Mongolian names have undergone a number of changes in the

history of Mongolia Various nomadic empires, including the Xiongnu (3rd century BC–1st century AD), the Xianbei state ( AD 93–234), the Rouran Khaganate (330–555), the First (552–603) and Second Turkic Khaganates (682–744) and others, ruled the area o ...

, both with regard to their meaning and their source languages. In

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...

, naming customs are now similar to

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

but with some differences.

Historical evolution

Mongolian names traditionally have an important symbolic character—a name with

auspicious Auspicious is a word derived from Latin originally pertaining to the taking of 'Augury, auspices' by an augur of ancient Rome. It may refer to: * Luck, the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable positive or negative events ...

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 Tolui (born ; died 1232) was the youngest son of Genghis Khan and Börte. A prominent general during the early Mongol conquests, Tolui was a leading candidate to succeed his father after his death in 1227 and ultimately served as regent of th ...

'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

noun In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, like living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an Object (grammar), object or Subject (grammar), subject within a p ...

s or

adjective An adjective (abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that describes or defines a noun or noun phrase. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Traditionally, adjectives are considered one of the main part of speech, parts of ...

s, 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 Berke Khan (died 1266/1267; also Birkai; Turki/ Kypchak: برکه خان, , ) was a grandson of Genghis Khan from his son Jochi and a Mongol military commander and ruler of the Golden Horde, a division of the Mongol Empire, who effectively c ...

), nine (yisü) Munkhchuluun (Eternal) or Nomt (Book). 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 Sartaq Khan' (or Sartak, Sartach, , ; died 1257) was the son of Batu Khan and his senior wife Boraqchin of Alchi Tatar.Rashid al-Din - Universal History, see: ''Tale of Jochids'' Boraqchin acted as regent Dowager before Sartaq eventually suc ...

(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 Eljigidey was Khan of the Chagatai Khanate, a division of the Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire was the List of largest empires, largest contiguous empire in human history, history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mo ...

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 Tatars ( )Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...

in Europe), but not a

Manghud The Manghud, or Manghit (, ''Mangud;'' ) were a Mongol tribe of the Urud-Manghud federation, and a sub-clan of Borjigin, Manghuds (Mangkits or Mangits) who moved to the Desht-i Qipchaq steppe were Turkified. They established the Nogai Horde ...

. One finds a number of degrading or inauspicious names during the 13–14th centuries such as Sorqaqtani, "Pox girl", or Nohai (~Nokai) "dog", in an attempt to fool bad spirits or disease into thinking it had already afflicted them. This tradition is still preserved in

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 Jochi (; ), also spelled Jüchi, was a prince of the early Mongol Empire. His life was marked by controversy over the circumstances of his birth and culminated in his estrangement from his family. He was nevertheless a prominent Military of the ...

'' "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 Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

) are not Mongol words.

Christian name A Christian name, sometimes referred to as a baptismal name, is a religious personal name given on the occasion of a Christian baptism, though now most often given by parents at birth. In English-speaking cultures, a person's Christian name ...

s 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 Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

were named after Mongol rulers, including ''Hülegü''. From the mid-13th century

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 ...

, Uyghur, and Tibetan

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

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 Jurchen (, ; , ) is a term used to collectively describe a number of East Asian people, East Asian Tungusic languages, Tungusic-speaking people. They lived in northeastern China, also known as Manchuria, before the 18th century. The Jurchens wer ...

(ancestors of

Manchus The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) an ...

) in

Ming China The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

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 Hayagriva ( IAST , ) is a Hindus, Hindu deity, the horse-headed avatar of Vishnu. The purpose of this incarnation was to slay a Danava (Hinduism), danava also named Hayagriva (A descendant of Kashyapa and Danu), who had the head of a horse a ...

), ''Dulma/Dari'' ( Tara), ''Gombo'' ( Mahākāla), Cagdur/Shagdur ( Vajrapani), Jamsrang ( Begtse), Jamyang (

Manjusri Manjushri () is a ''bodhisattva'' who represents ''Prajñā (Buddhism), prajñā'' (transcendent wisdom) of the Buddhas in Mahāyāna Buddhism. The name "Mañjuśrī" is a combination of Sanskrit word "wikt:%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%9E%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%9C%E0 ...

), 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 Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

). 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 The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, 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 Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

Engels Friedrich Engels ( ;"Engels"
''

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

and Choibalsan. Today male names still include the names of old Mongolian elements such as 'iron' or 'steel', or other words denoting strength, such as 'hero', 'strong', or 'ax': some examples are ''Gansükh'' 'steel-ax', ''Batsaikhan'' 'strong-nice', or ''Tömörbaatar'' 'iron-hero', ''Chuluunbold'' 'stone-steel' and Nomtoimergen 'Book Wise'. Temujin, Borte, Yisu and other old names are commonly given to newborn children after 1990. Women's names commonly refer to fine colours or flowers, the sun and moon, or may be made up of any other word with positive connotations using the feminine

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...

