{"id":4353,"date":"2026-04-24T11:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T11:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/?p=4353"},"modified":"2026-04-11T12:06:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T12:06:35","slug":"pet-names","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/pet-names\/","title":{"rendered":"Pet Names – Connection, care and recognition\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nyonya Noreen Chan and Baba Lloyd Matthew Tan explore the significance of nicknames within Peranakan families.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Giving pet names or nicknames is a common practice amongst Peranakan families. Sometimes this pet name assumes a life of its own, so that it eventually supplants the actual name.\u00a0For example, Noreen Chan\u2019s great grandaunt was known as Ee Poh Cho Hum, even though her name was Lim Imm Neo. As a child, she liked to pluck bunga hum siow<\/em> (a fragrant flower, probably Gardenia) so Hum Siow became her pet name for the rest of her life!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nicknames could be assigned based on certain characteristics including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Birth order <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second child was often called \u201ctengah\u201d (literally \u201cmiddle\u201d) and the youngest \u201cbongsu\u201d or even \u201cbaby\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Appearance\/Looks<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This could be flattering e.g., \u201cchantek\u201d (pretty) or otherwise e.g., \u201chidong nuri\u201d (parrot nose) or \u201cmata side\u201d (someone with a squint). \u201cPanjang\u201d (long) and \u201cpendek\u201d (short) might be used to describe especially tall or short persons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Habits or Characteristics<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noreen Chan\u2019s paternal great-grandmother was known as Mak Payong because she was often seen with an umbrella. Grand uncle Ong Choon Bee was known to his grand nieces and nephews as \u201cChek Chek Kok-Kok\u201d because he liked to imitate the clucking and crowing of a rooster!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Location<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When one had many aunts or uncles, a convenient way of differentiating them would be by address. Ong Quee Neo (daughter of Ong Ewe Hai) had two daughters, Chia Guat Goh known as Koh Poh Seranggong and Chia Guat Beng known as Koh Poh Stevens Road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chia Guat Goh (Koh Poh Seranggong), left, and Chia Guat Beng (Koh Poh Stevens Road), right
Contributed by Callum Tait (Chia Guat Goh\u2019s great grandson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Noreen Chan\u2019s great-great-grandmother, Yeo Lan Neo (wife of Chia Hood Theam), was known as \u201cNonya Tawee\u201d because her family hailed from Batawee or Batavia, the old name for Jakarta. She carried this nickname literally to her grave – it is carved on her tombstone in Bukit Brown Cemetery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tombstone of Yeo Lan Neo showing her nickname \u201cNonya Tawee\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Why the use of pet names?\u00a0It was a cultural tradition based on language, but also an expression of emotional closeness and affection. Often, there was an element of playfulness, a fun and light-hearted way to interact. So even if the nickname might sound unflattering, like \u201cbusok\u201d (smelly) and \u201cburok\u201d (ugly), no offense was taken.

Look at your family tree and you will likely find many pet names there!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lloyd Matthew Tan<\/strong> a sixth-generation Baba. He is a cookbook author with two publications: Daily Nonya Dishes and More Daily Nonya Dishes. He also conducts cooking workshops and caters for private dining sessions. He is currently working on two books with the aim of preserving Baba Malay works.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Nyonya Noreen Chan and Baba Lloyd Matthew Tan explore the significance of nicknames within Peranakan families.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4353"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4376,"href":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4353\/revisions\/4376"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}