Bengali name

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Personal names in Bengali-speaking countries consist of one or several given names and a surname. The given is usually gender-specific. A name is usually cited in the "Western order" of "given name, surname", though the practise is neither adopted from the West nor universal. Personal names may depend generally on the person's religion and also have origins from other languages like Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit and Pali, but they are used and pronounced as according to the native Bengali language.

First names[edit]

Many people in Bangladesh and West Bengal have two given names: a "good name" (Bengali: ভালো নাম, romanizedbhalo nam), which is used on all legal documents, and a "call name" or "nickname" (Bengali: ডাক নাম, romanizeddak nam), which is used by family members and close friends.

The two names may or may not be at all related; for example, a man named "Shumon" or "Sumon" or "Suman" (Bengali: সুমন) may be called by his dak nam (e.g. Bengali: বুবাই, romanizedBubai) at home and by his bhalo nam (Bengali: সুমন, romanizedShumon) elsewhere.

Many people also have a shortened version of their bhalo nam. For example, Dipu (Bengali: দিপু) for Dipok (Bengali: দীপক), and Faru (Bengali: ফারু) for Farhana (Bengali: ফারহানা), in addition to their full bhalo nam and their dak nam.

Furthermore, the “first name” may also be a part of a name as a whole. For example, “Abd al-Rahmaan” (pronounced Abd-ur-Rahman in Arabic nominative case) is a name in and of itself, but when cited in a Bangladeshi legal document, the first part “Abdur” is often cited as the “first name” and “Rahman” is cited as the “last name”.

Middle names[edit]

Though middle names are very common in Bangladesh, not every individual has one; this applies to West Bengal as well. Recently, many people have begun to add their dak nam to the middle or end of their full official name, resulting in names like "Saifuddin Kanchon Choudhuri" (সাইফুদ্দীন কাঞ্চন চৌধুরী), where "Saifuddin" would be the man's bhalo nam, "Kanchon" would be his dak nam and "Choudhuri" would be his family name. "Saifuddin Kanchon Choudhuri" could also be written as "Saifuddin Choudhuri Kanchon" dak nam in the end, depending on the choice of the person, how he/she displays their name. In these situations, this man would be correctly addressed "Mr. Choudhuri", not "Mr. Kanchon".

Family names[edit]

Bengali Muslim families mostly use names of Arabic origin, followed by Farsi and Bengali. Among Muslims of Bangladesh, there are several different naming conventions. There is no fixed scheme for the structure of names.[1] Many people do not really use a family name, so members of a family can have different last names. The system of usage of different family names in the same family may also be followed by non-Muslims because of the dominating name style of not having same family names in a family by Muslims in Bangladesh. Bengali Hindu families use names of Sanskrit origin, followed by Bengali. They use many names which are listed below. Some of their names are somewhat shortened and altered, like Chatterjee, owing to British influence. Some family names may be common between all religions, such as চৌধুরী (Choudhuri / Chowdhury), সরকার (Sorkar / Sarker / Sarkar) and বিশ্বাস (Bishwas).

List of family names by a person's religion[edit]

Muslim family names and titles[edit]

S.No. Name (Bangla alphabet) Bangla Romanisation Common Transliteration
1 সৈয়দ Shóíyod Syed
2 শেখ Shekh Sheikh
3 কোরেশী Koreshee Quraishi
3 খন্দকার Khondokar Khandakar
4 মীর Meer Mir
5 আখুন্দ Akhund Akhund
6 প্রধান Prodhan Prodhan
7 মীর্জা (modern spelling- মির্জা) Mirza Mirza
8 শাহ Shah Shah
9 মুন্সী/মুনশী (modern spelling- মুন্সি/মুনশি) Munshi Munshi
10 দেওয়ান Dewan Dewan
11 গাজী (modern spelling- গাজি) Gazi Gazi
12 কাজী (modern spelling- কাজি) Kazi Kazi
13 খাঁ (modern spelling খান) Khą/Khan Khan
14 চৌধুরী Cóúdhuree Chowdhury
15 সরকার Shorkar Sarkar
16 মুহুরী Muhuree Muhuri
17 মল্ল Mollo Malla
18 পাটোয়ারী Paŧowaree Patwari
19 মোল্লা Molla Molla
20 ফকির Fokir Fakir
22 হাজারী Hazaree Hazari
23 শিকদার Shikdar Sikdar
24 তালুকদার Talukdar Taluqdar
25 মজুমদার Mozumdar Majumdar
26 হালদার Haldar Haldar
27 জোয়ার্দার Jówardar/Jówaddar Joardar
28 ইনামদার Inamdar Inamdar
29 মিয়া Miya Miah
30 সরদার Shordar Sardar
31 চাকলাদার Cakladar Chakladar
32 হাওলাদার Haoladar Howlader
33 ডিহিদার Đihidar Dihidar
34 ভূঁইয়া Bhųiya Bhuiyan
35 মুস্তাফী (modern spelling- মুস্তাফি) Mustafi Mustafi
36 মলঙ্গী Molongee Malangi
37 মাতুব্বর Matubbor Matubbar
38 গোমস্তা Gómosta Gomastha
39 পন্নী Khan Ponni Khan Panni
40 লোহানী (modern spelling- লোহানি) Khan Lóhani Khan Lohani
41 মুঘুল Khan Mughul Khan Mughal
41 কানুনগো Kanungó Kanungo
42 কারকুন Karkun Karkun
43 মল্লিক Mollik Mallik
44 মণ্ডল Monđol Mandal
45 বিশ্বাস Bish'ash Biswas
46 প্রামাণিক Pramaꞥik Pramanik
48 সাদিয়া Sadiya Sadia
49 মৃধা Mridha Mridha

