Name Does Matter In Bali

If you’ve been following this blog you probably realised there are a ton of people in Bali called Made ( Ma day ), Nyoman and Putu. There’s a good reason for this. In Balinese culture if you are the first born ( male or female ) you will be called either Putu, Wayan or Nengah. Second born will be called Made or Kadek, third born Nyoman, Ika or Kamang, fourth born Ketut. If you are #5 you go back to #1.

I remember calling my friend Putu at the restaurant and chatting with someone for a couple of minutes, both agreeing it was nice to meet each other… before realizing it was a different Putu. I’m thinking of handing out # cards to any more Made’s I meet. We’re up to about 5 right now and when someone says ‘Made called for you’ I really don’t know who they’re talking about.

The advantage to this system is that if you forget someone’s name you have a shot at guessing it.

Credit : Nick