Parents say shorter names are easier for forms and daily life, as simple one-word names gain popularity online
NAMING children with long, three-word names is falling out of favour among younger parents, according to a recent discussion on Threads.
In the conversation, Atikah, a mother of three, shared that her children are named Maryam, Fatimah and Ali, each followed only by their father’s name.
“My husband chose the children’s names. They’re short and simple, and much easier when filling in official forms,” she said.
Another user, Rashid, commented that the current generation has reached a point where choosing a simple, one-word name has become a “flex”.
Asyiah shared that she named her son simply Muhammad, adding that people often ask, “Muhammad what?”, expecting a second name.
Among Malays, some families still follow the tradition of placing inherited titles such as Tengku, Nik, Wan, Raja or Syed before a child’s name.
However, Ain, who comes from a Nik background, said it is not compulsory to continue the practice.
“My in-laws insisted on adding ‘Puteri’ to our daughter’s name because my name starts with Nik, but I named her Nur Saffiya instead. No Nik at all, and nothing bad will happen if we don’t use it,” she explained.
Norhayati, a mother of four, said she only realised the benefits of shorter names when naming her third child.
“When all the children fall ill and go to the clinic at the same time, the mother gets exhausted filling in the forms. Others are already done, but I’m still writing,” she said, drawing from personal experience.
Another user joked that her father was “ahead of his time” for giving his children short names, as his own name was already long.
“It saves time when writing full names on exam papers,” she said.
