Category: Name

Rules for Names

• When we were young, we were taught that a name should have a Christian name and a Surname.
• Later, we were told that a name should have a First Name, a Last Name and an optional Middle Name or Initial.
• Those rules do not apply to Burmese names.

Names with one word

Several well-known Burmese names have a single word. They include

• Thant (3rd Secretary General of the United Nations)
• Nu (1st Prime Minister of the Union of Burma)
• Thein (Journalist)
• Thaung (Journalist)
• Mya (Politicians and Entrepreneurs)

The names are prefixed with

• Maung
• Ko
• U
• Thakin
• Name of publication (e.g. Kyee Pwa Yay, Kyemon)
• Place (e.g. Hinthada, Pway Bwe).    

Names with two words

Most early Burmese names have two words. The names are chosen by parents and/or grand parents.

The names might comply with one of the common naming conventions.  For example, a Sunday born will have “Ah” (Sunday group) as the first word and “Ka, Kha, Ga Nge, Ga Gyi, Nga” (Monday group) as the second word.

The pattern is  DOW (Day of week) group followed by DOW + 1 (following Day of week) group.    

Examples :

• Aung Khin (for Sunday born)
• Kyaw Zaw (for Monday born)
• Soe Lwin (for Tuesday born)
• Hla Myint (for Wednesday born)
• Myint Thein (for Thursday born)
• Than Naing (for Friday born)
• Htay Aung (for Saturday born)

Naming Patterns

Another pattern is to have the same first and second words.    
Examples : Aung Aung, Khin Khin, Zaw Zaw, Hla Hla, Myint Myint, Than Than, Htay Htay    

Some siblings will have a common first name. For example, Ba Thein, Ba Tu, Ba Phyu    

Some siblings will have a common last name. For example, Myo Paing, Soe Paing, Win Paing, Kyaw Paing    

Names with three words

Some Myanmar/Burmese names have three words. The names may or may not comply with a naming convention :

For example, a Sunday born will have “Ta, Hta, Da Dwe, Da Oke Chike, Na Nge” (Saturday group) as the first word, “Ah” (Sunday group) as the second word and “Ka, Kha, Ga Nge, Ga Gyi, Nga” (Monday group) as the third word.

The pattern is DOW – 1 Group as first word, DOW as second word, and DOW + 1 as third word.   

Examples :

• Tun Aung Gyaw (for Sunday born)
• Aung Kyaw Zaw (for Monday born)
• Kyaw San Win (for Tuesday born)

Names with four or more words

• Thane Oke Kyaw Myint
• Khin Maung Thet Cho Oo (Cartoon character)

Names of siblings

Some siblings have the first two words in common.

Examples : 
Khin Maung U, Khin Maung Than and Khin Maung Win are named after their father U Khin Maung.

Khin Maung Gyi and Khin Maung Lay (Mutu) are named after their father H.E. U Khin Maung Latt (AFPFL).

Nicknames

There are some who are better known by their nicknames. They include

• A Pho Gyi (Han Sein)

• Ajala (Moe Hein)
• Bei Oo (Kyi Kyi Sein)
• Chauk Pay (Htein Win)
• Cowboy (Tin Nwe)
• Kabar (Myint Thein)
• La La (Aye Win Hlaing)
• Lake (Win Maung)
• Moke Saik (Myo Hein)
• Mutu (Khin Maung Lay)
• Sargalay (Khin Maung Win)
• Shwee (Kyaw Zan Hein)

• Ant and Aunt
• Aung and Oung
• Aunt and Ant
• Aye and E
  
• Bo and Boh
• Boh and Bo
  
• Din and Dyn
• Dyn and Din
  
• E and Aye
  
• Gyaw and Kyaw
• Gyi and Jee
  
• Hpyu, Phyu and Pyu
• Htain and Htein
• Htaik and Htike
• Htein and Htain
• Htike and Htaik
• Htoon, Htun and Tun
• Htut and Tut
• Htun, Htoon and Tun
  
• Jee and Gyi
  
• Kai and Khine
• Khin and Kin
• Khine and Kai
• Kin and Khin
• Kyaw and Gyaw
• Kyawe and Kywe
• Kywe and Kyawe
  
• Lin, Linn, Lyn and Lynn
• Linn, Lin, Lyn and Lynn
• Lyn, Lin, Linn and Lynn
• Lynn, Lin, Linn and Lyn
  
