Sri Lanka Naming Customs

Online Tools
Sinhalese constitute the largest ethnic group in the country, with 74.8% of the total population. Sri Lankan Tamils are the second major ethnic group in the island, with a percentage of 11.2%.
 * Behind the Name: Tamil Surnames
 * Behind the Name: Tamil Given Names
 * Behind the Name: Sinhalese Submitted Names
 * Category:Sinhalese surnames in Wikipedia
 * 132 Sinhala Baby Names With Meanings
 * FamilySearch's surname experience - enter your last name to find its meaning and origin

Sinhalese

 * The common order of names in Sinhalese:
 * house/clan name + personal name(s) [+ family name]
 * e.g. Kaluhandhilage Hemachandra SILVA


 * The Sinhalese house/clan name ends in GE, e.g. Kaluhandhilage:
 * GE is often connected to the name of the house/clan by the word LA, so the name will frequently end in LAGE
 * the GE name is passed down between generations of a family, regardless of gender
 * the GE name is often abbreviated to an initial
 * the GE name could be omitted altogether, which is an increasingly common practice among the younger urbanised Sinhalese generation.


 * Most of the urbanised Sinhalese population will have an additional family name. It is less common in the names of rural inhabitants who may simply use the prefixed GE name and one or more personal names, e.g. Pathirannahelage Piyaseeli.

For example, Kaluhandhilage Hemachandra SILVA would be Hemachandra from the house (GE) of Kaluhandhi and of the family SILVA. He could also be known as:
 * a. K. Hemachandra SILVA (GE name initialled);
 * b. K. Hemachandra (GE name initialled, no family name);
 * c. Hemachandra SILVA (GE name omitted).

e.g. if Pathirannahelage Piyaseeli married Kaluhandhilage Hemachandra SILVA, she would become Pathirannahelage Piyaseeli SILVA.
 * Sinhalese women typically adopt the family surname of their husband upon marriage but retain their GE name:
 * Children typically adopt their father’s house/clan name and family name.

Unique characteristics

 * The following naming practices should also be noted:
 * a. some common Sinhalese family names are derived from Portuguese family names, due to past Portuguese colonisation: e.g. SILVA, FERNANDO, PEREIRA;
 * b. other family names are derived from Sinhalese: e.g. AMARASINGHE, TENNEKOON;
 * c. common beginnings to Sinhalese family names include:
 * JAYA- e.g. JAYASENA
 * GUNE- / GUNA- / GOONA- e.g. GUNERATNE / GOONERATNE
 * AMERA- / AMARA- e.g. AMARAWEERA
 * d. common endings to Sinhalese family names include:
 * -RATNE e.g. SENAVIRATNE
 * -WARDENE / -WARDENA e.g. GUNAWARDENE
 * -SEKERA e.g. JAYASEKERA
 * -TILLEKE e.g. GUNATILLEKE
 * -SUREYA e.g. AMERASUREYA
 * -SENA e.g. SIRISENA
 * -NAYAKE e.g. DISSANAYAKE
 * e. another common element of Sinhalese names is WEERA, either at the beginning or end of a name: e.g. WEERARATNE, SAMARAWEERA.
 * f. some Sinhalese names can be used as both a family name and a personal name.

Tamil

 * The common order of names in Tamil:
 * father’s personal name + personal name
 * e.g. Alagaratnam Rasiah (male) (no family name)

e.g. if Muththusaamy Kamalaraani marries Alagaratnam Rasiah she may be known as Rasiah Kamalaraani or R. Kamalaraani.
 * Tamil names traditionally have no family name.
 * Both men and women adopt their father’s name in front of their own personal name. Tamils often use only the first letter of their father’s name as an initial and then their own personal name in full: e.g. Alagaratnam Rasiah may be known as A. Rasiah.
 * Tamils living in Western society may use their father’s personal name as a family name and reverse the name order: e.g. Rasiah Alagaratnam.
 * A woman traditionally adopts her husband’s personal name upon marriage in place of her father’s personal name:
 * Both sons and daughters are named according to the typical components above:
 * e.g. a son of Alagaratnam Rasiah could be Rasiah Sinnadorai, or R. Sinnadorai;
 * e.g. a daughter of Alagaratnam Rasiah could be Rasiah Laxmi, or R. Laxmi.

Unique Characteristics

 * The following naming practices should also be noted:
 * a. nicknames are often used in place of personal names, especially within families. Nicknames may appear to have no correspondence with the givename, e.g. a nickname for Krishnakanthan may be Babu, or for Gnanaseeli it may be Jaya;
 * b. common elements of Tamil names include:
 * Alaga- / Alagu- / Alage- e.g. Alagappan / Alagumuthi
 * Anbu- e.g. Anbuselvan
 * Ari- e.g. Arivumani
 * Arul- e.g. Arulmoli
 * Bala- e.g. Balakumar
 * Gnana- e.g. Gnanamani
 * Siva- e.g. Sivadasan
 * Ula- e.g. Ulaganathan

Regional Variations

 * In some regions of Southern India and Sri Lanka a place name (of a town or village of ancestral origin) may be used in addition to the father’s personal name:
 * place name + father’s personal name + personal name

Foreign Origin Names
The Portuguese and Dutch being in Sri Lanka has left a legacy where many Sinhalese people converted religion or took on foreign names through intermarriage or adoption. Portuguese

For Further Reading

 * A GUIDE TO NAMES AND NAMING PRACTICES, UK Names Guide