Data story
Malaysian names in four scripts
Every name here is written in Rumi (Latin letters). 2,411 names also have a recorded Arabic-script spelling, 1,187 have candidate Chinese characters and 234 are written in Tamil script. A script describes how a name is written, not the religion or ethnicity of anyone who bears it.
- Arabic script
- 2,411
- Chinese characters
- 1,187
- Tamil script
- 234
- 3+ scripts
- 38
Four scripts, one reference
All 6,603 names are written in Rumi. 37% also have an Arabic-script spelling, 18% Chinese characters and 3.5% Tamil script.
- Rumi (Latin letters) 6,603
- Arabic script 2,411
- Chinese characters 1,187
- Tamil script 234
The other scripts in the reference
Beyond those four, 1,164 names have a Devanagari spelling, and a few are written in Malayalam, Telugu or Gurmukhi. 1,641 names have a Rumi spelling only.
- Devanagari script 1,164 · 86%
- Malayalam script 98 · 7.3%
- Telugu script 45 · 3.3%
- Jawi 22 · 1.6%
- Gurmukhi script 19 · 1.4%
Scripts by name category
Each cell is the share of names in one category that have a spelling in that script. Categories are for browsing and describe the name, not its bearer.
| Category | Arabic | Chinese characters | Devanagari | Tamil | Malayalam | Telugu |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malay Names (3,832) | 62% | 0% | 1.1% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| Chinese Names (1,250) | 0% | 95% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Indian Names (1,427) | 2.8% | 0% | 78% | 16% | 6.4% | 2.9% |
| Western Names (94) | 1.1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Scripts by language of origin
67% of names from Arabic have an Arabic-script spelling, and 82% of Sanskrit names have a Devanagari spelling. The origin describes the word behind the name, not its bearer.
| Origin | Arabic | Devanagari | Tamil | Malayalam | Telugu |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arabic (3,560) | 67% | 2.1% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.3% |
| Persian (213) | 31% | 18% | 2.8% | 0.9% | 0.5% |
| Hebrew (154) | 53% | 6.5% | 0.6% | 4.5% | 1.3% |
| Malay (243) | 6.2% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Sanskrit (1,236) | 0.1% | 82% | 12% | 5.7% | 2.6% |
| Tamil (138) | 0% | 8.7% | 68% | 8.7% | 1.4% |
| Hindi (531) | 0% | 95% | 7% | 1.1% | 1.5% |
Shorter in the original script
Arabic script usually leaves out short vowels, so 81% of names get shorter: a median of 6 Rumi letters against 4 Arabic letters. In Devanagari and Tamil, one block joins a consonant with its vowel.
Arabic script
Median: 6 Rumi letters → 4 letters · 81% shorter
| Muhammad 8 | محمد 4 |
|---|---|
| Nur 3 | نور 3 |
| Ismail 6 | إسماعيل 7 |
| Fatimah 7 | فاطمة 5 |
Devanagari script
Median: 6 Rumi letters → 3 blocks · 100% shorter
| Ismail 6 | इस्माइल 4 |
|---|---|
| Ahmad 5 | अहमद 4 |
| Ibrahim 7 | इब्राहीम 4 |
| Suresh 6 | सुरेश 3 |
Tamil script
Median: 6 Rumi letters → 4 blocks · 99% shorter
| Muhammad 8 | முகமது 4 |
|---|---|
| Subramaniam 11 | சுப்பிரமணியம் 8 |
| Ganesan 7 | கணேசன் 4 |
| Murugan 7 | முருகன் 4 |
38 names in three or more scripts
Another 133 names have two scripts besides Rumi; the most common pair is Devanagari script with Tamil script (64 names). Names with four scripts:
- Yahya
يحيىயஹ்யாयहयाయహ్యా
- Musa
موسىமூஸாമൂസാమూసా
- Dawud
दाऊदദാവൂദ്దావూద్ਦਾਊਦ
- Mythri
மைத்ரிमैत्रीമൈത്രിమైత్రి
- Nandita
नन्दिताநந்திதாനന്ദിതనందిత
- Nataraja
नटराजநடராசர்നടരാജൻనటరాజు
- Panchakanya
பஞ்சகன்னிகைपंचकन्याപഞ്ചകന്യകമാർపంచకన్యలు
- Salma
سلمىசல்மாसलमाസൽമ
- Zakariya
زكرياസക്കരിയ്യज़करिय्याజకరియ్యా
All multi-script namesArabic lettersDevanagari lettersTamil letters
Sources
- Native-script spellings: how the data was collected (Wiktionary, kaikki.org, Wikidata)
- Chinese characters: Unicode Unihan Database
How these figures were computed
Counts come from the 6,603 name pages in this reference (surnames are not counted). Arabic-script, Jawi, Devanagari, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Gurmukhi spellings are the spellings recorded in our data (collected from Wiktionary, kaikki.org and Wikidata name labels); most carry no source for the script spelling itself, and we never convert letters automatically. A few spellings that are a different word from the name (Can as कैन, for example) are not counted. “Chinese characters” counts names with at least one character option; 868 of them have characters attested in use, the rest only possible characters. Arabic-script length counts letters without vowel marks; Devanagari and Tamil length counts character blocks (a consonant with its vowel sign).
Last updated .
How to cite
Free to quote with a link to this page. Suggested citation:
MalaysianNames (malaysiannames.com). “Malaysian Names in Four Scripts: Rumi, Arabic, Chinese and Tamil”. https://malaysiannames.com/en/data-stories/names-in-four-scripts/. Updated .
Frequently asked questions
Is Arabic script the same as Jawi?
Not always. Arabic script here is the spelling of the name’s original Arabic word. Jawi is the Malay writing system based on Arabic letters, and only 22 names have a separately recorded Jawi spelling.
Why do some names have four scripts?
Names such as Yahya and Musa are used in several languages, so their spellings are recorded in several scripts. 9 names in this reference have four.
Does a script show religion or ethnicity?
No. A script is a writing system for the name. The same name is used across communities.