Дуудах нэрийг эцэг эх, Дуурсах алдрыг өөрөө олдог

“Parents will give a name to you, You will decide to make it famous”

On my way back home from the aimag last night, my driver started talking about a friend of his named Odbaatar which got me thinking once again about Mongolian names. Today many American parents want to give their children names that will set them apart, make them unique, and ensure that they won’t be one of 7 Sarah’s in their class (thanks Mom). Mongolians are way ahead of Americans in this. I had 92 students last year and only 3 kids shared a name-everyone else had a distinct name.

Brian and I have joked in the past that Mongolians are the original hippies, or perhaps extreme sci-fi fans. There is Solongo (rainbow), Narantsetseg (sunflower), Shinsar (new moon), Bolorstesteg (crystal flower), Zolzaya (lucky destiny), and Enkh-Amgalan (peaceful tranquility). Names can be super short Od (star), Ish (origin) and Yum (thing) as well as extremely long like Naimanzuunnandintsetseg (800 rare flowers) and Enebishtomortogoo (Not this, it’s a metal pot). Some names, at least to the American ear, are nice- Tuya (ray), Adiya (sun), and Bold (steel) and others are a bit out there- Muunokhoi (bad dog), Terbish (not that), and Nergui (no name).

Just like in America, names go in and out of fashion. People of my grandparents age often have shorter, Tibetan Buddhist based names. People born in the 40s and 50s sometimes have Russian inspired names (I know a Nadya and an Alexander), people my age tend to have two word names like Gerelzaya (Light beam), and children born today tend to have one word names or are often named after the family and friends of Chinggis Khan including Temujin (Chinggis’s childhood name), Borte (his wife), and Khubilai (his granson). Also, similar to Americans, some parents name all their kids with a theme such as including the same word in all the names- Monktsetseg (everlasting flower), Monkhchuluun (everlasting rock), Monkhbaatar (everlasting hero) etc, or with a topical theme like Tsas (snow), Boroo (rain), Salhi (wind), Shurag (storm), and Mondor (hail).

So back to old Odbaatar. If you read my post closely you would have figured out that his name means “star hero”. And Darkhuu? The tiny, sweet lady who is my second mother is no other than “gunpower son”.

Resource: http://mobile.inet.mn/shortArticle/?0xnbi27/48105