Setiawan

The origin of the surname Setiawan

Setiawan comes from setia, “loyal” or “faithful.”

What kind of surname is Setiawan?

As a descriptive surname (or nickname name), the surname Setiawan arose from a personal characteristic — a physical trait, a quality of temperament, or a distinguishing feature of its first bearer. Communities have always coined nicknames, and in the age before fixed surnames these vivid, affectionate or teasing labels — referring to hair colour, stature, complexion or character — frequently became hereditary. Descriptive surnames give an unusually human glimpse of an ancestor, hinting at how they looked or how they were regarded by the people around them.

How Indonesian surnames work

Indonesian naming is exceptionally diverse and many Indonesians, especially among the Javanese, traditionally use only a single name with no hereditary surname at all. Where family names do occur they often come from regional clan systems — such as the Batak marga (Simanjuntak, Nasution, Sinaga) — or from Arabic, Chinese or Dutch influence, reflecting the archipelago's many cultures and faiths.