Dak Nam: The Lifelong Nickname

So I’m an Indian Bengali, as people close to me would know. And I love my culture, but an aspect of it that I don’t think gets talked about much is the concept of dak nam vs. bhalo nam.

I have a brother whose name is Sohan, but I’m so used to calling him “Pukan” that I call him both Sohan and Pukan interchangeably, and people who only know him as “Sohan” are perplexed. See, Pukan is an example of a dak nam, while Sohan is an example of a bhalo nam.

You’re probably really confused.

Which is why I’ll explain what a dak nam and a bhalo nam are.

Let’s start with the bhalo nam.

A bhalo nam, translated literally as a “good name”, is your legal name, the one that appears on all official documents and such. Most people have a bhalo nam. People who call you your bhalo nam (in Bengali culture at least) are your superiors and acquaintances. So people you really aren’t that close to.

If you look at the example above, Sohan is my brother’s bhalo nam. The name Sohan appears as his legal name, he signs all documents as Sohan Chakravorty, and so on.

Now, a dak nam translated literally is “A name which you are called by.” It’s easiest to think of it as a nickname because that’s what a dak nam is, in essence — a nickname.

And some people may be asking, what’s so significant about a nickname? Loads of people have those!

But a dak nam isn’t just a name-shortening or a funny inside joke. It’s basically an official nickname.

In Bengali culture, the people who call you by your dak nam are your friends and family. So basically, people who you are close to and trust.

Each dak nam has a meaning as well. I won’t pretend like I know the meaning of my dak nam, or Pukan’s for that matter, but one of my family friends had a child a few years ago. I forget his real name, but his dak nam was Hridoy. And Hridoy means “heart”.

And in the case of my family (I don’t know about other families), there are variations. For example, my dak nam is Butu. Sometimes I’m called Buli, Bulia, Bulimuni, Mona, Munia, Munia pakhi, and the likes. The same goes for my brother. He gets called Puki, Spooky, Pukulu, Shonabhai, and the sort.

On a more informal note, one of my friend’s dak nam is Rai, so we sometimes call her French Fry because it rhymes.

Having a dak nam isn’t restricted to Bengalis, I don’t think. I’m pretty sure families of other nationalities do it, too, just with different names.

I’m part of the American diaspora of Indian Bengalis, and I’ve learned that sometimes people can choose not to give a dak nam as well. I have two friends who are like this.

And there can be so much diversity in the choice of dak nam as well! Parents can choose western names for a dak nam; it doesn’t have to be restricted to Bengali. I have a friend whose dak nam is Toby, and one of my friends actually got to give her younger sister a dak nam! Since my friend was young, she chose “Honeybaby,” but we just call her sister Honey.

In essence, a dak nam is a lifelong nickname, and it’s a part of Bengali culture that I’ve really come to love.