Malaysian names

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Personal names in Malaysia are extremely useful in tracing a person's cultural and ethnic background as Malaysia comprises many ethnicities and cultures in which each has its own distinct system of names. Personal names are, to a certain degree, regulated by the national registration department, especially since the introduction of the National Registration Identity Card (NRIC). The Malaysian Chinese are the only major ethnic group in Malaysia to use family names. Most other groups, including the ethnic Malays, Orang Asli and the Bumiputera of Sabah and Sarawak, share a naming custom that includes the use of a personal name followed by a patronym name.

Malay names[edit]


Arabic names were introduced later along with Islam but didn't become dominant among commoners until the colonial era. Although traditional Malay names were still widely used for centuries afterward, they are now primarily confined to rural areas. Malaysia's National Registration Department doesn't allow names with negative or obscene meanings, such as Pendek which means short. The Department additionally bans names with the meaning of colours, animals and natural phenomena. This effectively renders many traditional names illegal including Puteh or Putih (white), Wulan or Bulan (moon), Suria (sun), Rimau (tiger) and Awan (cloud). Partly because of these restrictions and mostly as a result of the increased religious awareness during the last century, the vast majority of Malays today tend to favour Arabic names. However, names from the following languages are common as well:

  • Persian, for example Jehan, Mirza or Shah
  • Greek or Latin, for example Maria, Marina or Johana
  • English, for example Tiara, Orked or Ros

Names of Arab-Hebrew origins are also common, for example Adam, Yaacob, Ishak, Bunyamin and Daniel and Sarah. Additionally, names of Arab-Hebrew origins that are seldom used by the Muslim Arabs are widespread among Malays, such as the female names of Meriam or Miriam (the Arabs commonly spell it as Maryam), Saloma and Rohana.



A Malay's name consists of a personal name, which is used to address him or her in all circumstances, followed by a patronym. Most Malays do not use family names or surnames. In this respect, Malay names are similar to Icelandic naming conventions. For men, the patronym consists of the title bin (from Arabic بن, meaning 'son of') followed by his father's personal name. Thus, if Osman has a son called Musa, Musa will be known as Musa bin Osman. For women, the patronym consists of the title binti (from Arabic بنت, meaning 'daughter of') followed by her father's name. Thus, if Musa has a daughter called Aisyah, Aisyah will be known as Aisyah binti Musa. Upon marriage, a woman does not change her name, as is done in many cultures.

In the past it was not uncommon for a Malay to have more than one personal name, but in modern times Malay names may consist of two and sometimes three personal names. Some are taken from public figures around the world such as Mohammad Rifae Zidane, whose third personal name is taken from the famous footballer. The majority of Malay males have as their first name Mohammad or Muhammad, after the Muslim prophet.


The patronym is employed by almost all Malays in accordance with local customs as well as adopted ones from the Arabs, Hebrews and others. Sometimes the title part of the patronym, bin or binti, is reduced to B. for men, or to Bt., Bte. or Bint. for women. This sometimes leads to it being taken as a middle initial in Western cultures. In general practice, however, most Malays omit the title bin or bint from their names. Thus, the two examples from the paragraph above would be known as Musa Osman and Aisyah Musa. When presented in this way, the second part of the name is often mistaken for a family name.

However, when someone is referred to using only one name, the first name is always used, never the second (because one would be rude calling someone by the father's name). Thus, Musa Osman is Mr Musa (or Encik Musa in Malay), and Aisyah Musa is Mrs/Ms/Miss Aisyah (or Puan/Cik Aisyah in Malay). An exception is the case of second personal names when a male has the first name as the prophet name Mohammed or the word Abdul. Hence, the second name is usually used if the third name is the patronym. For example, Mohammed Hisyam bin Ariffin would be referred by the name Mr Hisyam or Abdul Rahman bin Rasyid would be referred to as Mr Rahman.

However, it is argued that the Mr or Mrs form of address is not compatible with the Malay naming system, probably due to the lack of family or surnames. As such, it is customary to address Malays using the Malay forms of address.


See also: Malay surnames

A few Malay families do use surnames, such as Tengku, Megat, Nik, Wan, Raja and Che, which are passed down patrilineally, while others such as Merican, Khan and Munsi indicated an Indian Muslim ancestry (since these names are Indian Muslim in origin). Other common surnames includes Sayid or Syed (of Arab ancestry), Teuku (of Aceh), etc.


In old times the first group of Chinese people in Malaysia used to be held in high regard by Malays. Some Malays in the past may have taken the word "Baba", referring to Chinese males, and put it into their name, when this used to be the case.[1][2][3] This is not followed by the younger generation, and the current Chinese Malaysians do not have the same status as they previously had.

