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Personal names in Bengali-speaking countries consist of one or several given names and a surname. The given is usually gender-specific. A name is usually cited in the "Western order" of "given name, surname", though the practise is neither adopted from the West nor universal. Personal names may depend generally on the person's religion and also have origins from other languages like Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit and Pali, but they are used and pronounced as according to the native Bengali language.

First names

Many people in Bangladesh and West Bengal have two given names: a "good name" (Bengali: ভালো নাম, romanized: bhalo nam), which is used on all legal documents, and a "call name" or "nickname" (Bengali: ডাক নাম, romanized: dak nam), which is used by family members and close friends.

The two names may or may not be at all related; for example, a man named "Shumon" or "Sumon" or "Suman" (Bengali: সুমন) may be called by his dak nam (e.g. Bengali: বুবাই, romanized: Bubai) at home and by his bhalo nam (Bengali: সুমন, romanized: Shumon) elsewhere.

Many people also have a shortened version of their bhalo nam. For example, Dipu (Bengali: দিপু) for Dipok (Bengali: দীপক), and Faru (Bengali: ফারু) for Farhana (Bengali: ফারহানা), in addition to their full bhalo nam and their dak nam.

Furthermore, the “first name” may also be a part of a name as a whole. For example, “Abd al-Rahmaan” (pronounced Abd-ur-Rahman in Arabic nominative case) is a name in and of itself, but when cited in a Bangladeshi legal document, the first part “Abdur” is often cited as the “first name” and “Rahman” is cited as the “last name”.

Middle names

Though middle names are very common in Bangladesh, not every individual has one; this applies to West Bengal as well. Recently, many people have begun to add their dak nam to the middle or end of their full official name, resulting in names like "Saifuddin Kanchon Choudhuri" (সাইফুদ্দীন কাঞ্চন চৌধুরী), where "Saifuddin" would be the man's bhalo nam, "Kanchon" would be his dak nam and "Choudhuri" would be his family name. "Saifuddin Kanchon Choudhuri" could also be written as "Saifuddin Choudhuri Kanchon" dak nam in the end, depending on the choice of the person, how he/she displays their name. In these situations, this man would be correctly addressed "Mr. Choudhuri", not "Mr. Kanchon".

Family names

Bengali Muslim families mostly use names of Arabic origin, followed by Farsi and Bengali. Among Muslims of Bangladesh, there are several different naming conventions. There is no fixed scheme for the structure of names.^[1] Many people do not really use a family name, so members of a family can have different last names. The system of usage of different family names in the same family may also be followed by non-Muslims because of the dominating name style of not having same family names in a family by Muslims in Bangladesh. Bengali Hindu families use names of Sanskrit origin, followed by Bengali. They use many names which are listed below. Some of their names are somewhat shortened and altered, like Chatterjee, owing to British influence. Some family names may be common between all religions, such as চৌধুরী (Choudhuri / Chowdhury), সরকার (Sorkar / Sarker / Sarkar) and বিশ্বাস (Bishwas).

List of family names by a person's religion

Muslim family names and titles

S.No.	Name (Bangla alphabet)	Bangla Romanisation	Common Transliteration
1	সৈয়দ	Sóíyod	Syed
2	শেখ	Shekh	Sheikh
3	কোরেশী	Koreshee	Quraishi
3	খন্দকার	Khondokar	Khandakar
4	মীর	Meer	Mir
5	আখুন্দ	Akhund	Akhund
6	প্রধান	Prodhan	Prodhan
7	মীর্জা (modern spelling- মির্জা)	Mirza	Mirza
8	শাহ	Shah	Shah
9	মুন্সী/মুনশী (modern spelling- মুন্সি/মুনশি)	Munshi	Munshi
10	দেওয়ান	Dewan	Dewan
11	গাজী (modern spelling- গাজি)	Gazi	Gazi
12	কাজী (modern spelling- কাজি)	Kazi	Kazi
13	খাঁ (modern spelling খান)	Khą/Khan	Khan
14	চৌধুরী	Cóúdhuree	Chowdhury
15	সরকার	Shorkar	Sarkar
16	মুহুরী	Muhuree	Muhuri
17	মল্ল	Mollo	Malla
18	পাটোয়ারী	Paŧowaree	Patwari
19	মোল্লা	Molla	Molla
20	ফকির	Fokir	Fakir
22	হাজারী	Hazaree	Hazari
23	শিকদার	Shikdar	Sikdar
24	তালুকদার	Talukdar	Taluqdar
25	মজুমদার	Mozumdar	Majumdar
26	হালদার	Haldar	Haldar
27	জোয়ার্দার	Jówardar/Jówaddar	Joardar
28	ইনামদার	Inamdar	Inamdar
29	মিয়া	Miya	Miah
30	সরদার	Shordar	Sardar
31	চাকলাদার	Cakladar	Chakladar
32	হাওলাদার	Haoladar	Howlader
33	ডিহিদার	Đihidar	Dihidar
34	ভূঁইয়া	Bhųiya	Bhuiyan
35	মুস্তাফী (modern spelling- মুস্তাফি)	Mustafi	Mustafi
36	মলঙ্গী	Molongee	Malangi
37	মাতুব্বর	Matubbor	Matubbar
38	গোমস্তা	Gómosta	Gomastha
39	পন্নী	Khan Ponni	Khan Panni
40	লোহানী (modern spelling- লোহানি)	Khan Lóhani	Khan Lohani
41	মুঘুল	Khan Mughul	Khan Mughal
41	কানুনগো	Kanungó	Kanungo
42	কারকুন	Karkun	Karkun
43	মল্লিক	Mollik	Mallik
44	মণ্ডল	Monđol	Mandal
45	বিশ্বাস	Bish'ash	Biswas
46	প্রামাণিক	Pramaꞥik	Pramanik
48	সাদিয়া	Sadiya	Sadia
49	মৃধা	Mridha	Mridha

