Burmese names lack the serial quality of most modern names. The Burmese people have no customary patronymic or matronymic system and thus there is no surname at all. In Burmese culture, people can change their name at will, often with no government oversight, to reflect a change in the course of their lives. Also, many Burmese names use an honorific, given at some point in life, as an integral part of the name. However, in modern Burma many of these traditions are changing.[1]
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Traditional and Western-style names
Burmese names were originally one syllable, as seen in U Nu and U Thant. In the mid 20th century many Burmese started using two syllables, albeit without any formal structure. As they become more familiar with Western culture Burmese people are gradually increasing the number of syllables in their children's names, by use of various structures.
For example, Aung San's parents were named Pha and Suu. His birth name was Htain Lin but he changed his name to Aung San. His child is named Aung San Suu Kyi. The first part of her name, "Aung San", is from her father's name at the time of her birth. "Suu" comes from her grandmother. "Kyi" comes from her mother, Khin Kyi. The addition of the father or mother's name is now quite frequent, although it does not denote the development of a family name. Other nomenclature systems are used as well.
The use of the names of one's parents and relatives in personal names has been criticized as an un-Burmese adoption of seriality, although it differs from historical Western practices.
Burmese people who marry into the West may use their name as if part of it represented a family name. For example, Tun Myint's wife changed her last name to Myint, but Myint is part of his personal name.
Honorifics
As above, honorifics supplement a given name, and can be the normal form of address used both in writing and in speech, especially with a name of one or two syllables. Widespread use of honorifics is found within all cultures in the Burmese region. Although some ethnic groups have special honorifics, these words are recognized and applied by other groups (rather than being translated).
For example, Aung San's parents are more generally known as U Pha and Daw Suu. These can be translated as "Mr. Pha" and "Ms. Suu" but are often used more informally.
Below are some common honorifics used in Burmese names:
| Honorific | Burmese | Translation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashin | အရှင် | Lord | Used by monks, nobles, and rarely, for women |
| Bo/Bogyoke | ဗိုလ်/ဗိုလ်ချုပ် | Commander/General/Leader | Used for military officers (e.g., Bogyoke Aung San) |
| Daw | ဒေါ် | Aunt/Ms | Used for mature women or women in a senior position (e.g. Daw Mi Mi Khaing) |
| Duwa | ဒူးဝါး | Chief | Used for Kachin chiefs |
| Ko | ကို | Brother (older) | Used for men of similar age (e.g. Ko Mya Aye) |
| Ma | မ | Sister/Ms | Used for young women or women of similar age |
| Mahn | မန်း | - | Used by Kayin men (e.g., Mahn Win Maung) |
| Maung (abbr. Mg) | မောင် | Brother (younger) for boys | Sometimes used as part of given name |
| Mi | Ms | Used by Mon women | |
| Min | မင်း | King | Used as a suffix (e.g. Mindon Min) |
| Minh | Used by Mon boys; equivalent to Maung | ||
| Nai | နာဲ | Mr | Used by Mon men; equivalent to U (e.g., Nai Shwe Kyin) |
| Nang | ၼၢင်း | Ms | Used by Shan women |
| Naw | နော် | Ms | Used by Kayin women |
| Sai | စိုင်း | Mr | Used by Shan men (e.g., Sai Htee Saing) |
| Salai | Used by Chin men (e.g., Salai Than Tun) | ||
| Sao | စဝ် | Used by Shan royalty (e.g., Sao Shwe Thaik) | |
| Saw | စော | Mr | Used by Karen men (e.g., Saw Bo Mya); also a common Burmese name |
| Sawbwa | စော်ဘွား | Chief | Burmese approximation of 'saopha', used as a suffix for Shan chiefs (e.g., Nyaungshwe Sawbwa Sao Shwe Thaik) |
| Sayadaw | ဆရာတော် | Teacher | Used for senior monks (e.g., Sayadaw U Pandita) |
| Shin | ရှင် | Lord | Used by monks and noble women (e.g. Shin Arahan, Yawei Shin Htwe) |
| Tekkatho | တက္ကသိုလ် | University | Used by writers (increasingly rare, e.g., Tekkatho Phone Naing) |
| Thakin | သခင် | Master | Used by the members of Dobama Asiayone (e.g., Thakin Kodaw Hmaing) |
| Theippan | သိပ္ပံ | Science | Used by writers (rarely used now, e.g., Theippan Maung Wa) |
| U | ဦး | Uncle/Mr | Used for mature men or men in a senior position and monks (e.g., U Thant, U Ottama) |
Nomenclature based on Astrology
Many Burmese Buddhists also believe in astrology and use it to name their children. The Burmese day on which the child is born is each assigned some alphabets and the parents may either consult an astrologer or choose the name themselves. Monday-borns usually would start their names with K, Kh and N and Sunday-borns would usually have names starting with A.
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References
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