Malaysian names


Personal names in Malaysia vary greatly according to ethno-cultural group. Personal names are, to a certain degree, regulated by the national registration department, especially since the introduction of the National Registration Identity Card.
Malays, Orang Asli, some Bumiputera of Sabah and Sarawak, and Malaysian Indians adopt patronymic naming customs. On the other hand, Malaysian Chinese, some Malays and Bumiputera of Sabah and Sarawak use family names.

Malay names

Traditional Malay names were taken from one of a number of languages, or even a combination of two or more elements from these languages:
  • Malay such as Intan, Melati, Kiambang or Tuah
  • Khmer, Siamese or Cham such as Tam, Som or Lai
  • Javanese such as Ratnasari, Joyo or Kesuma
  • Sanskrit or Pali such as Wira, Darma or Wati
Malay names are not to be confused with Malaysian names. Malay names also exist in various countries other than Malaysia, including among the ethnic Malay communities in Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, South Africa and Thailand.

Arabic names were introduced later along with Islamic names but did not become dominant among commoners until the colonial era. Although traditional Malay names were still widely used for centuries afterward, they are now primarily confined to rural areas. Malaysia's National Registration Department doesn't allow names which they deem to have negative or obscene meanings, such as Pendek which means short. The Department additionally bans names with the meaning of colors, animals and natural phenomena. This effectively renders many traditional names illegal including Puteh or Putih, Bulan, Suria, Rimau and Awan. Because of these restrictions, the vast majority of Malays today tend to favour Arabic names. However, names from the following languages are common as well:
  • Persian such as Jihan, Mirza or Shah
  • Greek or Latin such as Maria, Marina, Johana, and Tiara
  • English, such as Orked or Ros
Names of Arabo-Hebrew origins are also common, for example Adam, Yaakob, Ishak, Bunyamin and Danial and Sarah. In addition, names of Arabo-Hebrew origins that are seldom used by Muslim Arabs are widespread among Malays, such as the female names of Saloma and Rohana.
In pre-modern times, words and names of Arabic derivation were adapted to suit the Classical Malay language. This is still reflected in the rural pronunciation of certain Middle Eastern names. Thus, Sharif would be Sarip and Aziz would become Ajis.

Structure

A Malay's name consists of a personal name, which is used to address them in all circumstances, almost always followed by a patronym. Thus, most Malays do not use family names or surnames. In this respect, Malay names are similar to Icelandic naming conventions. For men, the patronym consists of the title bin followed by his father's personal name. If Osman has a son called Musa, Musa will be known as Musa bin Osman. For women, the patronym consists of the title binti followed by her father's name. Thus, if Musa has a daughter called Aisyah, Aisyah will be known as Aisyah binti Musa. Upon marriage, a woman does not change her name, as is done in many cultures.
In the past it was uncommon for a Malay to have more than one personal name, but in modern times Malay names may consist of two and sometimes three personal names.
As of January 2022, the longest recorded name for a Malaysian is "Princess Aura Nurr Ermily Amara Auliya Bidadari Nawal El-Zendra", comprising 63 letters including spaces.
Some are taken from public figures around the world, such as Mohammad Rifae Zidane, whose third personal name is taken from the famous footballer. Some people have names from other languages that have a different Malay meaning. For example, the daughter of actor Scha Alyahya and Awal Ashaari, named Lara Alana, faced criticism from Malaysians because "Lara" means "painful" in Malay, although it means "protector" in Latin.

Patronymic

The patronymic is employed by almost all Malays in accordance with local customs as well as ones adopted from the Arabs, historically Jews and others. Sometimes the title part of the patronymic, Bin or Binti, is reduced to B. for men, or to Bt., Bte. or Bint. for women. Foreigners sometimes take this abbreviation erroneously for a middle initial. In general practice, most Malays omit the title Bin or Binti from their names. Therefore, the two examples from the paragraph above would be known as Musa Osman and Aisyah Musa. When presented in this way, the second part of the name is often mistaken by foreigners for a family name.
When someone is referred to using only one name, the first name is always used, never the second. Thus, Musa Osman is Mr Musa, and Aisyah Musa is Mrs/Ms/Miss Aisyah. Occasionally, however, a man's personal name comes after the Islamic prophet Mohammed's name, or the word Abdul. In such a case, the man will usually be referred to by his second name, if the third name is the patronymic. For example, Mohammed Hisyam bin Ariffin would be referred by the name Mr Hisyam, or Abdul Rahman bin Rasyid would be referred to as Mr Abdul Rahman.
It is argued that the Mr or Mrs form of address is not compatible with the Malay naming system, probably due to the lack of family or surnames. It is therefore customary to address Malays using the Malay forms of address.

