Comments on: Balinese names

By: Lely

Lely — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 03:01:32 +0000

I am Balinese but thank you so much coz you give me an important thing.. I proud with you, My Balinese name is Putu. Thank’s

By: Susan Scarcella

Susan Scarcella — Sat, 10 Jan 2004 10:49:43 +0000

The Balinese naming system is very complex indeed. As someone who has studied Balinese culture professionally and personally, I have still to overcome the difficulties of someone coming up to me a year after I met them and saying: Remember me? I’m Made. LOL
Basically, if you put all the information on this site together, what you have is that each Balinese has (at least) three parts to his/her name. First is his/her caste title, I for a male and Ni for a girl (for the Sudras, who make up most of the population). Then follows birth order name, as people have written above: Wayan/Putu/Nengah= 1st born
Made/Kadek=2nd born
Nyoman/Komang=3rd born
Ketut= 4th born
each of which is repeated for successive children.
Then finally there is a given name, which might be something like Yuliasih for a girl and Jembrana for a guy. These names often have a spiritual meaning and it is not surprising to find that many of the names translate into something very interesting eg Anugerahi= gift of the gods and I have seen Christians (yes, they still use their Balinese names) with names like Kristiawati and Paskawi.
The Wesia or artisan caste (curiously many of the royal families fall into this caste- there is a good historical reason for this!) follows a similar pattern to the Sudras except that their caste titles are I Gusti and Ni Gusti.
The Brahmanas at the top have the titles Ida Bagus (‘he who is handsome’) for guys and Ida Ayu (‘she who is beautiful’) for girls. The Satrias or warriors (including some of the royal families) have the title Anak Agung (‘lofty person’) and only if you are familiar with Balinese names can you differentiate the males from the females on paper.
You might see Ni Luh as a prefix for women sometimes. This used to be the title for royal concubines.
Now that you have this straight, you might like to know that every Balinese also has a secret name, not told to anyone so as to fool the spirits. And, just to make it interesting, it was common in the past for people to lose their names altogether upon becoming parents, assuming the title of Pan “father of” and Mem “mother of”. Grandparents assumed “grandfather of’ and’grandmother of’. Great for establishing clan relationships in a society without family surnames, but a horror for outsiders!
And, let’s not forget the assuming of new names if something momentuous happens in one’s life eg inheritance, obtaining a wealthy wife/husband. Not so common nowadays, but still heard of!
I am in the process of assuming a Balinese name at the moment. I regard myself as a sudra, but some nice Balinese have tried to give me a better caste! Anyway, I am Ni Made Susanti. A nice little play on my own name, using one that exists in Balinese!
By the way, my family supports Balinese children on our website. There is plenty of opportunity for others to help. If you’d like to help, just contact me at my email addy.
Sue

By: Nick

Nick — Mon, 22 Sep 2003 21:37:26 +0000

Student. I should also mention that there are 4 castes in Agama Hindu Dharma (Religion of the Hindu doctrine)which are: brahmana, satriya, wesya and sudra.

90% of Balinese are is the Sudra caste and a corresponding set of names, first and last accomopany this.

For example, a friend of mine is called Putu ( meaning the first born ). Only someone frion the Sudra caste will be called Putu, Made, Komang etc.

Her last name is Yustiani which is also a Sudra name chosen fro her by her parents. Family members have different last names.

A man from the Bramana caste will have the first name Ida Bagus, a lady Ida Ayu. People over here often incorporate another part of their name to distinguish themselves from the other 25 Made’s in their street.

Here’s a good page describing more details about how the Balinese version of hinduism works.

http://bali_bali.tripod.com/bali_guide/balinese_hindu.htm

By: Student

Student — Mon, 22 Sep 2003 19:51:40 +0000

thanks for that , NOw i can finish my Asian Studies assignment which is due tomorow. It’s poeple like you that makes our work alot easier to do
Thanks Again
Yr 8 Student

By: Mary

Mary — Tue, 28 Jan 2003 12:12:01 +0000

Thanks, Nick, I was confused and now I’m less confused!

By: Nick

Nick — Sun, 26 Jan 2003 18:41:12 +0000

Balinese have a first name representing a number in the birth line, a short second name that tey never use and a last name, which confusingly is different from the parents.

Blai is such a local place and village life tighly knit. When this system began they didn’t have phones, banks, e-mail etc and one probably ran into one’s friends on a daily basis.

The indentifier I use when calling the Japanese restaurant is Putu’s last name. When talking about Made #35 I might say ‘Made from Bali and & Houses.’( which in itself can be confusing as there are 2 of them. )

Nick

By: Mary

Mary — Sun, 26 Jan 2003 07:34:39 +0000

How does one tell the difference, besides meeting the individual?

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 25 Jan 2003 14:24:27 +0000

This is cool, Nick. I had someone ask me about this today. Now I have the answer.