“What is in a name”, said William Shakespeare. However, for the Balinese, a name is very important. We believe it can influence the caharacter of the bearer. Therefore, we avoid using names having a bad connotation or denoting a cruel figure in a story. If you learn a Balinese name etymologically, you may encounter that it has a good meaning.
Giving a name is no by means careless. When a baby is already 42 days, the parent will choose a certain name, but not only one is chosen. Those three names are put near the burning wicks. The name given to the baby is the one near the wick, which burns the longest. Usually the name chosen has a meaning of hope, for example : the baby should be healthy or having long life.
Wayan, Made, Nyoman, ketut, Gede or Putu are all Balinese initial names. They denote the numbers of the children. Wayan is derived from Waya ( Wayahan or Wayah) meaning old (older). Made (Madya) means middle and sometimes is replaced with Nengah (tengah = middle) so it denotes the second child. Nyoman Anom (new or young) stands for the third baby.
Since long time ago, the Balinese have hoped that they would have three children. However, the dream did not come true. What happens now? Family planning is well accepted. So they do not dream anymore.
The fourth child is called Ketut. Ketut – Tut means to follow or additional baby. The fifth baby is Wayan Balik (back to Wayan and so forth. Sometimes Wayan is repleaced with Gede or Putu. They are connected to the caste system and family relationship. For example, Gede and Putu are much used by family belonging to Pasek and Sengguhu clan. Both refer to the oldest child.
In Singaraja, for instance, Made is variedly pronounced Kade or Kadek, Nyoman – Komang. In the names of royal family, the initial names above are often not mentioned. For example, Anak Agung, Ngurah, Gusti Ngurah, Dewa Ngurah and so on.

News by International Bali Post

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