The Meaning Behind Names

After you’ve been in Bali for a few days, you realize that you keep seeing and hearing the same given names over and over again. Once you talk to enough people (or bother to look it up), you learn that it’s because most Balinese people are named according to their birth order.

The oldest child of either sex is usually called Wayan or Gede or Putu. (The variation reflects differences of caste or region.) Made (pronounced mah-deh) or Kadek denotes the second child; Nyoman or Komang, the third; and Ketut, the fourth. Because women and men frequently have the same names, adults add “I” in front for Mr. and “Ni” for Ms.

Four children is considered the ideal family size in Bali, but if people have more kids, they start over with the sequence of names, sometimes adding Balik (meaning “again”) afterward. We met a man from eastern Bali who was the eighth child in his family. (He’s from one of the driest and thus poorest parts of the island; it seems as though in many places families are larger in poorer areas.) Although he was well into his late 20s, he went by the name “Baby Ketut” to distinguish himself from the older Ketut who was fourth in his family.

Having learned the naming conventions, Melissa and I amuse Balinese people—children and adults alike—when we return their introductions by calling ourselves Wayan Melissa and Wayan Christian.

As for my name, I’ve been going by my full name in Bali rather than by my usual Chris. The reason is that Chris sounds almost exactly like keris or kris, which is the name of a traditional Balinese short sword of great ceremonial significance. Calling myself that would feel akin to someone saying in English “hello, my name is saber” or “my name is stiletto.” It would just seem strange.

Still, it sometimes feels odd to introduce myself as Christian (like saying my name is Hindu or Jew), but most Balinese don’t bat an eye. The exception was a restaurant owner we met who turned out to be one of the 1 percent of Indonesians in Bali who are Christians. (He’s originally from the island of Sumatra, where missionaries made more headway than they did here.) He was happy to think he’d met another member of his religious minority.

As for Melissa, she apparently shares a name with the heroine of a popular love song, so everyone recognizes her name.

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