Mongolian names

Mongolian names have undergone a number of changes in the history of Mongolia, both with regard to their meaning and their source languages. In Inner Mongolia, naming customs are now similar to Mongolia but with some differences.

Historical evolution

Mongolian names traditionally have an important symbolic character—a name with auspicious connotations being thought to bring good fortune to its bearer. The naming of children was usually done by the parents or a respected elder of the family or religious figures. For example, it is said that in the 13th century, the prominent shaman, Teb-tengeri, saw in the stars a great future for Tolui's eldest son and bestowed on the child the name Möngke (meaning "eternal" in the Mongolian language).

Nowadays most parents give Mongolian names to their children, often in the form of compounds consisting of two nouns or adjectives, representing qualities such as solidity and strength for boys or beauty in the case of girls.

Generally, the Mongols, distinct from other cultures in East Asia, have only one personal name, which remains the same throughout their lives. While clan organization remained important among the Mongols into the 17th century, clan names were not linked with the personal name in a family name system. Clan name is still important among the Buryats and to a lesser extent among Kalmyks today. While the personal name of the living ruler was not originally tabooed, as in China, the names of deceased rulers were tabooed for several generations. In the past this prohibition was even stronger. In Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, the Mongols also use clan names.

Middle Ages

The most common category of Mongol names were those of auspicious or (for boys) manly things, such as gold ( altan), eternity (Möngke), surplus (hulagu), blue (köke), white (chagha’an), good health (esen), uncle ( abaqa), firmness ( batu), stability ( toqto'a), bulls (buqa, for men), iron ( temür), steel (bolad), black (qara), hardness (berke) or nine (yisü).

Such names were often combined with suffixes used only for personal names, such as -''dai'', -''ge''/''gei'', and -''der'' for boys and -''jin'', -''tani'', and -''lun'' for girls. However, Temüjin's -''jin'' is a form of the occupational derivational suffix -''cin'', but not a feminine suffix: ''temür'' 'iron' + -''cin'' = ''temüjin'' 'smith'.

Other names were based on either conquests or clan names. For example, Sartaq (merchants of western Asian or western Central Asian origin), ''Hasi'' (Mongolian form of Tangut-led Western Xia dynasty), Orus (Rus), Asudai (Alani) and so on. Clan-based personal names did not relate to the person's own clan or tribe. For example, Eljigidey was not from Iljigin (Eljigin) tribe and the Mongol general Mangghudai was a Tatar (not to be confused with the modern Turkic people of the Tatars in Europe), but not a Manghud.

One finds a number of degrading or inauspicious names during the 13–14th centuries such as Sorqaqtani, “Pox girl,” or Nohai (~Nokai) "dog", obviously in an attempt to fool bad spirits or disease into thinking it had already afflicted them. This tradition is still preserved in Mongolia in modern times. Symbolic names that express frustration can be found such as the not uncommon girls’ name Oghul-qaimish (Middle Turkic "next time a boy"), while the name '' Jochi'' “Guest” indicated doubts about the child's paternity.

Turkic names were common among Mongols (such as Oghul-qaimish, Abishqa, Qutlugh and so on). However, names of other foreign origin were introduced when the Mongol Empire expanded all over Eurasia, increasing international trade and cultural connections and also partly due to religious dignity. Ghazan, Kharbanda, or Toghus (peacock) are not Mongol words. Christian names also existed among the Turkic and Mongol peoples (especially Onguts and Keraits) on the Mongolian Plateau. The Ilkhan Öljeitü's name at birth was ''Nicholas''.

Some Mongols had Chinese names. For example, the Buddhist monk, Haiyun, bestowed the name Zhenjin (True-gold) to Khubilai and Chabi's eldest son. In the late 13th century, many newborn children in Italy were named after Mongol rulers, including ''Hülegü''.

