Jump to content

Indian names - i'm a litlle confused


ioneabee

Recommended Posts

I often have to respond to emails from people with Indian heritage and I'm not sure if their method of christian and surname is the same as the western method

 

as an example I have one

 

Gurjit Bains - when I reply do I say "Hi Gurjit..." or "Hi Bains" - because in his last email he ended with just "Regards Bains"

 

same with others as "sukhdev singh" or "Jas SIngh" - is singh just a common surname like Smith or is it something else

 

can anyone enlighten me please

 

bains is the surname as is Singh.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I often have to respond to emails from people with Indian heritage and I'm not sure if their method of christian and surname is the same as the western method

 

as an example I have one

 

Gurjit Bains - when I reply do I say "Hi Gurjit..." or "Hi Bains" - because in his last email he ended with just "Regards Bains"

 

same with others as "sukhdev singh" or "Jas SIngh" - is singh just a common surname like Smith or is it something else

 

can anyone enlighten me please

 

bains is the surname as is Singh.

hmm - ok

 

why then has he signed of as ............."kind regards Bains"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I couldn't say for sure on Indian names as I'm from Pakistan and Muslim names are of Arabic origin. However in Pakistan a lot of people have their kids 2 or 3 names but there wasn't always a family name or surname. They were just given individual names. When they came here the surnames kicked in lol

 

So my dad has 2 brothers, all of them with different names, but my generation who was all born here, our surnames are our dads' second names. But my cousins have different surnames to me

 

Not sure how Indian culture works but when I have Indian patients I generally use their first name as the first one written on their file, or for older patients I will say mr/mrs and use the second name as a surname

 

I know in some African/oriental cultures the family name was the first name and the second name is the individual name. So the opposite to western culture

 

That's probably not much help to you....and might not make any sense..... But if it does there's a wee lesson for you :lol:

 

 

 

I'm dizzy, why is the house spinning so fast?! :surrender:

 

Most likely explanation .... You've supercharged it ;)

Edited by GIXXERUK
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ionabee- maybe he's too cool to use 'mr' in front of his surname

 

Like Bond.... Or like the characters in police academy :lol:

 

it's not like I'll ever meet any of them in person - so I'll go with the advice of "whatever they sign off with at the end of their email"

 

as opposed to mate, aunty, uncle..........

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...