''-maa'' (Tib. 'mother'): some common examples are ''Altantsetseg'' 'golden-flower', ''Narantuyaa'' 'sun-beam', ''Uranchimeg'' 'artistic-decoration', '' Sarangerel'' 'moon-light', ''Erdenetungalag'' 'jewel-clear', and ''Tsetsegmaa'' 'flower'. Many gender-neutral name components refer to auspicious qualities such as eternity or happiness: some examples are ''Mönkh'' 'eternal', ''Erdene'' 'jewel', ''Oyuun'' 'mind', ''Altan'' 'golden', ''Saikhan'' 'fine' and ''Enkh'' 'peace'. Many names include the names of places, including mountains, rivers etc., e.g. '' Altai'' or '' Tuul''. Mongolians do not use

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

s in the way that most Westerners, Chinese or Japanese do. Since the socialist period,

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, b ...

s — at that time called , now known as — are used instead of a surname. If the father's name is not legally established (i.e., by marriage) or altogether unknown, a

matronymic A matronymic is a personal name or a parental name based on the given name of one's mother, grandmother, or any female ancestor. It is the female equivalent of a patronymic. Around the world, matronymic surnames are far less common than patrony ...

is used. The patro- or matronymic is written before the given name. Therefore, if a man with given name Tsakhia has a son, and gives the son the name ''Elbegdorj'', the son's full name, as it appears in passports and the like, is ''Tsakhia Elbegdorj''. Very frequently, as in texts and speech, the patronymic is given in

genitive In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...

case, i.e. ''Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj'', with (in this case) -giin being the genitive suffix. However, the patronymic is rather insignificant in everyday use and usually just abbreviated to an initial - ''Ts. Elbegdorj''. People are normally just referred to and addressed by their given name (''Elbegdorj guai'' - 'Mr. Elbegdorj'), and the patronymic is only used to distinguish two people with a common given name. Even then, they are usually just distinguished by their initials, not by the full patronymic. There are cases in which a matronymic has been legally bestowed for one or the other reason, while a patronymic is known. If the patronymic is to be conveyed anyway, this can take a form like with the patronymic preceding the word ovog that takes the suffix ''-t'' 'having'. The basic differences between Mongolian and European names, in connection with trying to fit Mongolian names into foreign schemata, frequently lead to confusion. For example, Otryadyn Gündegmaa, a Mongolian shooter, is often incorrectly referred to as Otryad, i.e. by the (given) name of her father. But now, as Mongolians establish more international relations, this practice has been more or less standardised. For example, the 2024 Olympic silver medalist, Bavuudorjiin Baasankhüü, is referred to as Baasankhüü Bavuudorj, putting the given name in the first name position, and father's name in the family name position. Mongolians do not use their clan name due to historical reasons. Even saying your clan name was taboo up until very recently; however, there is a growing trend in people finding their real clan origination after being falsely claimed 'Borjigin'. Since 2000, Mongolians have been officially using clan names—''ovog'', the same word that was used for the patronymics during the socialist period—on their ID cards (the clan name is also referred to as ''urgiin ovog'', meaning lineage name, among general use, to distinguish from the patro- or matronymic). Many people chose the names of the ancient clans and tribes such

Borjigin A Borjigin is a member of the Mongol sub-clan that started with Bodonchar Munkhag of the Kiyat clan. Yesugei's descendants were thus said to be Kiyat-Borjigin. The senior Borjigids provided ruling princes for Mongolia and Inner Mongolia u ...

, Besud, Jalair, etc. Others chose the names of the native places of their ancestors, or the names of their most ancient known ancestor. Some just decided to pass their own given names (or modifications of their given names) to their descendants as clan names. A few chose other attributes of their lives as surnames; Mongolia's first cosmonaut Gürragchaa chose 'Sansar' (Outer space). Clan names precede the patronymics and given names, as in ''Besud Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj''. In practice, these clan names seem to have had no significant effect — nor are they included in Mongolian passports.

