Malaysian Indian names

The father's name as part of the name

Wikipedia (Tamil names) explains that Tamil names commonly follow a patronymic system: the first name of one generation becomes the last name of the next. In short form the father's name is written as an initial; written in full, for example on a passport, the initial becomes the last name, so R. Kumaresh becomes Kumaresh Ramaiah, meaning “Kumaresh, son of Ramaiah”. In Malaysia, public records use A/L and A/P, abbreviations of the Malay phrases for “son of” and “daughter of” (Learn Sayari). Wikipedia adds that after marriage a woman may replace her father's name with her husband's first name as an initial or last name, and that these customs vary from family to family and are usually not kept across generations.

a/l and a/p are not compulsory

The Star (8 August 2026) cites a 2017 Home Ministry answer in Parliament that “son of” (a/l) and “daughter of” (a/p) are not compulsory, and notes that adding them is the norm among Indian parents. Free Malaysia Today (2 August 2017) reported Mahathir Mohamad saying that Indian Muslims did not include a/l or a/p in their names, and that such names normally had two components. So the presence or absence of a/l or a/p cannot be used to guess anything about the bearer; it is just a way of writing a name. Other registration rules are explained in the JPN rules guide.

Initials and village names

Wikipedia (Tamil names) gives the pattern initial (village name), initial (father's name), then given name, as in M. P. Sivagnanam, where M stands for Mylai and P for his father Ponnusamy. It also says that from the 1930s the Dravidian movement led many Tamils to drop surnames, because surnames were tied to caste. Names such as Iyer, Pillai and Mudaliar are caste names that some families still use as a final name. They are not given names, and this site does not make pages for them or use them to classify anyone. Most names on this site are given names that you can browse in the list of Indian names.

Sikh names: Singh and Kaur

According to Wikipedia (Sikh names), Singh or Kaur is mandated for those baptised into the Khalsa, but many self-identifying Sikhs do not have Singh or Kaur in their proper name, and non-baptised Sikhs are encouraged to adopt the titles. Sikhs with other surnames often use Singh or Kaur as a middle name. Many Sikh women use Kaur as a third name. Wikipedia (Indian Malaysians) says that, besides the most numerous Tamils, Indian Malaysian communities include Malayalees, Telugus and Punjabis. This shows diversity of languages; it is not a way to guess anyone's language or religion from a name.

Tamil script and Latin spelling

Wikipedia (Tamil script) explains that Tamil has no separate letters for voiced and voiceless stops; the letter க, for example, represents /k/ but can be pronounced [g]. That is why Latin spellers sometimes choose k or g, t or d, and th or dh for the same Tamil letter. The letter ழ is transliterated ḻ in ISO 15919. Grantha letters (ஜ, ஷ, ஸ, ஹ and க்ஷ) are added for Sanskrit sounds. For example, the name Krishnan is written கிருஷ்ணன் in Tamil, and the Krishnan page shows it. Other name pages show Tamil script, such as Arumugam and Subramaniam, where it was found in a source.

Letchumy or Lakshmi?

Lakshmi comes from Sanskrit lakṣmī, glossed “mark, sign” by Wiktionary (Behind the Name gives “sign, mark”). Wiktionary lists Laxmi as an alternative English form and Tamil forms such as இலட்சுமி. In our data, Letchumy is recorded as the Malaysian spelling of Lakshmi, and Letchimy is also recorded. We use the spelling because JPN data records it, and we connect it to the meaning of Lakshmi with a source. Other examples in our data include Muniamah and Muniammah, and Saraswathy with Saraswathi and Sarasvati. For a name such as Muniandy, the element Muni- corresponds to Sanskrit muni, but the full meaning cannot be established, so we do not invent one.

Examples of spelling pairs in our data

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Frequently asked questions

Sources