• Maung, Mg and Moung
• Mehm and Min
• Mg, Maung and Moung
• Min and Mehm
• Min and Minn
• Minn and Min
• Mo, Moe and Moh
• Moung, Maung and Mg
• Mra and Mya
• Mya and Mra
  
• Nay and Ne
• Ne and Nay
• Nyane and Nyein
• Nyein and Nyane
• Nyun and Nyunt
• Nyunt and Nyun
  
• Oo and U
• Oung and Aung
  
• Pay, Pe and Hpay
• Pe. Pay and Hpay
• Pike and Pyke
• Pyke and Pike
  
• Sain and Sein
• Sein and Sain
• So and Soe
• Soe and So
  
• Tha and Thar
• Than and Thann
• Thane and Thein
• Thar and Tha
• Thaung, and Thoung
• Thein and Thane
• Thoung and Thaung
• Tin and Tyn
• Tun, Htun and Htoon
• Tyn and Tin
  
• U and Oo
  
• Wai, Way and We
• Way, Wai and We
• We, Wai and Way
• Win, Winn and Wynn
• Winn, Win and Wynn
• Wint and Wynt
• Wynn, Win and Winn
• Wynt and Wint
  

• The Beatles founded Apple Music.
• Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computers.
• Apple Music sued Apple Computers for trademark violation.
• The judge ruled that the two companies belonging to different domains could use the same name.
• Due to convergence of technologies (a few decades later), the Beatles’ music would be played on iTunes.

• Googol signifies a very large number.
  It stands for 1E100 (one followed by 100 zeroes.
• Google is an accidental misspelling of Googol.
  
• iPhone is a trade mark owned by Cisco.
• Apple made an agreement with Cisco to use iPhone for its smart phones.

• iPad is a trade mark owned by Fujitsu.
• Apple made an agreement with Fujitsu to use iPad for its product.

Chinese names

Parts

Some names have three parts :

• Clan name
• Group name
• Personal name

Most Chinese use the Clan name as the 1st part. In the Western world, it is known as Surname or Last name.

Based on where they came from and where they are residing, they may write their name as

Traditional usage

• Clan name, Group name, Personal name
• Clan name, Personal name, Group name

Conforming to the Western World

• Personal name, Group name, Clan name
• Group name, Personal name, Clan name

Siblings

Their names usually have the 1st part (Fixed), 2nd part (Fixed) and 3rd part (Varying).

According to Stan Liou (M67), some siblings (mostly from the Northern part of China) prefer the convention 1st part (Fixed), 2nd part (Varying) and 3rd part (Fixed).

Miscellaneous

A Chinese character may also have one or more rendering in English. For example, Khoo or Chiu.

Some Chinese use the 12-generation naming convention.

Korean names

Lee , Kim and Park are some popular Korean names.

Some Koreans use the 7-generation naming convention.

Indian names

Indian names may be based on their religion.

• Hindus are often named after their deities and their likeness.
  e.g. Rama, Krishna, Ramamurthy, Krishnamurthy
• An Indian name may have “Deep”, “Deepak” or “Dipa” meaning light or wisdom.
• Male Sikhs have “Singh” as their middle name. 
  e.g. Davinder Singh Saluja
  Female Sikhs have “Kaur” as their middle name.
• Muslims are named after their prophet and as “servers” of Allah.
  e.g. Muhammad, Rahmin
• Christians may have Biblical names.
• Some are named Gautama (or its variants)

Indian names may vary with region.
In some parts, the name may include place of birth and trade.
The father’s name may be carried on as the middle name of the son.

Mexican names

• Many males are named Jesus.
• Many females are named Maria.
• Mexican names may have four parts : two for personal name, one for father’s name, and the last for mother’s name.
• Mexicans may use a hyphenated last name (with a hyphen between the parent’s names).

Greek names

Some Greeks name their first grandson after the paternal grand father and their second grandson after the maternal grand father.

Native American names

Some Native American tribes use an elaborate naming convention. The names of two Native Americans of the same tribe can portray their relationship (e.g. one is the second maternal uncle).

Early names

• Some names have one word e.g. Mya, Nu, Thant, Tin
• Some have two or three words.
• It was not common to have long names.
  An exception is a cartoon character named “Khin Maung Thein Tun Win”

Same name

We need additional information to disambiguate the names.

Aung Myint

• U Aung Myint (M67, GBNF)
  Helped U Win Thein (M67) with Set Hmu Thadinzin.
  Worked for UNICEF.
• U Aung Myint (M69)
  Taught at RIT and Singapore Poly.
  Hobbies : Painting, Motivational messages

• U Aung Myint (Pet69, GBNF)
  Taught at RIT
  Known for his cartoons (notably Kyant Ba Hone)
  Patron of “RIT Cartoon Box”

• U Aung Myint (Min70)
  Actor, guitarist and vocalist.
  Known as “Thamankyar Ko Myint”.

