What's in a name?

Searching through old documents in the archives, I found out several variations by which my father’s name was written/printed and/or spelt. Here are some that I’ve managed to jot down:

 1. Che Ismail Merican bin Bapu Merican (State Council file)
 2. Che Md. Ismail bin Bapu Merican (Secretariat (Kedah) file)
 3. Che Ismail Merican bin Bapu Merican Noordin (Government of Kedah. Warrant. Justice of the Peace)
 4. Che Mohamed Ismail bin Bapu Merican (heading from his speech)
 5. Che Muhammad Ismail bin Bapu Marikan (engraving on a silver salver in Jawi)
 6. Md. Ismail Merican (from a list in his own handwriting)
 7. Che Ismail bin Bapu Merican (leave certificate)
 8. Che Ismail Merican bin Vapoo Merican (return from leave memo)

I guess “che” was a courtesy title used at that time in official matters. My father wrote his name as “Md. Ismail Merican” (no. (6) above). His signed his name with the initials M. I. and the surname “merican” (M.I.merican). In my birth certificate his name was written as “Md Ismail Marikan bin Vapoo Marikan Nordin”. In many documents I found that “Vapoo” was spelt “Bapu”. But on a gravestone I found in a graveyard in the compou
thus – ﻮ ﭫ ﺍ ﺐ [ba alif pa wau].nd of Kapitan Kling Mosque, George Town, and which I strongly believe to be my grandfather’s – was engraved the name “Wapu Marikan Mohamad Nordin” in Jawi:  ﻮ  ﻮ ﺍ ﭫ[wau alif pa wau]ﻦ ﻚ ﻱ ﺮ ﻡ [mim ra ya kaf nun] ﺪ ﻡ ﺡ ﻡ [mim ha mim dal] ﻦ ﻱ ﺪ ﺮ ﻮ ﻦ [nun wau ra dal ya nun]. Most of the official documents I found in the archives were in Jawi and spelt “Vapoo” thus – ﻮ ﭫ ﺍ ﺐ [ba alif pa wau].

Jawi is an Arabic alphabet for writing Malay etc. in Southeast Asia.