Bengali Hindu family names and titles[edit]

S. No. Name (Bangla alphabet) Bangla Romanisation Common Transliteration
1 ভট্টাচার্য্য (modern spelling- ভট্টাচার্য) B́oŧŧacar̀j̄o Bhattacharya (Bhottacharjo)
2 বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায় (also ব্যানার্জী) Bænar̀ɉy

(Bondḑópad́ḑ́aj)

Banerjee (Bondopaddhay)
3 দেব Deb / Dew Deb (Deba)
4 বণিক Boꞥik Bonick (Bonik)
5 দে De Dey (De)
6 দত্ত Dotto Dutt (Dotto/Dutta)
7 নস্কর Noškor Naskar (Noshkor)
8 ব্যাপারী Bæpary Bapary (Baepari)
9 বিশ্বাস Biśṣ́aš Bishwas (Bishshash)
10 ভৌমিক B́óúmik Bhowmick (Bhoumik)
11 বসু Bošu Bose (Boshu)
12 চক্রবর্তী Cokrobor̀ty Chakraborty (Chokrobort)
13 চট্টপাধ্যায় (also চ্যাটার্জী) Cæŧar̀ɉy Chatterjee (Chottopaddhay)
14 চৌধুরী Cóúd́ury Chowdhury (Choudhuri)
15 দাস Daš Das (Dash)
16 গায়েন Gajen Gain (Ga'en)
17 গুহ Guho Guha (Guho)
18 গঙ্গোপাধ্যায় (also গাঙ্গুলী) Gaɲguly Ganguly (Gonggopaddhay)
19 গুপ্ত Gupto Gupta (Gupto)
20 ঘোষ Ǵós̊ Ghosh
21 গোস্বামী Góṣ̌amy Goswami (Goshami)
22 প্রভুপাদ Prob́upado Prabhupada (Probhupado)
23 মজুমদার Mozumdar Mazumdar/Majumder (Mojumdar)
24 মিত্র Mitro Mitra (Mitro)
25 মুখোপাধ্যায় (also মুখার্জী) Muḱar̀ɉy Mukherjee (Mukhopaddhay)
26 নাথ Nat́ Nath
27 পুরকায়স্থ Purkajost́o Purkait (Puroka'ostho)
28 পাল Pal Paul/Pal (Pal)
29 রায় Raj Roy/Ray (Ra'i)
30 সাহা Šaha Saha (Shaha)
31 সরকার Šorkar Sarker/Sarkar (Shorkar)
32 সিংহ Šiṅġho Singha
33 সিংহ রায় Šiṅġho Ray Singha Roy/Sinha Roy (Singho Ray)
34 সেন Šen Sen (Shen)
35 ঠাকুর Ŧ́akur Tagore (Thakur)
36 চন্দ Condo Chanda (Chondo)
37 বাগচী Bagcy Bagchi
38 লস্কর Loškor Laskar (Loshkor)
39 ধর Dhor Dhar ( Dhor)
40 মৈত্র Maitra Maitra (Moitra)
41 কর Kor Kar (Kor)
42 ভাদুড়ী Bhadury Bhadury (Bhadury)
43 সান্যাল Sanjal Sanyal (Sannal':)
44 ঘোষাল Gósál Ghoshal (Ghoshal)
45 পাল চৌধুরী Pal Cóúdúry Pal Chowdhury (Pal Choudhury)
46 মাইতি Máity Maity (Maity)
47 দেবনাথ Débnát Debnath (Debnath)
48 ভট্টশালী Bháttåsháli Bhattashali (Bhattashali)
49 চট্টরাজ Cóttóráj Chattaraj (Chottoraj)
50 কানুনগো Kánûngo Kanungo (Kanungo)
51 লাহিড়ি Láhîri Lahiri (Lahiri)
52 দাশগুপ্ত Dásgûpto Dasgupta (Dashgupto)
53 সেনগুপ্ত Séngûpto Sengupta (Shengupto)
54 দত্তগুপ্ত Dottogûpto Duttagupta (Dottogupto)
55 দত্ত মজুমদার Dottomazumdar Dattamajumder (Dattamajumder)

Bengali Buddhist Surname

Barua/Borua

Bengali Christian Surname

Many Bengali Christians use English and Portuguese surnames along with traditional surnames. Most Catholic Bengali Christians have Portuguese surname, such as: Gomes, Rozario, D'Costa, Gonsalvez, Cruze, Dias, D'Silva and D'Souza.

Initials and prefixes[edit]

Muhammad (মোহাম্মদ), Mohammed, Mohamed, Mohammad, Mohammod, Muhammod is a common prefix used before the name of many Muslim males, and it is often not considered as the name used to refer to the person. In many cases, the "Muhammad" prefix is shortened to মোঃ ("Md.", or "MD."). Other common prefixes are not systematic. The prefix often serves as the first name and the given name appears as the middle name or last name.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Understanding Communities:Bangladeshi Community[permanent dead link], Cheshire County Council, October 2003.
  2. ^ Khaleeli, Homa (1 December 2014). "Muhammad: the truth about Britain's most misunderstood name". the Guardian.