Eavesdropping on Mallu Names

by Nikhil

Welcome back!

Voila!With much effort I overcome the blogger’s block and come up with a post.Lots a things happened during the blogging hiatus(na, something longer than that).Tata Crucible happened. MBA ended. Joined work.

This post is dedicated to the keen(oh! please, gimme a break!) observation made by Parul on Mallu names. More than half of the Mallu names are meaningless,funny,stupid combinations of syllables, letters or other names!(Phew! Mine is not one among them, thanks to my parents).

I am not going to utter a word about names with even remotely sensible meanings and can be related to human beings! Apologies are due to all my friends whose names I quote in the post and thanks to them without which this post would not have even happened (The usual funda of “some names have been changed to protect identity” doesnt work here )

The names continue to amuse me, amaze me. It is not only the Christians who have a slight bend towards naming their kids this way, though they lead the pack but people of other faith give them tough competition.

In school I used to wonder what the name of a classmate Jiss meant. Since I knew my name had a meaning, I had this obsession during those times that all names should have meanings. But having spent a huge part of my life in Kerala this obsessive disorder died a slow death or had to.

I have heard of a doctor by name Tiny Nair.I had a senior in school by name Jerry. Sanish and Sanish were close friends of mine in school. The name Snith may sound like a typo, but have a friend from school by this name. There are some names which may sound to have Sanskrit roots like Ajesh or a Rejish. When translated Ajesh would mean god of goats!!! Sorry da!!!

Baby is a very common unisexual name/pet name among Mallu Christians.Don’t tell me you do not know atleast one Baby uncle /Baby aunty!!!

I have heard names like Joy, Job, Happy, Healthy, Shine, Shiny, Kavin, Bejoy. One does not need to live for long in Kerala to meet a Siji or a Biji or a Liji or the names ending with a Ju or a Jo.There was a time when lots of people had Kumar as their second names. Somewhere came the era of four lettered names.
And someone thought its cool, others thought the same and that ushered in the age of little names. A suffix mon(son) or mol(daughter) were added either to reinforce the gender or to show a little more affection to their kids.By the time these people grew up, they hated their names as much to file applications at the nearest notary for a name change.

Ignorance of some parents gave blissful kids lucky and classy names like Shitty(eeks!!!),Percy, Booby(whoa!), Dickson(oh my!!!),Blessy, Bright(really!).Some names would have been better if the people lived in some other part of world. A Tito, Prince, Fidel etc would have been not so weird elsewhere as much as in Malluland.

Many lucky souls were named so thanks to their parents’ whose names were remotely Biblical. The thought that such names are passé crept into them and so they combined parts of their names and named the kid. My friend Cijo’s parents CIcily and JOse would have had an easy time naming him.The Mallu liking for short names can be seen in names ending with ji(Siji,Liji, Biji etc) or jo(Lijo,Cijo,Bijo) or the ju(try any combos as you wish)

Amma as the second name existed in Central and South Kerala a generation back.These ladies must have had a tough time having an oldie name even in primary school! Though Amma ceased to exist in the Mallu names database, Kuttan and Kutty found a place as the second names.

A lot of these creative(?) and meaningful(?) names are unisex, for eg. a Shiji can be of either gender! Long live the society that doesn’t bias between genders.
I am lucky to have met people with names like Happy,Job.Pretty, and even a Betty!(Trust me, her parents did know the character). Sajin, Shibin Dibin,Bibin, and even Justin etc were the IN names at some point of time.There are some names which are Mallu version of European names or their smaller versions, like a Lissy(Lizy).

Long live the Mallu’s creativity or lack of it in naming kids!

PS:Must read on what a Rajasthani found in Kerala- Mundu Mafia
Edited later: Since 1:45 am was too late on Thursday,I had to end the post abruptly.

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20 comments

1 pangumenon (pangu menon) { 08.01.10 at 12:19 pm }: mallu names!I’ have heard of a doctor by name Tiny Nair’. read on! http://blog.nikhil.co.in/2007/07/eavesdropping-on-mallu-names.html
2 Anonymous { 07.11.07 at 8:12 pm }: waah waah!!
Lovely!
Thankgawd you are back!!
3 Daniel { 07.11.07 at 8:48 pm }: Some additions from my encounters in Bangalore:

- Lukose G (Otherwise called Glucose)
- Jesus Amalraj (Am assuming Amalraj is Mallu for Christ)
4 Sajith M { 07.12.07 at 7:36 pm }: Nice to see a post after a long while.
Great Post. Absolutely Hilarious.
5 tenalirama { 07.14.07 at 3:46 pm }: u n parul stop scratching each others back!!

