Oliver August, The (Australian) Times, writes:

MONGOLIANS have been ordered to invent their own surnames, after generations of living with just one name on the orders of their former Soviet masters.

Hundreds, pondering what to call themselves, daily besiege a small office in the centre of their capital where identity documents are issued. Held back by armed guards outside, some opt for surnames like Seven Drunk Men that hint at Mongolia’s national pastime.

Others prefer to adopt the name of Genghis Khan, still the mightiest of Mongols, who now has 500 namesakes in Ulan Bator.

When communism crumbled in 1990 the ban on family names was lifted, but many nomadic herders who roam between Siberia and the Gobi desert continue to refer to each other only by single names.

Now, to fight incest and make official records more intelligible, the Government has set a deadline of June 27 for all 2.5 million Mongolians to choose a family name on pain of a fine equivalent to several months’ salary.

“We are returning to our ancient traditions,” the Defence Minister said. The result is a stampede to state registration offices by Mongolians wearing felt hats and embroidered riding boots.

Some take their new name from their profession, or where it has taken them in the case of Gurragchaa, the Defence Minister. In 1981 he became the first and only Mongolian cosmonaut and was on a Soviet spaceship for an eight-day mission that made him a hero on the moonscape that is Mongolia. When choosing a surname, there was only one choice - Sansar, or Cosmos.

Yet the gilded medals on his chest proclaiming him a Soviet hero could not hide his acute embarrassment as he handed over his business card. “It’s a mistake that my surname is not shown,” he said. “I think I have a newer card somewhere with my full name.”

Batbold, a 25-year-old tailor, is clutching his birth certificate and a sheaf of forms in the midday summer sun. He is considering calling himself Borjigem, the clan name of Genghis Khan.

“My grandmother once mentioned that we are related to him but it may not be true,” he said. “In any case, I like that he was a strong leader.”

Mongolians have been officially encouraged to register surnames since 1997, with most doing so in the past four years. But 10 per cent of the population still don’t have one, finding it impossible to trace their family history.

Many of them look to Serjee Besud. The director of the Central State Library is Mongolia’s premier surname expert and has written a book advising people how to choose an appropriate name. He uses census data from the 18th century when Mongolia was under Manchu Chinese control, as well as army records.

“I tell them to think of something they were born near,” he said, “the name of a river, valley or mountain. Or people might call themselves after their occupation. We have many Mr Writers and Mr Hunters, even a Mr Policeman.”

Mongolians were traditionally called things like Three Drunk Men or White Horse before the ban - names some are returning to.

A lot of old people refuse to participate in the government program. “They want to die with the name they had all their life,” Mr Besud said.

June 12, 2004