Often two or more children of a family are given names with a considerable degree of similarity to one another. In one case two brothers are called Mongeidrvan and Tergeidrvan (53); in another, Piliar and Piliag (52); and in a third, Singudr and Sinar (55); three sisters are called Teinesveli, Ternersveli, and Kenerveli (51), and in such cases it seems probable that new names are invented.
At the present time children are in many cases receiving Hindu names. Three young boys are called Arjun, Parvishki, and Sandisparan, and a young girl is called Natcham, which was said to represent Latchmi. Other Hindu names are Katcheri (Cutcherry), Sirkar, Kedjeri, and probably there are many others.
In a few cases names of English origin have probably been given, as in the case of Pensil, and the name Birkidj was said to be derived from Breeks.
The genealogical record shows clearly that this use of names derived from external sources is quite recent. There is a very [[624]]striking difference in general character between the names of the present and those of older generations, and a foreign origin is especially frequent in the names of children less than ten or fifteen years of age. The evidence from names would seem to point to a rapid spread of outside influence during the last ten years.
Shortened forms of names are often used. The termination of a word may be dropped; thus Nurmaners is often called Nurman, Ultzkudr becomes Ultz, and Paniolv, Pani. Sometimes the contraction is of a different kind; thus the girls Astrap and Pumundeivi are usually called Asp and Pumidz, and the name of the boy Kulpakh often becomes Kulen.
In addition to his proper name nearly every Toda has a nickname, usually given to him by the Badagas. These names often refer to some personal peculiarity, and this is probably the reason why nicknames were usually given to me with great reluctance, there being a distinct reversal of the condition found in communities of lower culture, where the proper names are usually kept secret, while only nicknames are uttered. Arpurs (46) was nicknamed Suri (knife) on account of his sharp nose, and Nertolvan (16) is called Teinkan or ‘Bee eye,’ on account of the smallness of his eyes, like those of the honey bee. In other cases I do not know the origin of the Badaga names, but they have usually different forms from those of true Toda names, often terminating in -oin or -üln. Sometimes the Badaga name is merely a modification of the Toda name, as when Tudrvan becomes Utudiki. In a few cases I heard the Badaga name of a man more often than his Toda name; thus Tövoniners is usually called Aravoin, and a noted Toda of the last generation is always spoken of by his Badaga name, Mervoin. In a few cases, men long dead are remembered by their Badaga names, while their Toda names are forgotten.
As I have already indicated, nicknames are often used by people of low culture as a means of evading taboos, and though, as we shall see shortly, such taboos exist among the Todas, I met with no instance in which a Toda, who was unable to utter a name, gave a nickname in its stead. [[625]]
From the foregoing account it is evident that in the names of the Todas we have a storehouse of words the investigation of which might lead to many discoveries in connexion with their half-forgotten folklore and past history. We have seen that the names of villages which have now entirely disappeared may still be preserved in the names of persons, and I have little doubt that a complete investigation of the names included in the genealogies would furnish a record of many more extinct villages and possibly provide clues to institutions which have now wholly disappeared.