Based on patterns of naming across four generations in first author Lie’s Chinese Indonesian family, we argue that naming practices are not just a function of personal taste or cultural habit but rather

reflect negotiation of larger-scale political and historical conditions. We show that seeming contradictions and puzzles in the names and naming practices in Lie's family can be explained by the specific social and political challenges faced by members of the family, particularly during the assimilation period of Suharto's 1966-1998 reign. Both Lie's family and the Indonesian state have treated names as having a high degree of constitutive power in these negotiations.