Second personal names or double names[edit]


The popular first elements in double Malay male names are:

  • Muhammad/Mohammad/Mohammed (often abbreviated to Mohd., Muhd., Md. or simply M.)
  • Mat — the Malay variant of Muhammad. Mat is also the casual spoken form of names ending with -mad or -mat such as Ahmad, Rahmat, Samad, etc.
  • Mamat - another variety of Muhammad
  • Ahmad

The most common first elements in double Malay female names are:

  • Nor/Noor/Nur/Nurul
  • Siti


Thus, Osman may have another son called Abdul Haqq, who is known as Abdul Haqq bin Osman, or Abdul Haqq Osman. Then he, in turn, may have a daughter called Nor Mawar, who is known as Nor Mawar binti Abdul Haqq, or Nor Mawar Abdul Haqq. It is often common to drop the first element in these double names, even if it is Abdul, and so the examples could be known as Haqq Osman and Mawar Haqq.

Malay titles[edit]

Hereditary titles[edit]


The examples of inherited titles are:

by Patrilineal Royal descent (Malay)

  • Tunku
  • Tengku
  • Raja

by Patrilineal Royal descent (Malay - Mon-Khmer)

  • Yang
  • Long

by Patrilineal Royal descent (Acheh - Malay)

  • Teuku

by Patrilineal Royal descent (Bugis - Malay)

  • Daeng
  • Daing

by Matrilineal Royal descent (Malay)

  • Engku
  • Ungku
  • Megat (male)
  • Puteri (female)


  • Syed/Sharifah (for male and female, respectively) — indicating direct patrilineal descent from the family of the Prophet Muhammad.
  • Mior (for male only) — indicating direct matrilineal descent from the family of the Prophet Muhammad.
  • Awang/Abang, Dayang (popular in Sabah and Sarawak, for male and female, respectively.
  • Tuan (used more generally as a respectful term of address for men, like 'sir')
  • Awang, Abang/Dayang or Dayangku (used in Sabah and Sarawak, for male and female, respectively)

by Patrilineal Noble descent

  • Wan
  • Nik
  • Che
  • Tun


Non-hereditary titles[edit]




For example of a complex name, the current Prime Minister of Malaysia has the full name Dato' Seri Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak, where 'Dato' Seri' is a Malay title of honour, 'Mohd Najib' is his personal name (often further abbreviated to 'Najib'), 'bin' introduces his father's titles and names, 'Tun' is a higher honour, 'Haji' denotes his father as a pilgrim to Mecca, and 'Abdul Razak' is his father's personal name (often abbreviated to 'Razak'). The entire name has various shorter forms, like 'Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak', 'Najib Tun Razak' and 'Najib Razak').

Haji or Hajjah[edit]

If someone has been on the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, they may be called Haji for men or Hajjah for women. Thus, if Musa bin Osman went on the Hajj, he could be called Haji Musa bin Osman, and his daughter Aisyah might be called Aisyah binti Haji Musa. If Aisyah herself have gone for the hajj, her name would be Hajjah Aisyah binti Haji Musa. The titles can also be shortened in writing to 'Hj.' for Haji and 'Hjh' for Hajjah.

Chinese names[edit]

Traditional Chinese names are used among the Malaysian Chinese. These names are usually represented as three words, for example Foo Li Leen or Tan Ai Lin. The first name is the Chinese family name, which is passed down from a father to all his children. The two other parts of the name form an indivisible Chinese given name, which may contain a generation name. In Western settings, the family name is sometimes shifted to the end of the name (for example, Li Leen Foo).

Some Chinese also use a Western personal name (for example, Denise Foo), and some use this in preference to a Chinese given name. Most of these are used by Chinese Malaysian Christians. On official documents, this name is either written in the order Western given name - Surname - Chinese given name (e.g. Denise Foo Li Leen), or Surname - Chinese given name - Western given name (e.g. Foo Li Leen Denise),[citation needed] or Western given name - Chinese given name - Surname (e.g. Denise Li Leen Foo). In general practice, only one of the given names – the Western name or the Chinese name – will be used. Chinese Malaysian Muslims may use Arabic given names while some use Arabic-derived Chinese names, e.g. Firdaus Wong Wai Hung.


Indian names[edit]


Indian Malaysian Muslims, like ethnic Malays, use Arabic names or names of their own languages, while Arabic-derived Christian names may be used by Indian Malaysian Christians.

Indonesian names[edit]


Names of members of other groups[edit]

Peninsular Orang Asli and Sarawakian Bumiputra use the Malay word anak ('child of') to form their patronymics regardless of an individual's sex, for example, Aziz anak Ramlan. However, most of the new generation indigenous people in Sabah and Sarawak who live in town areas and who practice Christianity as a religion, tend to have a Christian first name, for example Melissa Melanie Raweng (Raweng being the father's name).



See also[edit]


  1. ^ Names and Surnames among the Malays
  2. ^ Names and Surnames among the Malays