12 Facts About Indonesian names

Indonesian names and naming customs reflect the multicultural and multilingual nature of the over 17,000 islands in the Indonesian archipelago.

Names beginning with "Su" in Indonesian spelling or ending with an "o" are usually Javanese people.

Balinese Indonesian names are quite distinct, as they have a naming system which denotes birth order.

Nevertheless, it is common for Indonesian names to be written partly or fully in the old Dutch orthography, as shown in names like Tjahaja and Soeryadjaya.

Some common Indonesian names derived from Sanskrit and using the Indonesian names of Indian Hindu gods or heroes include Indra, Krisna, Wisnu, Surya, Bayu, Dewa, Rama, Lesmana, Sudarto, Dewi, Pertiwi, Sri, Ratih, Shinta, Laksmi, and Saraswati.

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Some Sanskrit-derived Indonesian names might be used by ningrat or menak families, especially among Javanese and Sundanese, in much the same way as some family Indonesian names in western culture indicate lineage and nobility.

Some such Indonesian names are Adiningrat, Notonegoro, Suryasumantri, Dharmokusumo, Wongsoatmodjo, Natalegawa, Kusumaatmadja, Kartadibrata, Kartapranata, and Kartasasmita.

Such names are used by Indonesians not of Arab descent, both as first names and as surnames.

Some Indonesian names derived from Arabic are only found the Nusantara region, such as Nuraini.

However, some of these ethnic groups with strong Islamic influences, such as the Betawi people, have Arabic Indonesian names which have been suitable with the local pronunciation, such as Rojak, Leman, etc.

Western Indonesian names were brought to Indonesia by the Portuguese and later the Dutch.

Notable people having such Indonesian names include politician Agum Gumelar, comedian Entis Sutisna, and politician Dedi Mulyadi.