WITHOUT the use of surnames to help people trace their family histories, it would have been quite difficult for Mrs Lynne Cheney to discover, as she did last month, that her husband and vice president of the US, Mr Dick Cheney, was an eighth cousin to senator and Democratic presidential Barack Obama. Traditionally, people in Myanmar do not have surnames. Each child is given an individual name – varying in length from one word to three, four or even more words – whose elements are completely independent from his or her parents’ names. So the children of U (Mr) Aung Kyaw and Daw (Ms/Mrs) May Thu might have names as diverse as San Aung, Kyaw Myo or Wai Yi. However, during the colonial era some parents and institutions started adopting an informal surname system, which had been imported from Britain. Those who learned at missionary schools were usually given a Christian first name followed by their fathers’ names – the daughter of Aung Gyi might be named Rosie Aung Gyi, for example.