also called Aisyah Merican or very often Aisyah Musa Merican . The former Prime Minister of Malaysia , Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, has the Arabic family name Badawi .

Additional name

The uncomplicated name system is made more complicated by additional names. That is, two names are used in one person's name. The additional name is always the first part of such double names and is very easy to recognize because they come from a limited selection. They can rarely be used as a person's name, but always with other names.

The mostly used male additional names are:

  • Muhammad / Mohammad / Mohammed (often abbreviated to Mohd., Muhd., Md. Or simply M.).
  • Mat (The Malay variant of Muhammad. Mat is also the loose oral form of names ending in -mad or -mat such as Ahmad, Rahmat, Samad, and so on.)
  • Ahmad
  • Abdul (as in the Arabic language, the word is incomplete. It means servant of and must be followed by one of the 99 names of Allah . E.g. Abdul Haqq - servant of truth)

The most common female additional names are:

Hence, when Osman has a son named Abdul Haqq, the son is called Abdul Haqq bin Osman, or simply Abdul Haqq Osman . If Abdul Haqq has a daughter by the name of Nor Mawar, her name is correspondingly Nor Mawar binti Abdul Haqq or simply Nor Mawar Abdul Haqq .

If someone has undertaken a Hajj to Mecca , he may also be called Haji in Malay . For women it is Hajjah . If Musa was to a Hajj, he may be called Haji Musa bin Osman . His daughter is called Aisyah binti Haji Musa .

However, some additional names are patrilineal nobility titles. They are reserved for the Malay aristocracy, including the various Malaysian royal families and their descendants. In a few cases, some families have such titles even though they do not belong to the nobility. Examples of inherited additional names are:

  • Raja
  • Tengku
  • Wan
  • Nik
  • Tuan
  • Syed / Sharifah (each for the man and the woman; see also Sayyid .)
  • Meor
  • Megat / Puteri (each for the man and the woman)
  • Awang or Abang / Dayang (popular in Sarawak and come from Brunei ; each for men and women)

In general, the Malays in Singapore and Brunei use similar naming systems.

Chinese name

Malaysians of Chinese origin use traditional Chinese names . They generally consist of two parts. The first part is the family name that the children inherit from the father, this is monosyllabic. The second part is the two-syllable personal name. An example of a typical Malaysian-Chinese name is Lim Kit Siang , who is a well-known politician for the social democratic opposition Democratic Action Party of Malaysia. In the western world, the family name is very often put at the end, in this case it becomes Kit Siang Lim . As with German names, Lim Kit Siang (or Kit Siang Lim) is addressed as Mr. Lim .

Some Chinese Malaysians have western personal names, for example Donald Lim . They prefer such names to Chinese ones. In official documents, they are written in two ways. The first is: Western Name - Family Name - Chinese Personal Name; So Donald Lim Kit Siang. The second is: Family Name - Chinese Personal Name - Western Name; so Lim Kit Siang Donald. In general use, only one notation may be used.

Indian name

Malaysians of Indian origin officially use the patronymic name system. But you combine it with several Malay words. A male name consists of the personal name followed by the Malay expression anak lelaki ("son of") and the name of the father. It is similar with the female name. However, the Malay expression is anak perempuan ("daughter of"). These expressions may be abbreviated to a / l and a / p, respectively. However, they are often left out. This time the name of the father is at the beginning, followed by the personal name. A custom from South India with the initial of the father's name at the beginning is also used very often.

An example of a male name is Anbuselvan anak lelaki Ramanan (formal). However, on the MyKad it says Anbuselvan a / l Ramanan . He can also be called Anbuselvan Ramanan or just R. Anbuselvan . Basically, the name of his daughter is as follows: Mathuram anak perempuan Anbuselvan or Mathuram a / p Anbuselvan (on MyKad), simple Mathuram Anbuselvan or, most simply, A. Mathuram . A woman is allowed, unofficially, to use her husband's name instead of her father after marriage. However, this is not officially registered.

Name system of other ethnic group

The Orang Asli and other non-Malay Bumiputra use the Malay word anak in their patronymic naming system regardless of gender. One example is Mayang anak Ramlan .

The Kristang, or Malaysians of Portuguese origin , often have Portuguese names or other Western-sounding names, some of which are inherited family names.