From the mid-13th century Sanskrit, Uyghur, and Tibetan Buddhist names ( Ananda (the Yuan prince), Dorji (Khubilai's son) or ''Wachir'' (a Yuan official), ''Gammala'' (Khubilai's son), ''Irinchin'' (the Ilkhanid general), etc.) granted by Tibetan teachers became common in the royal family and the aristocratic clans. In the west some Mongols took Islamic names such as ''Bū Sa'īd'' (misspelled as Abu Sa'id) or ''Khwaja'' after they converted, although many kept their Mongolian names.

After the expulsion of the Mongol regime from China, the Sanskrit names in the imperial family soon disappeared. Christian names appeared occasionally before disappearing ( Markörgis Khan). Muslim and Turkic names also declined ( Akbarjin, Ismayil or Arghun), leaving primarily the auspicious Mongolian names similar to those in the early empire. For example, some of the later Mongolian Emperors' names include Batumöngke, Buyan, Esen, Toγtoγa Buqa and Manduul. Mongol name customs also affected the nations under Mongol rule. The Jurchens (ancestors of Manchus) in Ming China often used Mongolian names. Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar's great-grandson was given the name ''Bayan'' "rich".

Late Middle Ages and early modern period

With the beginning of the new wave of Buddhism in 1575, however, Buddhist and Tibetan names were reintroduced into Mongolia. By 1700 the vast majority of Mongols had Buddhist names, usually Tibetan, but also sometimes Sanskrit or from Mongolian Buddhist terminology. A number of Mongolian-language names survived, particularly with more pacific elements designating peace
(''Engke'', ''Amur''), happiness (''Jirgal''), long life (''Nasu''), and blessing (''Öljei'', ''Kesig'').

Buddhist names were granted according to several different principles. The most common for laymen are
based on the Tibetan or Sanskrit names of powerful deities: ''Damdin/Damrin'' (Hayagriva), ''Dulma/Dari'' ( Tara), ''Gombo'' ( Mahākāla), Cagdur/Shagdur (Vajrapani), Jamsrang (Begtse), Jamyang (Manjusri), etc. Another type of Buddhist name derives from the Tibetan days of the week, themselves named after the Sun, Moon, and five
visible planets (Nima, Dawa, Migmar, Lhagba, Pürbü, Basang, Bimba). Another astrological scheme divides the days of the month into five classes, each under an element: ''Dorji'' ( power bolt), ''Badma'' (lotus), and ''Sangjai'' (Buddha). The suffixes -''jab'' (Tibetan ''skyabs'' “protecting”) and -''sürüng'' (Tibetan - “guarding”) were commonly added to these Buddhist names. Finally, some names, particularly for monks, were based on Tibetan words for desired qualities or aspects of the religion: ''Lubsang'' “good intellect”, ''Agwang'' “powerful in speech”, ''Danzin'' “instruction keeper”, ''Dashi/Rashi'', “blessed.” A number of Buddhist terms exist in multiple forms transmitted from Old Uyghur, Tibetan, and Sanskrit: thus, ''Wachir/Ochir'', ''Dorji'', and ''Bazar'' all mean “power bolt,” while ''Erdeni'', ''Rinchin'', and ''Radna'' all mean “jewel”.

A distinctive type of Mongolian name that flourished in this period and is still common in the countryside is the avoidance name, designed to avert misfortune from the child: ''Nergüi'' “No Name”, ''Enebish'' “Not This”, ''Terbish'' "Not That".

Modern

Mongolia

In the 20th century, when Mongolia had close ties to the Soviet Union, Mongols were sometimes given Russian names like ''Alexander'' or ''Sasha'', or mixed ones like ''Ivaanjav'' consisting of the Russian ''Ivan'' and the Tibetan ''-jav''. Politically active parents may have chosen ''Oktyabr'' (October), ''Seseer'' ( SSR), ''Mart'' (March) and even ''Molotov'' as names for their offspring. One such example is ''Melschoi'', composed of the first letters of Marx, Engels

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