Which culture gives one person the most different names?

[Dr_Paprika]

I have read that it is common for Chinese people to be given a number of names: a “milk name” used by familiars, a “school name” for school, a “society name” for after marriage or starting work and a “Western” name if living abroad or working with those who do not speak one of the Chinese languages.

Is this still true? Are there other cultures which use so many names? (Some Spanish and Latino cultures often use diminutives with familiars and sometimes blunt nicknames among friends, plus long names like Jesus Garcia Jhon Echeverria de Chimichanga - but I want the bigger number of distinctish names and not just the longest ones.)

[Dr_Paprika]

Maybe this question is too hard. What other cultures routinely use different names at different stages of life?

[susan]

Jesus Garcia Jhon Echeverria de Chimichanga

I’ve asked you before not to post my name on the internet!

[Beesnest]

Maybe you offended some people with your example.

[Senegoid]

Christian cultures have a whole bunch of names for the Devil.

[Dr_Paprika]

Possibly, but no offense was intended. I was trying to think of a neutral place name. Then I remembered I love the sound of the word “chimichanga”. I could say it all day long. So mellifluous. Spanish is a truly beautiful language.

[Kimstu]

@Dr_Paprika

Is this still true? Are there other cultures which use so many names?

I know that in Classical Arabic there are conventions for various kinds of names, which were definitely used a lot prior to the global spread of modern western surname conventions. And I believe that some Arabic-speaking cultures still follow at least some of them. Here’s an article about them:

Arabic name elements may be divided into five main categories, with the last category having several sub-types. Persons are named by:

1. An ism (pronounced IZM, as the final syllable in the word dogmatism ), a personal, proper name given shortly after birth, usually on the third day, but sometimes on day of birth and sometimes on the seventh day after birth. Examples of such names are Muhammad [Mohammed], Musa [Moses], Ibrahim [Abraham], Ahmad . Adults are seldom called by these names; socially it is considered a slight to address or refer to an elder or parent by their ism .
2. A kunya (pronounced COON-yah), an honorific name or surname, as the father or mother of someone; e.g., abu Da’ud [the father of David], umm Salim [the mother of Salim]. It is meant as a prefix of respect or reverence. Married persons (especially married ladies) are, as a general rule, simply called by their kunya ( abu or umm + the name of their first son). When using a person’s full name, the kunya precedes the personal name: Abu Yusuf Hasan [the father of Joseph, Hasan], Umm Ja’far Aminah [the mother of Ja’far, Aminah].
3. By a nasab (pronounced NAH-sahb), a pedigree, as the son or daughter of someone; e.g. , ibn 'Umar [the son of Omar], bint `Abbas [the daughter of Abbas]). The nasab follows the ism in usage: Hasan ibn Faraj [Hasan the son of Faraj], Sumayya bint Khubbat [Sumayya the daughter of Khubbat]. Many historical personages are more familiar to us by their nasab than by their ism : e.g., the historian ibn Khaldun , the traveler ibn Battuta , and the philosopher ibn Sina [Avicenna]. Nasab s may be extended for several generations, as may be noted in some of the examples set forth below. However, the vast majority of nasab s found in period sources are only one or two generations long. It is uncommon to find a nasab which extends three generations back (considering the father of the individual as the first generation), and there are a very few examples which extend to four generations, such as Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ja’far ibn al-Haddad .When the parent in a nasab is referred to by his kunya , the word abu becomes abi , e.g. , Muhammad’s son-in-law was ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib , ‘Ali the son of Abu Talib, or ‘Ali, the son of the father of Talib.
4. A laqab (pronounced LAH-kahb), a combination of words into a byname or epithet, usually religious, relating to nature, a descriptive, or of some admirable quality the person had (or would like to have); e.g., al-Rashid [the Rightly-guided], al-Fadl [the Prominent]. Laqab s follow the ism : Harun al-Rashid [Aaron the Rightly-guided].One particular form of laqab is formed on the pattern of Abd* [servant of] plus one of the 99 names of Allah; e.g., *‘Abd Allah* ( *Abdullah ) [the servant of God], Abd al-Aziz* [servant of the Almighty], *Abd al-Rahman [servant of the Merciful]. These laqab s are used as, and in the place of, an ism : ‘Abd al-Mun’im ibn Idris ibn Sinan . The feminine form of this type of laqab is Amat al-X , for example, Amat Allah ( Amatullah ), (female) servant of Allah.Sometimes what appear to be regularly-formed laqab s are found used instead of, or in the place of, an ism , e.g. , al-Dahhak ibn ‘Ajlan , Abu Talib al-Mufaddal ibn Salamah . (Such laqab s might also be found used in the “normal” fashion for a laqab : Muhammad ibn Ya’la al-Dabbi al-Mufaddal .) I have not yet found a general rule by which laqab s are used in the place of an ism ; the only reliable guide for proper usage right now is to look at actual period examples. Where I have found laqab s used as ism s as well as “normal” laqab s, they are marked in the names lists with a plus sign [+] and are found listed in both the list of laqab s/ nisba s used as ism s and the list of laqab s/ nisba s.Some names are found both as an ism and in a laqab form: Rashid and al-Rashid , Hasan and al-Hasan , Anbar and al-Anbar , Fadl and al-Fadl . (These and other examples are marked in the names lists with a carat [^].) This is not, however, a general rule; not all ism s may be modified in this way and used as laqab s. Again, the only reliable guide for proper usage is to look at period examples.
5. A nisba (pronounced NISS-bah), a byname. Nisba s follow the ism or, if the name contains a nasab (of however many generations), generally follow the nasab . The three primary types of nisba are:
6. Occupational, derived from an person’s trade or profession; e.g. , Muhammad al-Hallaj [Muhammad, the dresser of cotton].
7. Of descent, derived from the name of a person’s tribe of birth or family lineage: Mughirah al-Ju’fi [Mughirah of the tribe of Ju’fi]; Yusuf al-Ayyubi [Joseph the Ayyubid, Joseph of the family line of Ayyub].
8. Geographical, derived from the place of residence or birth: Yaqub al-Dimashqi [Jacob of Damascus]. As is the case with nasab s, some persons in history are known to us primarily by their nisba : Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Bukhari , the author of an early collection of hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) is better known from his place of birth, Bukhara, simply as al-Bukhari .

