People who are familiar with Myanmar will find an interesting phenomenon. Is it a coincidence that the leaders of Myanmar in modern times, such as Wu Nu, the first Prime Minister of Myanmar, Wu Naiwen, former Prime Minister of Myanmar, and Wu Dan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, are all surnamed Wu? I didn't know what was going on until I arrived in Myanmar.
It turns out that the names of Burmese people have no function of inheriting family symbols, and Burmese people have no surnames!
A friend of mine in Myanmar said: "Wu is not the surname of Myanmar, but a courtesy title for male elders in Myanmar."
Before Myanmar men come of age, when introducing themselves to others, they often put a word "appearance" before their names to show their modesty. Sometimes, in order to show closeness, when the elders address the younger male generation, they add a word "appearance" before their names. When people address their peers or young men, they add the word "brother" before their names. For example, a couple in Myanmar named their son Kyaw Win. When Kyaw Win was a minor, people called him "Mao Kyaw Win" and when he was an adult, he was called "Ge Kyaw Win". When he was old or gained a certain social status, people respectfully called him "Wu Juewen".
Like men, the appellations of Myanmar women change with age.
When addressing a young woman or a woman of her own age, the word "ma" is usually added before her name. Ma means "girl". Young women express self-modesty, and usually add the word "ma" before their names when they report themselves. If you address an elderly woman, people should put a "du" before her name to show respect.
Burmese honorifics and modesty can distinguish people's gender and age.
Although there is no surname, Burmese people attach great importance to naming their children. From the seventh day to the fourteenth day after the birth of a child, parents should choose a good day to hold a grand naming ceremony for the child. At the naming ceremony, parents washed their children's hair with water boiled from Acacia rattan leaves and big Jiebao leaves. Then, change the children into clean new clothes and spray some perfume water. Then, the elders who presided over the naming ceremony named the child according to the time and day of birth.
interestingly, Burmese names are generally related to the week. According to the custom of Myanmar, every day of the week has the corresponding letters in Burmese. When parents name their children, they usually put the letters corresponding to the day of birth at the top of the name, and the letters corresponding to the fifth day after birth at the bottom of the name. Therefore, as long as we know the name of the Burmese, we can guess what day he was born.