〔Random Stuff〕

The Origins Of Malagasy Name

AAAAAH I'VE FINALLY FOUND IT. IT TOOKS ME 3 WEEKS HHHHHHH

*Ahem*sorry.

Anyway.

This chapter is mainly dedicated to -Aurele cuz I promised them that I'll talk more further about why Malagasy name are so long (also sorry for the tagging, if you want me to remove it I'll do it-)

The original was made by beauty. madalove on Instagram and I translated the original. Also it is not in order-

*Ahem*

Why Malagasy name are so long?

The choice and the attribution of a child's name need to have diverse criteria :

☀︎︎A combination of the parents's name and the grandparents's name
☀︎︎A way to honor the ancestors (razana) and grandparents
☀︎︎Tell the circumstances of the birth
☀︎︎Astrology
☀︎︎Every hope that the parents have put in their child

Prefixes :
☀︎︎zafi- (grandson, granddaughter)
☀︎︎zana- (son or daughter)
☀︎︎rai- (father) and reni- (mother) are commonly used as a reference for honor of the ascendant lineage

"Rakoto" and "Rabe" are the most used one in Madagascar
The choice of the suffix with various significations depend of the family :

"Rakotomalala", "Rakotoniaina" , "Ratokotoarisoa" , "Rakotosoa" or "Rakotonirina" and "Rabekoto" , "Abearisoa" , "Rabenaivo" and "Raberina" or "Rabearimalala" and so on...

(those one aren't family name just in case if you're lost-) We also choose for girl's name , most of the time, flowers, trees, rare birds and gems :

Raozy = rose
Felana = flower
Volana = moon
Voahangy = pearl
Miora = myrrh

(apparently mine (Miranto) means beauty but uh I think they did a mistake there-)

For boys, name that means strength, courage and power :

Mahery = robust
Andry = pillar
Haja = honor
Mendrika = merit
Fahendrena = wisdom
Misaina = intelligent

+ Bonus of some that I know

(boy)Mandresy = victorious
(boy)Hery = force
(gender neutral but more oriented for boys) Finaritra = joy
(girl)Fajanva = moon (in the southern dialect)
(gender neutral) Harena = wealth
(girls) Fitiavanasoa = precious love
(gender neutral but more oriented for girls) Mahatoky = Faithful

The prefix Ra-, which is a politeness mark, is mostly the start of a Malagasy family name

And the therm andriana means noble or prince.

In the ancient generations, the name didn't designated the whole family but only one person. Family members could have the same name but the family name changed depending of each particular characteristic of each member.

Ever since, family name kept their longevity and design every family member.

However, name change and start to have French influence. That's why there's now Malagasy name such as Jean, Jules, Marie, Alain ect...

In malagasy traditions, un name can tell a whole story. From the person who have it, to the family members, to their razana.

-

You don't know how much time it tooks me because WATTPAD KEPT BUGGING HHH

Anyway.

I hope you enjoyed, tell me if you want to know more I'll try my best to find more informations about it ^^