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Culture of Myanmar |
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Burmese names (Burmese: မြန်မာ အမည်) lack the serial structure of most Western names. Like other Mainland Southeast Asian people (excepted Vietnamese), the people of Myanmar have no customary matronymic or patronymic naming system and no tradition of surnames. Although other Mainland Southeast Asian countries like as Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia introduced the use of surnames in early 20th century, Myanmar never introduced the use of surnames and lacks surnames in the modern day. In the culture of Myanmar, people can change their name at will, often with no government oversight, to reflect a change in the course of their lives. Also, many Myanmar names use an honorific, given at some point in life, as an integral part of the name.[1]