Sometimes what appear to be regularly-formed nisba s are found used instead of or in the place of an ism , e.g. , ‘Ali ibn al-Massisi , Abu Ishaq al-Tabari . (Such nisba s might also sometimes be found used in the “normal” fashion for a nisba : Ya’qub ibn Muhammad al-Massisi .) I have not yet found a general rule by which nisba s are used in the place of an ism ; the only reliable guide for proper usage right now is to look at actual period examples. Where I have found nisba s used as ism s as well as “normal” nisba s, they are marked in the names lists with a plus sign [+] and are found listed in both the list of laqab s/ nisba s used as ism s and the list of laqab s/ nisba s.

Where more than one nisba is used, as a general rule the geographic nisba comes last, preceded by either the occupational nisba or the tribal nisba . I know of no examples of names which use all three types of nisba .

A brief note on the pronunciation of some laqab s and nisba s: the “l” in al- is elided and the first letter of the following word is substituted for the following consonants: d ( ad-Duri ), n ( an-Najmi ), r ( ar-Razi ), s ( as-Salar ), sh ( ash-Shanfara ), t ( at-Tayyib ), th ( ath-Thaqafi ), and z ( az-Zubair ). These are, however, generally still written as al- ; only the pronunciation is changed.

[Saintly_Loser]

I don’t know which culture gives one person the most names, but I know that inconsistent naming traditions (or more accurately traditions that are inconsistent with western conventions) can be a problem for some people seeking visas or residence cards or citizenship in the US.

Why Indians should follow global naming patterns

[Elmer_J.Fudd]

Obligatory link to a Monty Python sketch:

[Dewey_Finn]

@Kimstu

I know that in Classical Arabic there are conventions for various kinds of names, which were definitely used a lot prior to the global spread of modern western surname conventions.

The guy who played Dr Bashir on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is Sudanese and his full name is Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abdurrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi, which is pretty impressive. I’d probably get a cramp writing that out, though.

[Kimstu]

@Dewey_Finn

The guy who played Dr Bashir on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is Sudanese and his full name is Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abdurrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi, which is pretty impressive.

It sure is!! Let me see if I can parse that nomenclature:

“Mohammed” and “Ahmed” are isms.
“El-Mahdi” is an occupational nisba (?).
“Abdel Karim” is a laqaq, as is “Abdurrahman”.

I don’t quite grok the role of the forenames, though. We need Johanna’s expertise!

[Dewey_Finn]

I wonder how societies where people get long names like that handle paper forms or databases. I think in the US, most forms and databases allow for three names with maybe fifteen characters per name.

[bump]

So how does all that work anyway? Is it like my friend whose real first name is James, his professional name is “J.R.”, but he goes by “Rusty” with friends and family (on account of his childhood bright red hair)?

[Dr_Paprika]

Basically. And maybe his teachers called him Jimmy, some university friends call him Dutch, and his wife calls him Bond. Except for a society instead of a friend of yours.

[carnut]

Some indigenous American cultures do or did give people different names at different stages of their lives. A family friend was Turtle as a small child but became different names based on his athletic ability, then wisdom. We called him Joe because that was his white school name and the name he worked under. He was a lovely man and one of my favorite people as a child.