Bengali Hindu family names and titles

S. No.	Name (Bangla alphabet)	Bangla Romanisation	Common Transliteration
1	ভট্টাচার্য্য (modern spelling- ভট্টাচার্য)	B́oŧŧacar̀j̄o	Bhattacharya (Bhottacharjo)
2	বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায় (also ব্যানার্জী)	Bænar̀ɉy (Bondḑópad́ḑ́aj)	Banerjee (Bondopaddhay)
3	দেব	Deb / Dew	Deb (Deba)
4	বণিক	Boꞥik	Bonick (Bonik)
5	দে	De	Dey (De)
6	দত্ত	Dotto	Dutt (Dotto/Dutta)
7	নস্কর	Noškor	Naskar (Noshkor)
8	ব্যাপারী	Bæpary	Bapary (Baepari)
9	বিশ্বাস	Biśṣ́aš	Bishwas (Bishshash)
10	ভৌমিক	B́óúmik	Bhowmick (Bhoumik)
11	বসু	Bošu	Bose (Boshu)
12	চক্রবর্তী	Cokrobor̀ty	Chakraborty (Chokrobort)
13	চট্টপাধ্যায় (also চ্যাটার্জী)	Cæŧar̀ɉy	Chatterjee (Chottopaddhay)
14	চৌধুরী	Cóúd́ury	Chowdhury (Choudhuri)
15	দাস	Daš	Das (Dash)
16	গায়েন	Gajen	Gain (Ga'en)
17	গুহ	Guho	Guha (Guho)
18	গঙ্গোপাধ্যায় (also গাঙ্গুলী)	Gaɲguly	Ganguly (Gonggopaddhay)
19	গুপ্ত	Gupto	Gupta (Gupto)
20	ঘোষ	Ǵós̊	Ghosh
21	গোস্বামী	Góṣ̌amy	Goswami (Goshami)
22	প্রভুপাদ	Prob́upado	Prabhupada (Probhupado)
23	মজুমদার	Mozumdar	Mazumdar/Majumder (Mojumdar)
24	মিত্র	Mitro	Mitra (Mitro)
25	মুখোপাধ্যায় (also মুখার্জী)	Muḱar̀ɉy	Mukherjee (Mukhopaddhay)
26	নাথ	Nat́	Nath
27	পুরকায়স্থ	Purkajost́o	Purkait (Puroka'ostho)
28	পাল	Pal	Paul/Pal (Pal)
29	রায়	Raj	Roy/Ray (Ra'i)
30	সাহা	Šaha	Saha (Shaha)
31	সরকার	Šorkar	Sarker/Sarkar (Shorkar)
32	সিংহ	Šiṅġho	Singha
33	সিংহ রায়	Šiṅġho Ray	Singha Roy/Sinha Roy (Singho Ray)
34	সেন	Šen	Sen (Shen)
35	ঠাকুর	Ŧ́akur	Tagore (Thakur)
36	চন্দ	Condo	Chanda (Chondo)
37	বাগচী	Bagcy	Bagchi
38	লস্কর	Loškor	Laskar (Loshkor)
39	ধর	Dhor	Dhar ( Dhor)
40	মৈত্র	Maitra	Maitra (Moitra)
41	কর	Kor	Kar (Kor)
42	ভাদুড়ী	Bhadury	Bhadury (Bhadury)
43	সান্যাল	Sanjal	Sanyal (Sannal':)
44	ঘোষাল	Gósál	Ghoshal (Ghoshal)
45	পাল চৌধুরী	Pal Cóúdúry	Pal Chowdhury (Pal Choudhury)
46	মাইতি	Máity	Maity (Maity)
47	দেবনাথ	Débnát	Debnath (Debnath)
48	ভট্টশালী	Bháttåsháli	Bhattashali (Bhattashali)
49	চট্টরাজ	Cóttóráj	Chattaraj (Chottoraj)
50	কানুনগো	Kánûngo	Kanungo (Kanungo)
51	লাহিড়ি	Láhîri	Lahiri (Lahiri)
52	দাশগুপ্ত	Dásgûpto	Dasgupta (Dashgupto)
53	সেনগুপ্ত	Séngûpto	Sengupta (Shengupto)
54	দত্তগুপ্ত	Dottogûpto	Duttagupta (Dottogupto)
55	দত্ত মজুমদার	Dottomazumdar	Dattamajumder (Dattamajumder)

Bengali Buddhist Surname

Barua/Borua

Bengali Christian Surname

Many Bengali Christians use English and Portuguese surnames along with traditional surnames. Most Catholic Bengali Christians have Portuguese surname, such as: Gomes, Rozario, D'Costa, Gonsalvez, Cruze, Dias, D'Silva and D'Souza.

Initials and prefixes

Muhammad (মোহাম্মদ), Mohammed, Mohamed, Mohammad, Mohammod, Muhammod is a common prefix used before the name of many Muslim males, and it is often not considered as the name used to refer to the person. In many cases, the "Muhammad" prefix is shortened to মোঃ ("Md.", or "MD."). Other common prefixes are not systematic. The prefix often serves as the first name and the given name appears as the middle name or last name.^[2]