Indonesian Last Name Generator

500 Indonesian last names: Batak marga like Siregar and Nasution, Minahasan and Moluccan fam like Mandagi and Wattimena, and Chinese-Indonesian and Arab-Indonesian family names like Halim and Assegaf. Common final names such as Wijaya and Santoso are here too, because many Indonesians have no inherited surname.

About Indonesian last names

Indonesia has no law that asks for a family name, and a large share of Indonesians do not have one. Many Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese and Acehnese people carry given names only, sometimes a single one. So this list gives what people really carry in last place: clan names, inherited family names, and the final given names that end up in the surname box.

The clearest surnames are clan names. A Batak marga such as Siregar, Nasution or Simanjuntak passes from father to child. So does a Minahasan or Moluccan fam such as Mandagi or Wattimena. Nias, Papua and East Nusa Tenggara have clan names of their own, like Zebua, Kaisiepo and Fanggidae. Minangkabau suku names such as Chaniago come through the mother and are only sometimes written after a given name.

Other families keep a name by choice. Arab-Indonesian families of Hadhrami descent hand down names like Assegaf and Alatas. Many Chinese-Indonesian families took Indonesian-sounding names from the 1960s on, often with the old surname tucked inside, as Lim sits in Halim and Tan in Tanoto. A few Javanese and Sundanese priyayi families pass on long names like Djojohadikusumo. Wijaya, Santoso and Setiawan are given names that many people use as a last name. None of these names proves a person's ancestry or faith.

How to choose Indonesian last names

• Match the name to the character's home. A marga such as Hutapea or Sembiring points to North Sumatra, a fam such as Ratulangi to North Sulawesi, and Latuconsina or Pattinama to Maluku.
• For a Javanese or Balinese character, consider giving no surname at all. Two or three given names, or a single one, is often closer to real life than a borrowed clan name.
• Old spellings are part of the name. Families kept tj, dj and oe after the spelling reforms, so Tjokroaminoto and Soeryadjaya are not mistakes to fix.
• Clan names carry rules. Two Batak people of the same marga are traditionally treated as kin and do not marry, which is a ready plot point for a family story.
• When a form abroad insists on a last name, a person with one name often repeats it or uses the father's name. A character who travels can do the same.

Frequently asked questions

Do Indonesians have last names?

Some do and many do not. Batak, Minahasan, Moluccan and Nias families, and many in Papua and East Nusa Tenggara, inherit a clan name, and Chinese-Indonesian and Arab-Indonesian families usually keep a family name. Most Javanese, Sundanese and Balinese people have given names only, and the last of them, such as Wijaya or Santoso, is often treated as a surname on forms.

What are common Indonesian last names?

This page gives no ranking, because a country where many people have no surname has no simple one. Names you will meet often include the Batak marga Siregar, Nasution, Lubis and Sinaga, and the final names Wijaya, Santoso, Setiawan, Kurniawan and Hidayat. Among Chinese-Indonesian families Halim, Salim and Gunawan are familiar.

What is a marga or a fam?

Marga is the Batak word for a clan on the father's side, and its name is carried like a surname: Simanjuntak, Hutagalung, Tarigan, Ginting. Fam comes from the Dutch word for a family name and is used in North Sulawesi and Maluku for names such as Mandagi, Maramis, Wattimena and Leimena. Both pass from the father, and both tell other members of the group how two people are related.

Why do some Indonesian surnames use old Dutch spellings?

Indonesian spelling was reformed in 1947 and 1972, turning oe into u, tj into c and dj into j. Personal names were left to their owners, so many families kept the older form. That is why the list has Tjandra beside Chandra, Widjaja beside Wijaya, and names like Djajadiningrat and Koesoemadinata.

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