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The Family Name of Fehan-Tetun People in Suai, East Timor

The names of the Tetun-Fehan people are unique compared to those of other East Timorese ethnic groups. Their children adopt their father's given name as their surname.

The Fehan Tetun people name their children after their ancestors. When a child is born, the mother and father discuss naming their children. Because Fehan Tetun people follow a matrilineal system, they name all children after their mother's ancestors. However, sometimes the father wishes to name the child after his deceased mother's or father's name. The most popular names for boys are Nahak, Kalau, Bere, Bisi, Seran, and Bau, and the girls' names are Rika, Bui, Abuk, Luruk, Hoar, Kolo, etc.

In the 1960s, the Portuguese converted some Fehan Tetun people to Catholicism. So the children's names must be changed to European names before the parents take them to the church for baptism. The priest dislikes our ancestor's name without giving an apparent reason. Therefore, Fehan Tetun people have two names: their traditional names and their Christian names. I have two names: Nahak Lorico, my traditional name, and Alarico De Sena, my Christian name.

In the Western world, most people adopt their father's last name as their family name. In contrast, Fehan Tetun people adopt their father's first name as their family name or surname.

Although Fehan Tetun people follow a matrilineal system, children do not take their mother's last name, and the mother does not change her family name. For example, the name of my mother's mother is Seu Berek, so her name should be Rika Berek, not Rika Kehik. Seu Berek married Kehi Nuak, and they have five children, all of whom are given their father's first name as their last name. Below are their names:

Sometimes children from the same family do not share the same family name because they name some of them after a particular ancestor. As shown in the example above, the eldest son, Nahak Lotu, has a different last name from his brothers and sisters since they gave him one of our forebears' names.

To improve the pronunciation, they alter the initial name by adding the letter K at the end. The Portuguese spelling is C, but I prefer to use the English spelling. For example, Bere-Berek, Bisi-Bisik, Kehi-Kehik, Lebo-Lebok, Diha-Dihak, Mau-Mauk, and Bau-Bauk However, there are exceptions for specific names like Nahak, Kalau, and Lanua. Nahak already contains the letter K, so there is no need to add it; otherwise, the name would have a double K. It seems strange that Kalau becomes Kalauk if you add a character K. Instead of adding a K at the end to make Lanuak, the first two letters are removed to form Nuak. For instance, Kolo Nuak, as opposed to the awkward-sounding Kolo Lanuak.

Below are more examples of the families of the Fehan Tetun people in Suai. They are my family. Rika Bisik is married to Bere Lequic. They had three children:

Abuk Kehik married to Mau Ati. They had three children

As you can see from the above examples, unless they choose to name a child after a particular ancestor, all children adopt their father's first name as their family name or surname. Children do not take their mother's last name, nor do mothers change their last name.

The sons of Fehan Tetun do not maintain the family name of their fathers and inherit the property. When a man marries a woman, all their children will adopt his first name as the family name rather than his present family name. As a result, he loses the last name of his father. For instance, the family name of the children born to Seran Kalau and Dahu Bauk will be Seran: Hoar Seran, Abuk Seran, and Nahak Seran.