what aboring post- what’s in a name anyway?..
i guess u r better of writing book reviews ala one night at a call centre ;P
6 Nikhil Narayanan { 07.16.07 at 6:38 am }: @sajith,daniel.anonymous
thanks

@tenalirama
b@5tard!! dont make the scratching bit public!!! and ya, I may write a book soon, no more reviews….
7 Parul { 07.18.07 at 3:40 pm }: I’m amazed Potti hasn’t defended mallu names
8 Dheeraj { 08.07.07 at 7:20 am }: Nikhil,
I agree with everything except two names you mentioned.

Justin means somebody who is just
and betty is the nickname for Elizabeth.

You are so proud of your name Nikhil Whcih means just “whole” or “complete” . Does that really mean anything.
9 Nikhil { 08.07.07 at 7:38 am }: Hey Dheeraj!
Some names will have a meaning in some other part of the world and for all u know may be in vogue there!
Nikhil, means whole /complete, Nikhilam Akhilam Sarvam(Check Amarakosh, a Sanskrit text for more details)….isnt that enough meaning for a name…
10 smita { 08.08.07 at 9:38 pm }: u can add

Shimmy
Jetty
Simla (born in simla?)
11 Nikhil Narayanan { 08.09.07 at 6:11 am }: @Smitha
This name connects my latest post the Jetty one to names
lol!!
12 Dheeraj { 08.10.07 at 5:36 am }: of course, it is better than Jetty, and Boobby .ha ha..
I did not mean to insult your name. it is good one and my nephew also has the same name. Some of the names you mentioned as here have some good meanings

Betty – God’s promise.
Bejoy – be joy

I liked your post any way. When I told my frind ajesh about this, he came up with a brilliant explanation.
ajesh can be “ajayanaya ishan” . undefetable god.
13 Elizabeth { 08.30.07 at 6:38 am }: Dont know how I ended up in this blog! but what u wrote about mallu names is very correct. We named our son Akhil but our daughter is named Akku… now dont ask me how I (the blame is mine) ended up with this name… most probably in memory of a girl whom I liked a lot and their family ( the father passed away early).

Anyway keep writing.. u write very well.
14 Nikhil Narayanan { 08.30.07 at 1:48 pm }: @Eliz.
Thanks….Akku, nice name….reminds me of the my brother’s classmate in primary school…I used to tease him by this girl’s name
15 scorpria { 08.02.08 at 5:40 am }: Hi, came blog-hopping from Lekhni’s blog on a similar topic!
Hilarious post…
And yey!! I know Dr Tiny Nair…i was so amused by that name that i actually went with my uncle once to see the man in person! He isnt too tiny

Yes, siji and biji are weird names…so are tikki, titti, bitsy, bibbi etc…btw, bibbi is a guy

adding you to my blogroll…shall keep visiting!
16 true malayalee { 06.20.09 at 12:56 am }: Hi Nikhil, are you a racialist? You must know that for each region they have their own customs and traditions. You don’t have the right to make fun at some other race. Nikhil do u know, what is the literacy rate of north Indian states, it is less than 70%, but in our state is above 90%. And do you know, infant mortality ratio of United States of America is 16 per 1000, and India (excluding kerala state) 32 per 1000, and keep in mind Nikhil that in kerala it is 15.3 per 1000 (its lesser than even U.S).
17 Nikhil { 06.20.09 at 1:01 am }: @scorpia
Thanks for the comment.Please do not go and tell the doc about this post.Can’t spend money hiring a lawyer.
-Nikhil
18 Nikhil { 06.20.09 at 1:06 am }: @true malayalee
Thanks for the comment.I am not a racialist or a racist.I wonder what made you ask this question.I am very well aware of the HDIndices related to Kerala.
Humor,you missed the whole idea here.
-Nikhil
19 Cijo { 04.13.10 at 2:47 pm }: Nikhil, i’m promoting u here at office )
20 Sony Varghese { 05.18.10 at 8:09 pm }: Nice article. You seem to have done quite some research on this subject, congratulations or is it KANGRAJULESHANS. If it was within my power I would give you a PhD, but you guessed right, I can’t. But there’s one thing I can do. That is, to invite you to join my Facebook group – Acquired Weird Malayali-Names Syndrome. Please consider this as my official invitation Let’s celebrate Malluness…