Sinhalese name
A Sinhalese name or Sinhala name may contain two or three parts: a patronymic, one or more given names, and sometimes a surname, which was often absent in the past.[1] Full names can be rather long, and hence are often shortened, by omitting or abbreviating the family name and one of the given names, as in R. M. S. Ariyaratna.[2]
Family names can be distinguished by the suffix -ge or -ghe,[2] though this suffix may accidentally result from a particular transliteration of a Sinhalese word, such as simhe or simghe (lion).[3]
Given names can be masculine, feminine and gender neutral.
Sinhalese surnames often originate from Sanskrit. However, as a consequence of Portuguese legacy in Sri Lanka during the 16th and 17th centuries, many Portuguese language surnames also exits among Sinhalese people. As a result, Perera and Fernando eventually became the most common names in Sri Lanka.[4]
History[]
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Structure[]
Sinhalese names usually consists of three parts. The first name is the patronymic name of the father, ancestor name or 'house name', which often has the suffix ‘-ge’ at the end of it, this is known as the 'Ge' name (ge meaning house in Sinhalese). The second name is the personal name and the third name is the surname.[5]
For example, in the name RAJAPAKSHA MUDIYANSELAGE Siril Ariyaratna, Rajapaksha is the family or surname name, Mudiyanselage is the 'Ge' name and Siril and Ariyaratna are two given names.[2]
Ge name[]
Family name[]
Foreign origin names[]
The Portuguese and Dutch being in Sri Lanka has left a legacy where many Sinhalese people converted religion or took on foreign names through intermarriage or adoption.[6]
- Portuguese
- Almeida/de Almeida
- Cabral/Cabraal
- Correa/Corea
- Costa/de Costa
- De Alwis, derived from the surname ‘Alves’
- Dias
- Fernando
- Fonseka
- Gomes
- Mendis, derived from the surname ‘Mendes’
- Nonis, derived from the surname ‘Nunes’
- Peiris, derived from the surname ‘Peres’
- Perera/Pereira
- from the surname 'Figueira'
- Sigera, derived from the surname ‘Siqueira’
- Silva/de Silva
- from the surname 'Soares'
- /de Abrew, derived from the surname ‘Abreu’
- Tissera, derived from the surname ‘Teixeira’
Given name[]
References[]
Citations[]
- ^ De Gruyter 2013, p. 213-219.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Chandralal 2010, p. 9, 43.
- ^ Hanks, Coates & McClure 2016, p. 1402.
- ^ Wanasundera 2002, p. 61.
- ^ Evason 2016.
- ^ Raymond 2018. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFRaymond2018 (help)
Bibliography[]
- Dileep Chandralal (2010). Sinhala. John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 9, 43. ISBN 978-90-272-8853-0.
- International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (2013). Names of Persons: National Usages for Entry in Catalogues. De Gruyter. pp. 213–219. ISBN 978-3-11-097455-3.
- Patrick Hanks; Richard Coates; Peter McClure (2016). The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland. OUP Oxford. p. 1402. ISBN 978-0-19-252747-9.
- Nanda Pethiyagoda Wanasundera (2002). Sri Lanka. Marshall Cavendish. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-7614-1477-3.
- Raymond, Roel (28 February 2018). "Portuguese-Sri Lankan Surnames And Their Meanings". roar.media. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
- Raymond, Roel (17 April 2018). "Dutch-Sri Lankan Surnames And Their Meanings". roar.media. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
- Perera, B. J. (2009). "The "Ge" names of the Sinhalese". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka. 55: 1–16. JSTOR 23731092.
- Evason, Nina (2016). "Sri Lankan Culture – Communication". Cultural Atlas. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
External links[]
- Sinhalese names
- Names by culture