Usage note

In Bangladesh, a person's surname depends on his or her religion. There are different pools of surnames for Islamic families, for Hindu families, and for Buddhist families.

First names are taken from the Arab pool (if Muslim) or the East Indian pool (if Hindu or Buffhist).

Many Bangladeshis have two first names: a "good name", used for legal documents, and a "call name", which is what everybody calls them. The two are often unrelated: a man named Vijay may go by Bubai.

Many male Islamic Bangladeshis put Mohammod/Muhammad before their first names, as a prefix rather than a given name in the truest sense of the term. This can be abbreviated to Md.: Md. Ali Sarkar.

Surnames