037 | ABOUT ME | CULTURE
What Is Your Name?
A bit of context for the structure of a name
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Please don’t be offended by my question.
Recently, I read Amalia’s first name story. Before that Raza Javed described his trouble regarding the change of name when he landed in Germany.
So these stories make me talk about the structure of a name.
As Sinhalese people, our names are typically composed of three parts. My full name is ‘Sinhalage Prasanna Srinath Subhasinghe’ and it consists of three parts.
House Name — Sinhalage (House of Sinhala) Personal Name — Prasanna (Pleasant) Srinath (One who bring the phosphority) Family Name — Subhasinghe (Lion of Goodness)
House Name
The first part of our name is the house name, which represents our family. House names typically end with “Ge,” meaning “House” in English. This comes down from generation to generation, even after marriage your house name remains the same. However, in modern times, many people choose to omit their house name from their full name.
While some house names consist of a single word — like mine, others are much longer. For example, a former parliament member in our country has a house name that reads “Sadda Vidda Rajapakse Palanga Pathira Ambakumarage.” But this is not the longest one, with a bit of research, you can find even longer house names.
Personal Name
The second part of our name is the personal name, which usually consists of two parts, though sometimes three — My sister has three parts in her personal name. This can be further divided into a first name and one or more middle names.
In the past, parents typically selected their child’s name or sought the help of an elder. However, in recent years, there has been a trend toward choosing more unique and unusual names, resulting in fewer people with the same name in a given school or class.
Some of my Catholic friends have a baptized name as their middle name, and I assume this is a common practice worldwide. Please correct me if I am mistaken.
Family Name
The final part of a Sinhalese name is the family name. Traditionally, women are expected to take their husband’s family name after marriage, but this is not a strict rule. Family names also are often passed down from generation to generation and can be either traditional Sinhala names or foreign-influenced names such as Silva, Perera, Almeida, Mendis, and many others. In fact, the most common family names in Sri Lanka are those influenced by foreign cultures.
Long names can often be a headache, as a child how it is not easy to remember and write your name in the early days. And sometimes there may not be enough space provided in applications and forums. This is particularly true for individuals with lengthy names.
In contrast, my Tamil friends have a simpler naming structure consisting of only two parts: their father’s name followed by their own name. So if you are addressing a Tamil person, make sure to use their last name. Because the first name belongs to his father. However, with Sinhalese names, it is acceptable to address someone using any part of their name except for the house name.
Now, let me address your question again. What is your name, and how is it structured?
