First time coming to Bali will get you confused over Balinese people, especially their names. You could end up imagine why they almost have the same name, even for woman and man.
At BGS, we have four staff share the same name, Komang. To help us communicate easily, we call them by their nickname.
Komang Pedro 
TL;DR: To make it simple, the Balinese name starts with a title + birth order + name (usually taken from the name of Balinese Gods).
There are certain rules to be used in Balinese name system, so keep reading this article.
For the title, Balinese use Ni for women and I for men.
While the Balinese birth order meaning is in the table below:
| Wayan or Putu or Gede or Luh | First Born |
| Made or Kadek | Second Born |
| Nyoman or Komang | Third Born |
| Ketut | Fourth |
| Wayan (again) | Fifth |
After the forth, the naming system back to the first order, and so on. That’s why often you find someone called Wayan the Second – Little Wayan (fifth born) or Made the Second (6th born)
Well, that’s it. Now you can generate your own Balinese name. A regular Balinese citizen name.
But, the naming system actually far more complicated than that.
The above system is used for regular Balinese citizens (around 95%) in Bali. They are called Sudra in the Balinese Caste system.
So keep reading this article to understand better how the Balinese naming system works for other Caste.
Balinese Name by Caste
In general, the Balinese name has two naming system based on caste. The Balinese caste system, Catur Warna, plays an important part in the Balinese name.
Basically, with the Balinese Caste System, there are two things that differentiate how the Balinese name works. First is the general caste (low caste) that consists of 95% of Balinese – regular Balinese citizens. It is called Sudra.
For Sudra, the Balinese naming system starts with a title, a birth order, and a personal name. Explained above.
While for the high caste, consists of Brahman, Ksatria, & Waisya. The naming system starts with a title and a personal name.
One thing that goes for all is that Balinese doesn’t have a family name, so don’t confuse their personal name with a family name.
For Sudra, Balinese used the general title as “Ni” for women, and “I” for men. Then followed by the birth order. This is to help distinguish between woman and man on the paper, like in administrative purposes.
The second one is in the higher caste, consists of Brahman, Ksatria, & Waisya. But these three have their own title. And in these castes, they don’t use a prefix to indicate gender like in Sudra. To distinguish between women and men, they use an extra name after the title.
For Brahman, the holy men/women. Brahman is caste for Hindu Priest that leads Balinese spiritual experience just like a pastor in Christian. But nowadays, the Brahmin caste is academics, intellectuals, economists, aristocrats, and lawyers. The title for Brahman caste is “Ida Bagus” for man and “Ida Ayu” for women.
In Ksatria, it has more title than Brahman. The naming system for Ksatria caste is :
| Man | Woman |
|---|---|
| Anak Agung | Anak Agung Ayu, Anak Agung Istri |
| Tjok / Tjokorda | Tjokorda Istri |
| Gusti Ngurah | Gusti Ayu |
| Dewa Agung | Dewa Ayu / Desak |
Balinese Name Meaning
Balinese name comes from the Balinese Word or Sanskrit, so here we will explain all the Balinese name meaning we can find:
| Name | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Wayan | Wayah means “old, mature” or Vayah means “energy, strength, old” given to the first-born. |
| Gede | meaning Big given to the first-born. |
| Putu | meaning grandchild, given to the first-born. |
| Luh | meaning daughter, given to the first-born. |
| Made | From Sanskrit Madya means “middle” given to the second-born. |
| Kadek | meaning younger-sibling, given to the second-born. |
| Nengah | meaning “middle” given to the second-born. |
| Nyoman | from Anom-an meaning “younger or small”, given to the third-born. |
| Komang | from Balinese word Uman meaning “end, remainder”, given to the third-born. |
| Ketut | from Ketuwut means “follow” or Kitut means “small banana”, given to the forth-born. |
| Gusti | Leader |
| Agung | Great |
| Tjokorda | from Sanskrit Tjoka and Dewa meaning “Foot of Gods” |
| Ngurah | Gift from heaven |
| Jero | A prefix to those who marry someone from a higher caste |
Still confused? Come hang out at our Coffee Shop and learn more about the Balinese with our staff and BGS Community.
