Balinese Names

You may have noticed that my story is peppered with Mades and Ketuts. No there are not only two people here. The Balinese name their children in order of their birth - Wayan, Made, Nyoman, and Ketut (#5 starts over at Wayan again) - with I in front for a male and Ni in front for a female. So the Made we stay with, who drives for us and generally makes life easier is I Made Latra, and the Made who makes clothes for us is Ni Made Wenten. Kadek tells me that modern mothers are using Putu, Kadek and Komang to replace Wayan, Made and Nyoman. We had been told previously that these names indicated a different caste.

Another difference is the lack of family names. Made's name is Latra, but his father's name is Londo, and his wife's name is Dewi. You never know who is related to who, and sometimes they won't tell you!