• U Aung Myint
  “Yogi Thway Say”
  Operates a recording studio (initially for his spouse : Phyu Thi).
• Dr. Aung Myint (Chemistry)
• U Aung Myint (Donald, Dhamma friend)

Han Sein

• U Han Sein (C69)
  Multiple sports athlete : Swimming, Water Polo, Basketball
  “TONE KYAW”.
  69er HCF members inadvertently put him in the GBNF list unaware that the Adhamma authorities “sneaked him away” for many years.
• U Han Sein (M72)
  Taught at RIT
  Joined the Navy.
  Retired as a Deputy Minister.
• U Han Sein (Dawei)
  Father : U Maung Lwin

Soe Win

• U Soe Win (M66)
  Close friend of Saya Lin (M66).
• U Soe Win (EP69, GBNF)
  Captain of RIT Basketball team.
• U Soe Win (EC70)
  Worked for UCC and PTC.
• Dr. Soe Win (SPHS58) stood First in Burma.
  Retired as Rector of YUFL
• U Soe Win (Met and Hydro)
• U Soe Win (NHK)

Misspelled names

• Some names are misspelled
• The most notable is Saya U Tin Swe.
  Many called him wrongly as U Tint Swe or U Tin Shwe.

Mispronounced names

• Some Myanmar names cannot be easily pronounced by foreigners.
• Thane is easier to pronounce than Thein
• Kai is easier to pronounce than Khaing or Khine.
• My name has been mispronounced as La and Hala

Saya U Sein Hlaing

• He matriculated in 1946.
• He joined the EE (Electrical Engineering) Department as Assistant Lecturer in 1952.
• He was sent to the USA on a States Scholarship to study at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
• Upon his return to Burma, Saya was promoted to Lecturer.
• He was one of the three Professors (out of the eight Departments) when we joined 2nd BE RIT in 1964.
• He passed away a couple of years after retirement.

U Sein Hlaing (Football)

He was the Coach of the Burma Football team.

U Sein Hlaing (Bago)

He is one of the organizers for San Francisco Bay Area Entertainment events.

U Sein Hlaing (GBNF)

He is the younger brother of U Han Tun, who was my classmate at PPBRS and SPHS.

U Sein Hlaing (CSO)

He attended classes at UCC.

I have written and given speeches about names (e.g meaning, naming conventions).

I know thousands of names. Many people share names.

There is no formal way to spell Burmese names in English.

Examples

• Toon, Tun, Htoon, Htun
• Kyaw, Gyaw
• Win, Winn, Wynn

Non-Burmese find it difficult to pronounce most Burmese names.

Some Burmese have modified the spelling of their names.

Examples

• Kai (for Khaing, Khine)
• Kin (for Khin)

Some words (U, Maung, Ko) are mostly used as prefixes of names, but they also appear in the names.

Examples

• Khin Maung U

• Aye Maung, Aye Maung Han, Ba Maung, Chit Maung, Maung Maung Thaung, Nyunt Maung, Sein Maung, Sein Myint Maung, Than Maung, Thein Maung, Win Maung, Win Myint Maung
• Ba Ko, Ko Ko, Ko Ko Kyi, Ko Ko Zin, Min Ko

I introduce myself to non-Burmese as follows:

My name is Hla Min. Hla means “handsome” and Min means “king”.

My name has only six letters, but it has been misspelled and mispronounced in more than six ways.

They include HAL, HALAL, LA, LAH, MINH and MING.

• HAL is an American name.
  HAL is also the name of a rouge computer in science fiction. The letters precede those of IBM (International Business Machines) by a position.
• HALAL means “scripture-compliant” for Muslims
  e.g. Halal meat “clean food”
• LA is a musical tone as in DO-RE-ME-FA-SO-LA-TI
• LAH is a Singlish word (Singaporean English)
• MINH is a Vietnamese name (e.g. HO CHI MINH)
• MING is a Chinese name (e.g. MING Dynasty)

It motivated me to give a series of speeches at Toastmasters International:

• Meaning of names
• Naming conventions
• Names of people
• Names of Theravada monks
• Names of places
• Names of companies
• Names of products

At Toastmasters meetings, I asked the attendees if they know the meaning of their names. A few tried to Google their names.

Remembering Names

Some people do not seem to remember names.