Honorifics

In olden times, the first group of Chinese people in Malaysia used to be held in high regard by Malays. Some Malays in the past may have taken the word "Baba", referring to Chinese males, and put it into their name, when this used to be the case. This is not followed by the younger generation, and the current Chinese Malaysians do not have the same social status as they previously had.

Nicknames

Malays of the Peninsular have a unique convention of nicknames based on the order of their birth:
  • the eldest born is Pak/''Mak Long
  • the second is Pak/Mak Ngah
  • third, is Pak/Mak Lang
  • fourth is Pak Panjang/Mak Anjang
  • fifth is Pak/Mak Andak
  • sixth is Pak/Mak Uda
  • the youngest is Pak/Mak Su''.

    Second personal names or double names

Another feature in Malay names, which is very common, is the existence of second personal names or double names. This seems to have been developed in response to the use of very popular Muslim names, like Muhammad and Ahmad for men, and Nur and Siti for women. Bearers of these names, and their variants, often add a more distinctive second name, like Muhammad Osman or Nur Mawar. The patronym is then added after these.
The popular first elements in double Malay male names are:
  • Muhammad/Mohammad/Mohammed
  • Mat – the Malay variant of Muhammad. Mat is also the casual spoken form of names ending with -mad or -mat such as Ahmad, Rahmat, Samad, etc.
  • Mamat - another variety of Muhammad
  • Ahmad
  • Awang
The most common first elements in double Malay female names are:
  • Nur/Nurul/Noor/Nor
  • Siti/Ct
  • Dayang
A special case of double names for men is the use of Abdul. Following Arabic naming practices, Abdul simply means 'servant of' and must be followed by one of the names of God in the Qur'an; for example Abdul Haqq means 'servant of the Truth'.
Thus, Osman may have another son called Abdul Haqq, who is known as Abdul Haqq bin Osman, or Abdul Haqq Osman. Then he, in turn, may have a daughter called Nur Mawar, who is known as Nur Mawar binti Abdul Haqq, or Nor Mawar Abdul Haqq. It is often common to drop the first element in these double names, even if it is Abdul, and so the examples could be known as Haqq Osman and Mawar Haqq.

Malay titles

Hereditary titles

In different parts of, but not exclusive to, Malaysia, traditionally inherited Malay titles and sometimes matrilineally, are used and often incorporated into the naming system as the first part of double names. Most of those with these titles are descended from royalty or nobility.
The examples of inherited titles are:
by Patrilineal Royal descent
by Patrilineal Royal descent
  • Yang
  • Long
by Patrilineal Royal descent
  • Teuku
  • Cut
by Patrilineal Royal descent
by Patrilineal Royal descent
  • Engku
  • Ungku
  • Tunku
  • Ku
by Patrilineal and Matrilineal Noble descent
  • Syed/Sharifah — indicating direct patrilineal descent from the family of Muhammad.
  • Mior — indicating direct matrilineal descent from the family of Muhammad.
  • Awangku/Pangiran Muda/Pangiran Anak/Pengiran, Dayangku.
  • Tuan
  • Awang/Dayang, Abang/Dayang or Dayangku
by Patrilineal Noble descent
  • Wan
  • Megat
  • Puteri
  • Nik
  • Che
  • Tun
  • Raden
All hereditary titles are controlled and regulated as well as registered by the Malaysian National Registration Department and must appear in the National Registration Identity Cards, passports as well as all official documents. A person may not in any circumstances be denied or stripped of his or her hereditary titles and persons with no evidence of inheritance are not allowed to carry these titles in accordance to local customs as well as the national registration naming regulations.

Non-hereditary titles

The titles above should not be confused with those given by special award which are non-hereditary, like 'Datuk', 'Tan Sri' and 'Tun'.
These titles are usually awarded by the Sultans of the recipients' respective states as well as the Yang Dipertuan Agong and the state Yang Dipertua as recognition for their contributions and services to the nation and the respective states. For example, the title 'Datuk' is given to Malaysians of all races as an honorary title. An example is Datuk Lee Chong Wei, a famous badminton player who was awarded the title as recognition to his achievement in becoming the third Malaysian to win a silver Olympic medal 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. If the recipient is a man, his wife is automatically bestowed with the title 'Datin' but not in reverse.
The title 'Tun' is reserved for nationally important persons, like the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Mahathir bin Mohamad. He was given the title after his resignation at 2003.
For an example of a complex name, one former Prime Minister of Malaysia has the full name Dato' Seri Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak, where 'Dato' Seri' is a Malay title of honour, 'Mohd Najib' is his personal name, 'bin' introduces his father's titles and names, Tun is a higher honour, 'Haji' denotes his father as a pilgrim to Mecca, and 'Abdul Razak' is his father's personal name.