Why do they call your first name, your Christian name? don't jews, Muslims, buddhists , hindus ,africans, atheists and just about every other racial/religious group have given names too?
by 
zwatcher
ANSWERS: 1
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It is a term less used now because of the multi religiosity of our societies, but, in the past, English speaking nations were overwhelmingly Christian and therefore the term was used. However, don't think that it is as simple with other cultures. In many, a name can single you out as a minority, and therefore invite persecution. Names are very complex things. Some peoples have only one name like many Indonesian tribes including the majority Javanese, others have clan names, which you have to clarify when meeting someone, lest you marry into the wrong group such as the Batak of North Sumatera. On the island of Bali, naming is very complex. Because Bali has retained Hinduism, all Balinese have a caste title that comes first, then an order name and finally a personal name that is not often used. THere are no family names, but people from the same village know who is related to whom, and what temple they worship at. As you can see, there is no family name at all(which causes big problems when filling out westernised forms).
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