Balinese people named their children based on their caste and birth order. Like some other Indonesian cultures, Balinese do not use family names.The majority of people in Bali are Hindu. There are 4 castes in Hindu Dharma (religion of the Hindu doctrine) : Brahmana, Ksatrya, Waisya and Sudra. 90% of Balinese people are in Sudra caste.

The following table shows the relationship between Balinese names and castes:

( The vowels are pronounced vowels similarly as in Spanish).

The Brahmanas at the top have the titles Ida Bagus (handsome) for guys and Ida Ayu (beautiful) for girls. Examples : Ida Bagus Oka (Oka is the given name), Ida Ayu Irawathi (Irawathi is the given name).

The Ksatryas or warriors (including some of the royal families) have the title Anak Agung (lofty person). Examples : I Gusti Ngurah Rai (Rai is the given name), Cokorda Agung Sukawati (Sukawati is the given name)

The Waisyas or artisan caste follows a similar pattern to the Sudras except that their caste titles are I Gusti and Ni Gusti. Example : Ni Gusti Putu Aryani (Aryani is the given name)

Each Balinese from Sudra caste has (at least) three parts to his/her name. First is his/her caste title, I for a male and Ni for a girl. Regardless of being male or female, each person receives one of four names based on birth order :

1st born : Wayan / Putu / Nengah
2nd born : Made / Nengah / Kadek
3rd born : Nyoman / Komang
4th born : Ketut
each of which is repeated for successive children.

Example : Ni Made Kriatiawati (Kristiawati is the given name)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007 at 4:47 am and is filed under Baby Names. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.