How we research names

Step by step

1. 1

   Candidate list

   Names come from the official JPN data (the top 10 for each sex), names of Malaysians on Wikidata (CC0), Wiktionary name categories and other name lists. Spellings of one name are grouped into one entry.

2. 2

   Research per name

   Each name is researched on its own. A meaning must rest on a source that was actually opened, such as Wiktionary, Behind the Name, Unihan, MDBG or academic dictionaries. Baby-name list sites do not count as a meaning source.

3. 3

   Automatic checks

   Every entry is checked against a schema: standard Malay, no meaning without a source, and official figures only from JPN data.

4. 4

   Names without a settled meaning

   When a meaning cannot be established, the entry is still published with the facts we have, never with an invented meaning.

JPN popularity data

Popularity charts use the Baby Name Popularity dashboard on data.gov.my (agency: National Registration Department, JPN), which lists the top 10 for each sex in each JPN table, per decade of birth, by sex and ethnicity. Figures are the number of people registered with that first name as published by JPN (some are two words, such as Siti Hajar). A decade with no figure means the name was not in that top 10, not zero. In Chinese records the published name is often a surname. Source: JPN via data.gov.my, CC BY 4.0.

Chinese names

Chinese Malaysian names are written in dialect romanizations that were never standardised. One spelling can stand for many characters, so we show character options with their readings and meanings. Characters marked “attested” are found in records of real names. Dialect labels describe the spelling, not the person.

Data sources and licences