Balinese Name
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A Balinese name is part of a system of identification used by the
Balinese people The Balinese people (, ) are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the Indonesian island of Bali. The Balinese population of 4.2 million (1.7% of Indonesia's population) live mostly on the island of Bali, making up 89% of the island's population ...
and in the western parts of the neighboring island of
Lombok Lombok, is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east. It is rou ...
,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
. A Balinese name will have three parts: a title, a birth order name and a personal name. Balinese people do not use a family name. Both boys and girls receive birth order name from a small typical group of names for each birth order position. These names may vary due to
caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...
, regional customs and variations in the Balinese language between the north and the south of the island. Balinese people use the birth order name to refer to one another. As most Balinese are
Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
, many names will be of
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
origin. Some people have traditional Balinese names.


Birth order

A birth order name is chosen from a few typical names according to the position of the child in the birth order of siblings. The people of Bali use the birth order name to refer to one another. The first born are named ''Wayan'', ''Putu'', ''Gede'' or for a girl, ''Ni Luh''. ''Wayan'' is a Balinese name meaning "eldest". Second born children are named ''Made'', ''Kadek'', or ''Nengah''. ''Made'' and ''Nengah'' mean ''madya'' or "middle". ''Kadek'' means "little brother" or "little sister". The third born is given the name ''Nyoman'' or ''Komang''. These names may be shortened to "Man" and "Mang" respectively. Fourth born children are named ''Ketut''. Ketut is often shortened to "Tut". If there is a fifth child in the family, he is often called ''Wayan Balik'' (meaning "Wayan again").


Names according to caste

The naming system allows a person to recognise another's caste. A person's caste, unlike in
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, is relatively unimportant to the Balinese people. The idea of caste flowed into Balinese culture as close links with Hindu-Buddhist Java evolved. The inclusion of the caste may also have been due to Airlangga (9911049), a half Balinese
raja Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. T ...
of the
Kediri Kingdom Kediri Kingdom or Kadiri, also known as Panjalu, was a Hindu-Buddhist Javanese people, Javanese kingdom based in East Java from 1042 until 1222 (1292–1293 under Jayakatwang). This kingdom is centered in the ancient city ''Dahanapura'', des ...
. The naming system of the peasant farmers of Bali may have preceded the idea of the caste. The farmers included indigenous Balinese and very early Hindu-Buddhist missionaries and their followers. The farmers represented a caste level that in India, would be called ''Sudra''. This "farmer caste" also used birth order names, perhaps to indicate inheritance.


Sudra

Beyond the birth order name, there are no special names to denote people from the Sudra caste. Those of the Sudra caste add an "I" (male) and "Ni" (female) in front of their names. For example, I Made Mangku Pastika was the governor of Bali.


Wesya

The Wesya is the trader and farmer caste. The Wesya once added "Ngakan", "Kompyang", "Sang", or "Si" before their name. However, most no longer do so due to assimilation into the Sudra. An example is Ngakan Gede Sugiarta Garjitha, a major general.


Ksatria

The Ksatria caste are the ruling and military elite in Hindu society. Some typical names of people of the Ksatria caste include: ''I Gusti Ngurah'' (male), ''I Gusti Ayu'' (female), ''Anak Agung'' (male), ''Anak Agung Ayu'' or ''Anak Agung Istri'' (female), ''Tjokorda'' which is sometimes abbreviated as ''Tjok'' (male), ''Tjokorda Istri'' (female), ''Ida I Dewa'', ''Dewa Agung'' or ''I Dewa'' (male), and ''I Dewa Ayu'', and ''Desak'' (female). The name ''Gusti'' literally means "leader" as members of the Ksatria were often families promoted from the aristocrat caste. The Ksatria often use birth order names. Sometimes the Ksatria borrow the whole order of the aristocrat caste names, so it is possible to find a name like ''I Gusti Ketut Rajendra'', indicating a male of the Ksatria caste, fourth born, whose personal name is ''Rajendra''. The word ''Agung'' means "great", or "prominent". The word ''Tjokorda'' is a conjunction of the Sanskrit words ''Tjoka'' and ''Dewa''. It literally means "the foot of the Gods", and is awarded to the highest members of the aristocracy. Another typical name might be ''Anak Agung Rai'', meaning a Ksatria, whose personal name means "the great one". It is more difficult to differentiate sexes by name alone among the Ksatria people, though personal names often tell, like ''Putra'', or "prince", for a boy, and ''Putri'', or "princess", for a girl. An example is Sri Aji Kresna Kepakisan (reign 1352 CE to 1380 CE). Other examples are I Gusti Ngurah Rai, military commander and national hero, Ide Anak Agung Gde Agung, former Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Tjokorda Gde Raka Soekawati Tjokorda Gdé Raka Soekawati ( EYD: Cokorda Gdé Raka Sukawati; ; 15 January 1899 – 1967) was a Balinese nobleman and politician who served as the first and only president of the State of East Indonesia from 1946 until its dissolution in 1950. ...
, president of the State of East Indonesia, Dewa Made Beratha, a former Governor of Bali.


Brahmana

The Brahmin caste are academics, intellectuals, economists, aristocrats and lawyers. Names for the
Brahmana The Brahmanas (; Sanskrit: , International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Brāhmaṇam'') are Vedas, Vedic śruti works attached to the Samhitas (hymns and mantras) of the Rigveda, Rig, Samaveda, Sama, Yajurveda, Yajur, and Athar ...
caste include ''Ida Bagus'' (male), ''Ida Ayu'' (female). A typical name might be ''Ida Ayu Ngurah'', meaning "Brahman woman, Beautiful highness whose personal name is Ngurah ift from heaven. Other examples are Ida Ayu Oka Rusmini, novelist; Ida Bagus Oka, a former governor of Bali and Ida Bagus Ngurah Parthayana, an Indonesian YouTuber from Bali that also known as Turah Parthayana. Inter-caste marriages occur. Those who marry someone from a higher caste will adopt the name ''Jero'' ("come in") in front of their name.


Gender

A name may have a prefix to indicate gender, ''I'' for males and ''Ni'' for females. Typical names are. for example, ''I Wayan Pedjeng'' (first-born male whose personal name is "moon") or ''Ni Ketut Sulastri'' (fourth-born female whose personal name is "fine light"). Unlike Javanese names, Balinese names of Sanskrit origin do not experience vowel change from final ''-a'' to ''-o'' (as in Javanese ''Susilo'', from ''Susila''), albeit they are still pronounced as schwa /ə/ in Balinese (pronounced like ''*Susile'').


See also

*
Indonesian names Indonesian names and naming customs reflect the multicultural and multilingual nature of the over 17,000 islands in the Indonesian archipelago. The world's fourth most populous country, Indonesia is home to numerous ethnic groups, each with ...


References

{{Names in world cultures Balinese culture Names by language