Indonesian Naming System
Until recently, most Indonesians did not have family names. Their 'surname' was merely another personal name. Usually, men and women have a given name and take the name of their father. Some married Indonesian women take the last/family name of their husband, but not all, and this name is usually added after their own 'last' name. Therefore, it is not uncommon for married couples to have different last/family names.
Naming also differs around the country, with many Javanese having only one name; North Sumatrans have clan names instead of family names; and some Chinese Indonesians have Chinese-style names. It is interesting to note that Indonesian telephone directories names are listed under first/given names, not under family names.
Read more about this topic: Indonesian Names
Famous quotes containing the words indonesian, naming and/or system:
“The inference is, that God has restated the superiority of the West. God always does like that when a thousand white people surround one dark one. Dark people are always bad when they do not admit the Divine Plan like that. A certain Javanese man who sticks up for Indonesian Independence is very lowdown by the papers, and suspected of being a Japanese puppet.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (18911960)
“Husband,
who am I to reject the naming of foods
in a time of famine?”
—Anne Sexton (19281974)
“Television is an excellent system when one has nothing to lose, as is the case with a nomadic and rootless country like the United States, but in Europe the affect of television is that of a bulldozer which reduces culture to the lowest possible denominator.”
—Marc Fumaroli (b. 1932)