Names can bring misery.

As a child I have seen a good number of cruelties committed by children. There are children who would take the opportunity to have fun at the expense of another poor kid who happens to have a name others can ridicule or make fun of.

Thus, it is of great importance that parents choose names which are right for their children. So, what are the names that ought to be avoided? What names can bring misfortune or humiliation to our children? In order to choose wisely, first think of all the languages used in our country besides international languages. This is important as what is good in one language can be vulgar or bad in another language. And all these languages have to be considered as we live among people with all sorts of languages.

Whether a name is right or not depends upon two factors, the meaning and the sound. In a particular language, a name may have good meaning and sounds beautiful but in another language it may sound like some vulgar word or carries a bad meaning.

In Malaysia, for example, we have four major languages which are English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil besides the numerous Chinese dialects. A Chinese name may sound like the name of the female private part in Malay. Another Chinese name may be a vulgar Malay word usually used to scold someone. The sounds are so similiar!(Well-known, real people have such names. As such the names are not given.) A nasty person may purposely mispronounce them to sound exactly like the vulgar Malay words. In certain circumstances, it can cause a child to be made fun of or an adult to be embarrassed.

‘Kay Poh’ in Hockien, a Chinese dialect means ‘busybody’. A person with such a name could find some misery when they are young with some fun-searching children.
When it comes to the Chinese, there are those who believe that a weak child can survive better if they are named after an animal. So, we have a number of ‘Ah Too’ (pig) and ‘Ah Kow’ (dog) among our friends. Sometimes, they too had their share of problems. Even the surname, ‘Ong’ which my sons and I carry have been a source of fun for some Malay children. I did not realise that my surname ‘Ong’ sounded like a frog’s call to its mate until my children had to live in a hostel in the secondary school, Sekolah Menengah Sains Pokok Sena.

Yes, even surnames which cannot be replaced, can be a source of fun because people are creative. Take for example ‘Teh’ and ‘Tan’, the surnames of a loving couple. Together with some friends, Tan was very silent, just listening contentedly. The other friends urged him to give some comments. When none was forthcoming, another friend remarked, ‘Bo Teh, toe lo ay Tan?’ meaning ‘Without pressing where can there be a sound?’

Surnames cannot be changed. Nevertheless, we have to choose our children’s names carefully.