Can we help them?

One way to remember names is to register them preferably with an association.

Examples:

• Stein means a stone.
  Einstein means “one stone”.
• Peter means “the rock [of faith]”
  The first Pope is Peter.
  Variations : Bedr, Peta and Pedro.
• To Indians, Deep means light and implies wisdom.
  Deepavali (or Diwali) is the Festival of Lights.
• San is a prefix for male saints.
  San Francisco is the Spanish name for St. Francis.
• Santa is a prefix for female saints.
  Examples : Santa Ana, Santa Barbara and Santa Clara
• Note : Santa Cruz means the Holy Cross.

• Aung and Oung
  e.g. Hla Aung, Hla Oung
  
• Aye and E
  e.g. U Aye Maung, Professor U E Maung

• Bo and Boh
  e.g. U Win Bo, U Win Boh

• Htoon, Htun and Tun
  e.g U Tin Htoon, U Tin Htun, U Tin Tun

• Gyaw and Kyaw
  e.g. U Aung Gyaw, U Aung Kyaw

• Hpyu and Phyu
  e.g. Daw Hpyu Hpyu Aung, Daw Phyu Phyu Aung

• Htain and Htein
  e.g. U Win Htain, U Win Htein

• Htut and Tut
  e.g. U Tin Htut, ICS U Tin Tut

• Kai and Khine
  e.g. Daw Kai Kai Nyunt, Daw Khine Khine Nyunt

• Khin and Kin
  e.g. U Pe Khin, U Pe Kin

• Kyawe and Kywe
  e.g. Dr. Khin Maung Kyawe (Jimmy, BERB), Dr. Khin Maung Kywe (HIS)

• Lin, Linn, Lyn and Lynn
  e.g. U Lin Aung, U Linn Aung, U Lyn Aung, U Lynn Aung

• Maung and Moung
  e.g. U Aung Maung, U Aung Moung

• Maung and Mg
  e.g. U Maung Maung, U Mg Mg

• Mehm and Min
  e.g. Mehm Than Thoung, Min Than Thoung

• Min and Minn
  e.g. U Kyaw Min, U Kyaw Minn

• Mra and Mya
  e.g. U Tun Mra, U Tun Mya

• Nay and Ne
  U Nay Win, U Ne Win

• Oo and U
  e.g. U Khin Maung Oo, U Khin Maung U

• Pe and Hpay
  e.g. U Hla Pe, U Hla Phay

• Pike and Pyke
  e.g. U Pike Tin, U Pyke Tin

• Than and Thann
  e.g. U Khin Maung Than, U Khin Maung Thann

• Thane and Thein
  e.g. U Thane Myint, U Thein Myint

• Thaung and Thoung
  e.g. U Ba Thaung, U Ba Thoung

• Tin and Tyn
  e.g. Daw Tin Tin Aye, Daw Tyn Tyn Aye

• Wai and We
  e.g. U Nyunt Wai, U Nyunt We

• Win and Wynn
  e.g. U Kyaw Win, U Kyaw Wynn

• Lew Alcindor (UCLA basket ball champion, NBA champion with LA Lakers) changed his name to Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
  
• Cassius Clay Jr. (Olympic Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion, three-time World Heavyweight Boxing Champion) changed his name to Muhammad Ali.
  
• An Italian American Chemist (named Salvitore) received a book from his supervisor as a Christmas gift.
  After reading a chapter (on Dhammapada), he left for Burma to be ordained as a Buddhist monk named U Lokathana.
  
• The Buddhist Archbishop of Latvia and Lithuania (named Tennyson) and his discipline (named F. Ludvig) were offered a monastery in the Ah Lei Pyitsayan on Shwe Dagon Pagoda. Ludvig succeeded his mentor as the Buddhist Archbishop.
  He was known as “Moke Seik Phone Gyi”.
  He became a Theravada monk with the name “Ashin Ananda”.
  He is a Laureate Poet.
  
• Maung Paw
  Saya U Htin Paw aka Maung Htin Paw in his early years
  
• Khin Zaw (KMZ)
  Khin Maung Zaw’s middle name is ignored by his colleagues
  
• San Lin Maung
  Some were assigned “Maung” as the last name (due to P/P)
  
• Several monks have to explain to immigration that U, Ashin and Venerable are prefixes for monks.
  
• Some have hyphenated names. e.g. Maung Tin-Wa
  
• Some modified the names so that they can be pronounced easily by non-Burmese.
  e.g. Kai (for Khine), Kin (for Khin)