In Reply to: secret names given?? posted by Jenni C. on Thursday, 1. April 1999 at 23:05 Bali Time:
There is some credence to what you mentioned about secret names. When visiting there in January, I tried to get a handle on the naming tradition over there and although still confused I did manage to get some information to help me out. Although, only for the lowest caste as our friend was from this caste. His full name was Ketut Arya Suasana, Ketut being number four, Arya, a name chosen by his family from an ancestoral background and Suasana, a name given to him by his family also, which mean in lose terms "condition" although I found it hard to get the information as to exactly what "condition" actually meant. There are no sir names, and all the children will often have different names for eachother, they can go by any of these names. He also had a "secret" name, Jambrut, which was like a pet name, given to him when he was a small boy but this name is no longer used any more as he is a man now and it is considered an insult for anyone but his family to call him this name. At school, he was known predominately by this name and when we visited him in his village we had to call him by his community name, Ketut in defference to his family, although he does go by the name of Arya, confused? Just sitting here writing this, I wonder if anyone will understand it. Sorry if its garbled but the naming system is quite confusing for us outsiders, and a nightmare for the births registry I imagin.