Melaka people of the old generation had no qualms naming their children after anything that came to their mind. Names that would embarrass the child for at least two generations after. My parents related some of the names of their childhood; Dapur, Che Itam Comot, Ceduk. Then there were the Mats; Mat Lampu, Mat Tabung, Mat Sondok, etc. These are not nicknames, mind you. For the record, Dapur married Mat Lampu. When my late aunt informed my father that Dapur had passed away, her daughter who happened to be nearby couldn't stop laughing, "Hah, dapur pun boleh mati?"
One time my sisters and I visited the cemetery, and we read the names on the tombstones. We checked with each other thinking our Jawi was not good enough, and broke into laughter right on the burial ground because the names were downright funny. You would laugh too at the name Kecot bin Lisut, among others.
My nephew complained that his friends made fun of his grandfathers' names. I was embarrased with my grandfathers' names too.Why can't they be normal names like Ahmad or Zainal? And then my father's, oh why did my grandfather decide to name him after the day he was born. I had a problem with it until until an Arab said that my father's name is like an Arab's. Only then it became a non-issue. My father also has a nick-name which everyone in the kampung uses to address him until today, and that is Ujan. How do you think he got it?
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