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Here in South Africa, where the cricket World Cup will be held next month, we've recently hosted a tour by the Sri Lankan national team. Not on top of their form, but delightful, keen, cheerful players.
A glance at a web site or two confirms that surprising numbers of their top players have more given names than would be usual in English-speaking countries. (OK, they do speak English as a colonial hangover, but culturally the gulf is wide.) For instance, consider these (I'm capitalising the surnames):
Denagamage Proboth Mahela de Silva JAYAWARDENE
Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda VAAS
Thudellage Charitha Fernando BUDDIKA
Congenige Randhi Dilhara FERNANDO
Handunnettige Deepthi Priyantha Kuwar DHARMASENA
Unagiliya Durage Upul CHANDANA
Demuni Nuwan Tharanga ZOYSA
Panagodage Don Ruchira Laksiri PERERA
Materba Kanatha Gamage Chamila PREMANATH LAKSHITHA
Kandage Hasantha Ruwan KUMARA FERNANDO
Not all of them are like this, of course:
Jehan MUBARAK (probably Muslim? Different conventions?)
Hashan Prasantha TILLAKARATNE
Muttiah MURALITHARAN
Russel Premakumaran ARNOLD
Marvan Samson ATAPATTU
Sanath Teran JAYASURIYA
and others.
Does anyone know what's going on? Pakistani and Indian cricketers in general don't have whole collections of names - actually, there have been a few from southern India who do, if I remember correctly. Here and there one can see an English or Portuguese name, but that's not the point either - it's the sheer numbers that fascinate me.
By the way, I've got tickets to five of the matches! My toes are available for kissing between 16:00 and 16:15 every second Saturday.
A glance at a web site or two confirms that surprising numbers of their top players have more given names than would be usual in English-speaking countries. (OK, they do speak English as a colonial hangover, but culturally the gulf is wide.) For instance, consider these (I'm capitalising the surnames):
Denagamage Proboth Mahela de Silva JAYAWARDENE
Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda VAAS
Thudellage Charitha Fernando BUDDIKA
Congenige Randhi Dilhara FERNANDO
Handunnettige Deepthi Priyantha Kuwar DHARMASENA
Unagiliya Durage Upul CHANDANA
Demuni Nuwan Tharanga ZOYSA
Panagodage Don Ruchira Laksiri PERERA
Materba Kanatha Gamage Chamila PREMANATH LAKSHITHA
Kandage Hasantha Ruwan KUMARA FERNANDO
Not all of them are like this, of course:
Jehan MUBARAK (probably Muslim? Different conventions?)
Hashan Prasantha TILLAKARATNE
Muttiah MURALITHARAN
Russel Premakumaran ARNOLD
Marvan Samson ATAPATTU
Sanath Teran JAYASURIYA
and others.
Does anyone know what's going on? Pakistani and Indian cricketers in general don't have whole collections of names - actually, there have been a few from southern India who do, if I remember correctly. Here and there one can see an English or Portuguese name, but that's not the point either - it's the sheer numbers that fascinate me.
By the way, I've got tickets to five of the matches! My toes are available for kissing between 16:00 and 16:15 every second Saturday.
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Replies
I felt exactly the same a few years ago when I worked with an Indian fellow called Brian (sic)!
Here's the scoop: Parts of southern India were colonized by the Portugese. The city of Goa -- whose official language was Portugese until 1961! -- has a huge Catholic population, and many of the ethnically Indian population sport western names. Moreover, about 7% of the population of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) are Christian, many of who carry western names. So dont be surprised the next time you meet a Fernando Pinto from India :)
Here's the scoop: Parts of southern India were colonized by the Portugese. The city of Goa -- whose official language was Portugese until 1961! -- has a huge Catholic population, and many of the ethnically Indian population sport western names. Moreover, about 7% of the population of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) are Christian, many of who carry western names. So dont be surprised the next time you meet a Fernando Pinto from India :)
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Know what you mean - my sister-in-law is living with an Indian guy called Michael!
Sri Lanka, or Ceylon, was also the site of prisoner-of-war camps during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), where the British transported Boer soldiers they'd captured. The effect on those grim Calvinists must have been astounding ...
My point remains: none of my Portuguese friends have got anything like these strings of names, and nor have any English people I know except maybe royalty. Nowhere else that I know of do people give their children four or five names apparently quite routinely. My kids have got three each, and that's pushing it!
And it can't really be a Buddhist custom either, she muses, because the Chinese have very stripped-down naming habits.
Another wonderful problem is one of the Pakistan cricket team, great batsman. He's got three names, all hyphenated, and that's it:
Inzamam-ul-Haq. Go figure ...
Sri Lanka, or Ceylon, was also the site of prisoner-of-war camps during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), where the British transported Boer soldiers they'd captured. The effect on those grim Calvinists must have been astounding ...
My point remains: none of my Portuguese friends have got anything like these strings of names, and nor have any English people I know except maybe royalty. Nowhere else that I know of do people give their children four or five names apparently quite routinely. My kids have got three each, and that's pushing it!
And it can't really be a Buddhist custom either, she muses, because the Chinese have very stripped-down naming habits.
Another wonderful problem is one of the Pakistan cricket team, great batsman. He's got three names, all hyphenated, and that's it:
Inzamam-ul-Haq. Go figure ...
1
PS: Good luck and virtual toe-smacks
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