What's in a Name?

Friday night Rebecca and I went to a dinner where we met Apa Sherpa, the Nepalese climber who has ascended to the summit of Everest 21 times--a record he shares with Phurba Tashi Sherpa.  It is an extraordinary achievement by a remarkable athlete.

We had the pleasure of sitting next to Apa's son at dinner.  Penba Sherpa grew up in a small village in Nepal.  Over dinner, he explained to us the naming conventions of his native people.

Sherpa is the surname used by nearly all villagers in the Everest region of eastern Nepal.  It was given to them by census takers, who didn't understand that some of the local population had only one name. So they gave them the surname Sherpa, which they kept, even though last names were not part of their culture.

First names for the Sherpas feature only slightly more variety, as each person is named for the day of the week on which he or she was born.  Sherpas rarely use middle names, although some do have prefixes, or virtue names.

And perhaps that is related to the humility shown by both Apa Sherpa and Penba Sherpa.  There is less ego involved in their identity.  The individual is, by its very name, less distinguished than the community.  I like that.