ioneabee Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 I often have to respond to emails from people with Indian heritage and I'm not sure if their method of christian and surname is the same as the western method as an example I have one Gurjit Bains - when I reply do I say "Hi Gurjit..." or "Hi Bains" - because in his last email he ended with just "Regards Bains" same with others as "sukhdev singh" or "Jas SIngh" - is singh just a common surname like Smith or is it something else can anyone enlighten me please 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian@TORQEN Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 Just reply with: Yo, dude! or 'sup yo! or Booya Or short version: Hi 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioneabee Posted September 13, 2014 Author Share Posted September 13, 2014 Just reply with: Yo, dude! or 'sup yo! or Booya Or short version: Hi not really helpful for a professional business reply Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy_Baton Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 (edited) Never had an Indian co worker use their surname . Are you sure you've got their name the right way round? Sometimes email credentials go surname.firstname@xxxx.com I've got confused because of the email configuration before. And yes Singh is a common surname, think is to do with the Sikh religion. Edited September 13, 2014 by Randy_Baton 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glrnet Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 Not come across this before, maybe they are being a bit more formal. My rule of thumb is to address emails as Mr Surname until I receive an email back that says Hi Graham, at that point I then use Hi First Name. I have Indian customers and I've not come across this before, they all have signed emails regards Mr Surname or First Name It'll be interesting to hear from Dips & Irfan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy78 Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 Singh is a very common middle or surname. I'm fairly sure that all Sikh's have to have Singh as part of their name... although I could be showing my ignorance. We have about 100 Indians working for us in Kochi and Chennai, so fairly used to knowing the difference between first and last names now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioneabee Posted September 13, 2014 Author Share Posted September 13, 2014 well - this particular answered with "Regards Bains" so I guess I'll go with that for now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATTAK Z Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 The only Indian name I know is Hiawatha 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioneabee Posted September 13, 2014 Author Share Posted September 13, 2014 ^^ somebody get his coat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LRF4N Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 I couldn't say for sure on Indian names as I'm from Pakistan and Muslim names are of Arabic origin. However in Pakistan a lot of people have their kids 2 or 3 names but there wasn't always a family name or surname. They were just given individual names. When they came here the surnames kicked in lol So my dad has 2 brothers, all of them with different names, but my generation who was all born here, our surnames are our dads' second names. But my cousins have different surnames to me Not sure how Indian culture works but when I have Indian patients I generally use their first name as the first one written on their file, or for older patients I will say mr/mrs and use the second name as a surname I know in some African/oriental cultures the family name was the first name and the second name is the individual name. So the opposite to western culture That's probably not much help to you....and might not make any sense..... But if it does there's a wee lesson for you 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LRF4N Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 Oh and the majority of Sikhs have Singh as their surname for males, Kaur for females. But not all of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glrnet Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 I think I followed all that!! Interesting though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioneabee Posted September 13, 2014 Author Share Posted September 13, 2014 with a little bit of scottish thrown in at the end - just to mix it up a little 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian@TORQEN Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 I couldn't say for sure on Indian names as I'm from Pakistan and Muslim names are of Arabic origin. However in Pakistan a lot of people have their kids 2 or 3 names but there wasn't always a family name or surname. They were just given individual names. When they came here the surnames kicked in lol So my dad has 2 brothers, all of them with different names, but my generation who was all born here, our surnames are our dads' second names. But my cousins have different surnames to me Not sure how Indian culture works but when I have Indian patients I generally use their first name as the first one written on their file, or for older patients I will say mr/mrs and use the second name as a surname I know in some African/oriental cultures the family name was the first name and the second name is the individual name. So the opposite to western culture That's probably not much help to you....and might not make any sense..... But if it does there's a wee lesson for you I'm dizzy, why is the house spinning so fast?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fodder Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 Mine know why you get confused, I do too. I've been calling gone of my colleagues by his surname because our directory display name naming convention is surname, given name. However I do believe in Indian culture it's the reverse, for example they will always start an email with "Mr given name". It doesn't help that his surname is a traditional female given name here but he's been too polite to correct me until I asked They may come across as very formal in written conversation but they do have a wicked sense if humour When I asked him and explained he laughed but I make an effort to use his given name but it doesn't come naturally due to the display name. If in doubt just ask is a courteous manner explaining you weren't sure if there was a cultural difference. I'd sooner get it right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 I've worked with a fair number of Indian and Pakistani origin people and they've always used their first name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fodder Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 I've worked with a fair number of Indian and Pakistani origin people and they've always used their first name. They do but what I was trying to say is the way they write/expect the name to be displayed could be different as the OP had observed. I'd ask as I'm sure they would appreciate it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brillomaster Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 Short answer, don't call them anything until they reply to you, then use whatever they address themselves as. Had one girl from Bulgaria on email once, she signed off as Alexandre for a while, but I knew she was really an Alex, but had to keep calling her Alexandre until she switched her reply to Alex. On a mildly related note, I always sign off as Andrew, but then gets shortened to Andy, even tho I hate Andy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fodder Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 (edited) That's weird, my names Andrew but everyone apart from my parents and siblings call me Andy. It feels strange when people call me Andy and also when my family call me Andrew I guess I'm the weird one :confused: Edited September 13, 2014 by Fodder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioneabee Posted September 13, 2014 Author Share Posted September 13, 2014 On a mildly related note, I always sign off as Andrew, but then gets shortened to Andy, even tho I hate Andy! Andy yours Sincerely Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glrnet Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 Don't think you should have told us that!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilp Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 (edited) I couldn't say for sure on Indian names as I'm from Pakistan and Muslim names are of Arabic origin. However in Pakistan a lot of people have their kids 2 or 3 names but there wasn't always a family name or surname. They were just given individual names. When they came here the surnames kicked in lol So my dad has 2 brothers, all of them with different names, but my generation who was all born here, our surnames are our dads' second names. But my cousins have different surnames to me Not sure how Indian culture works but when I have Indian patients I generally use their first name as the first one written on their file, or for older patients I will say mr/mrs and use the second name as a surname I know in some African/oriental cultures the family name was the first name and the second name is the individual name. So the opposite to western culture That's probably not much help to you....and might not make any sense..... But if it does there's a wee lesson for you So your were born in Scotland but from Pakistan? You're just a brown skinned Scotsman lol! Bit like me a couple of summers ago lol!! although I swear my tan was better! I miss going to the sunbeds 3 times a week lolDo I get to say I'm Polish because my mums side of the family were Polish or am I Irish because my dad's granny was Irish? Lol Edited September 13, 2014 by Neilp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azure350z Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 I used to do a lot of work with India and my way around this issue was to reply with "Hello (Full name as arranged in original email signature)" i.e. Hello Gurijt Bains ........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LRF4N Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 Neil ya nutter you knew what I meant. My backgrounds from Pakistan Your just saying that cos you want me to vote yes Back on topic- if your communicating by email then use the name they sign with at the end of emails. If it's face to face then generally it will be the first name unless they tell you otherwise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilp Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 Mate I'm still in the no camp lol!! I've already told you I just like stirring things up to see what answers people give lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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