Inner Mongolia

In Inner Mongolia, Chinese names are quite common, as are Mongolian names. Mongolian names of Tibetan origin are usually restricted to people in their 50s and older. Because China does not recognize Mongolian clan names,

Mongols in China Mongols in China, also known as Mongolian Chinese or Chinese Mongols, are ethnic Mongols who live in China. They are one of the List of ethnic groups in China#Ethnic groups recognized by the People's Republic of China, 56 ethnic groups recogniz ...

who have acquired their passports since 2001 have "XXX" printed in place of their surnames, while before not only "XXX" but also a syllable from an individual's given name or the first syllable of the patronymic was used in place of the Chinese surname. Also, for some individuals, "XXX" is printed in the slot for the given name, while the given name is printed in the slot for the surname. Some Mongolians in China do have surnames because their parents are Han, Hui,

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...

etc. Some others use an abbreviation (like ''Bao'' 'Borjigin') of their clan name. Officially, Mongolian names in China are transcribed with the SASM/GNC/SRC transcriptions (e.g. Ulanhu), but this system is rarely used. Generally, the names in Chinese passports are given in the

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

form of the Chinese character transcription of the original Mongolian. For example, ''Mengkebateer'' (from ) would be used instead of ''Möngkebaghatur'' (

Mongolian script The traditional Mongolian script, also known as the Hudum Mongol bichig, was the first Mongolian alphabet, writing system created specifically for the Mongolian language, and was the most widespread until the introduction of Cyrillic script, Cy ...

), ''Mөnghebagatur'' (Mongolian pinyin) or ''Munkhbaatar'' (approximate English pronunciation). Sometimes in such Chinese transcriptions of Mongolian names, the first syllable is sometimes reanalyzed as the surname, i.e. Ulanhu becomes Wu Lanfu. Onset (if available) and nucleus of the first

syllable A syllable is a basic unit of organization within a sequence of speech sounds, such as within a word, typically defined by linguists as a ''nucleus'' (most often a vowel) with optional sounds before or after that nucleus (''margins'', which are ...

of the father's name can be used for disambiguation, but have no official status, e.g. ''Na. Gereltü''. Rarely, the onset is used on its own, e.g. ''L. Toγtambayar''.

Siblings

Siblings are sometimes given names containing similar

morpheme A morpheme is any of the smallest meaningful constituents within a linguistic expression and particularly within a word. Many words are themselves standalone morphemes, while other words contain multiple morphemes; in linguistic terminology, this ...

s, like ''Gan-Ochir'', ''Gantömör'' etc., or names related to the same theme, like ''Naran'' ('Sun'), ''Saran'' ('Moon'), ''Tsolmon'' ('Morning star').

Taboo names

There is also a tradition of giving names with unpleasant qualities to children born to a couple whose previous children have died, in the belief that the unpleasant name will mislead evil spirits seeking to steal the child. ''Muunokhoi'' 'Vicious Dog' may seem a strange name, but Mongolians have traditionally been given such taboo names to avoid misfortune and confuse evil spirits. Other examples include ''Nekhii'' 'Sheepskin', ''Nergüi'' 'No Name', ''Medekhgüi'', 'I Don't Know', ''Khünbish'' 'Not a Human Being', ''Khenbish'' 'Nobody', ''Ogtbish'' 'Not at All', ''Enebish'' 'Not This One', ''Terbish'' 'Not That One'. Couples whose previous boys have died would give female names to their son to mislead the evil spirits, and vice versa. Synchronically, taboo meaning may be stronger or obliterated: ''Nergüi'', for example, is very common and does not immediately raise any association, while ''Khünbish'' might semantically be perceived as ''khün bish'' (cf. the same phenomenon in German with the unremarkable ''Burkhart'' (lit. 'castle-strong') versus the unusual ''Fürchtegott'' ('fear-God')).

Nicknames

When addressing a familiar person, names are shortened, most commonly by choosing one of the parts of the name and adding a vowel, melting it into one or adding the suffix ''-ka''. E.g., a woman named ''Delgerzayaa'' might be called ''Delgree'', ''Zayaa'' or ''Deegii'', a man named ''Arslandorj'' might become ''Askaa'', or his sister ''Idertuyaa'' could become ''Idree'', and so might her boyfriend ''Iderbayar or a friend Nomtoimergen would be Nomt.''

Name structure

In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, there were no

s, but clan names were sometimes used in a particular morphological form.

List of common names

In Mongolia, as of 2012, the 20 most common names were:Бат-Эрдэнэ нэртэн 13473 байна
, retrieved 2018-09-09

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

* Atwood, Christopher P. 2004. ''Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire''. New York, NY: Facts on File. * * Jackson, Peter. 2005. ''The Mongols and the West''. Harlow: Pearson Longman. * Pelliot, Paul. 1959-1963 (posthumous). ''Notes on Marco Polo''. Paris: Imprimerie nationale, librairie Adrien-Maisonneuve. Vols. I-III.