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| For Afghans, Name and Birthdate Census Questions Are Not So Simple | For Afghans, Name and Birthdate Census Questions Are Not So Simple |
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| KABUL, Afghanistan — Khaliddudin, who like many Afghans goes by a single name, has already picked out a second name to go alongside the first. He has decided on “Mayroj,” which, he proudly explained, means the “highest.” | KABUL, Afghanistan — Khaliddudin, who like many Afghans goes by a single name, has already picked out a second name to go alongside the first. He has decided on “Mayroj,” which, he proudly explained, means the “highest.” |
| But as a census worker for the Afghan government, Khaliddudin has more than just his own name to consider. He is at the vanguard of the government’s effort to encourage everyone across the country to adopt a surname. | But as a census worker for the Afghan government, Khaliddudin has more than just his own name to consider. He is at the vanguard of the government’s effort to encourage everyone across the country to adopt a surname. |
| This is an ambitious effort, one that seeks to change — and to an extent standardize — Afghan naming conventions, which are so flexible that the new president recently issued a directive clarifying the name he plans to use. As a candidate he was Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai. | This is an ambitious effort, one that seeks to change — and to an extent standardize — Afghan naming conventions, which are so flexible that the new president recently issued a directive clarifying the name he plans to use. As a candidate he was Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai. |
| As president, he is simply Ashraf Ghani. | As president, he is simply Ashraf Ghani. |
| Each day, Khaliddudin, who thinks he is 28 (Afghans are also being encouraged to pick a birthday), and his team go door to door trying to persuade households to fill out census forms. Conducting a census can be daunting, even in developed countries, but in Afghanistan, there are unique challenges like avoiding the Taliban and navigating the Pamir and Hindu Kush Mountains, in whose remote valleys innumerable Afghans live. | Each day, Khaliddudin, who thinks he is 28 (Afghans are also being encouraged to pick a birthday), and his team go door to door trying to persuade households to fill out census forms. Conducting a census can be daunting, even in developed countries, but in Afghanistan, there are unique challenges like avoiding the Taliban and navigating the Pamir and Hindu Kush Mountains, in whose remote valleys innumerable Afghans live. |
| Still, culture may prove the greatest obstacle: Many people lack surnames, most do not know their birthday, and Afghan women generally will not speak to census workers if their husbands are out, as they often are during the daytime when census workers knock. | Still, culture may prove the greatest obstacle: Many people lack surnames, most do not know their birthday, and Afghan women generally will not speak to census workers if their husbands are out, as they often are during the daytime when census workers knock. |
| “We tell them to please select a surname for themselves if they don’t have one,” said Khaliddudin, standing on a dusty street. Colorful Shiite banners flew above concrete homes. Inside each were households awaiting registration. “When you select a surname you can use anything,” he explained. | “We tell them to please select a surname for themselves if they don’t have one,” said Khaliddudin, standing on a dusty street. Colorful Shiite banners flew above concrete homes. Inside each were households awaiting registration. “When you select a surname you can use anything,” he explained. |
| After long delays, false starts and squandered millions in foreign aid, the great Afghan census is finally underway. The census teams generally include a man and a woman who often spend considerable time waiting in front of doors that never open, often because of purdah, the custom of sequestering women indoors away from men not their husbands or relatives and requiring a burqa when outside. | After long delays, false starts and squandered millions in foreign aid, the great Afghan census is finally underway. The census teams generally include a man and a woman who often spend considerable time waiting in front of doors that never open, often because of purdah, the custom of sequestering women indoors away from men not their husbands or relatives and requiring a burqa when outside. |
| On a recent morning, there was audible stirring inside as the census team knocked on a door in the Mikrorayon complexes, the Soviet-built apartment blocks that are home to many middle-class Kabulis. | On a recent morning, there was audible stirring inside as the census team knocked on a door in the Mikrorayon complexes, the Soviet-built apartment blocks that are home to many middle-class Kabulis. |
| “The father of this apartment is not home — so they cannot fill it out,” said Masoud Rahmani, a supervisor with the census project, with a resigned shrug. “This is a problem we are often facing.” | “The father of this apartment is not home — so they cannot fill it out,” said Masoud Rahmani, a supervisor with the census project, with a resigned shrug. “This is a problem we are often facing.” |
| In another neighborhood, in north Kabul, a woman opened the door, but only to hand one of Khaliddudin’s workers a phone. On the line was her husband, asking them to come back later. | In another neighborhood, in north Kabul, a woman opened the door, but only to hand one of Khaliddudin’s workers a phone. On the line was her husband, asking them to come back later. |
| Since census workers began knocking on doors in Kabul this year, they have registered 70,000 people — just 2 percent of the city. | Since census workers began knocking on doors in Kabul this year, they have registered 70,000 people — just 2 percent of the city. |
| Optimistic Afghan officials say it will take years before the entire country is surveyed. | Optimistic Afghan officials say it will take years before the entire country is surveyed. |
| “We believe we will reach 70 percent of the population in five years,” said Homayoun Mohtaat, the project’s director. | “We believe we will reach 70 percent of the population in five years,” said Homayoun Mohtaat, the project’s director. |
| Nobody knows just how many people reside in Afghanistan. The last census, in 1979, found some 14.6 million people. Afghanistan’s Population Registration Department currently has records for about 17 million Afghan citizens, according to officials. | |
| Each name is listed in a clothbound ledger book stacked on sagging metal racks in four dusty rooms in the offices of the department, a government agency. | Each name is listed in a clothbound ledger book stacked on sagging metal racks in four dusty rooms in the offices of the department, a government agency. |
| For years, this is where citizens have come to seek a passport, join the army or change their marital status. Before that can happen, though, the petitioner’s identity must be verified in one of the books. Clerks say they almost never fail to locate an entry, except for people with the bad luck of being listed on the first or last page of a book. Those names and photos have largely worn away from use over the decades. | For years, this is where citizens have come to seek a passport, join the army or change their marital status. Before that can happen, though, the petitioner’s identity must be verified in one of the books. Clerks say they almost never fail to locate an entry, except for people with the bad luck of being listed on the first or last page of a book. Those names and photos have largely worn away from use over the decades. |
| The clerks who work here have the carnival-worthy ability to guess a person’s age within a year, a necessity in a place where few actually know how old they are. | The clerks who work here have the carnival-worthy ability to guess a person’s age within a year, a necessity in a place where few actually know how old they are. |
| Mr. Mohtaat guesses the census will yield a count of 35 million to 40 million Afghans. | Mr. Mohtaat guesses the census will yield a count of 35 million to 40 million Afghans. |
| Counting citizens is less the government’s priority than registering them. Many Afghans hope a successful census will help prevent election fraud of the sort that plagued the presidential election this past year. Each adult is asked to answer more than 30 questions to provide a variety of personal data including surname, father’s name, grandfather’s name, education level and ethnicity. Each Afghan will also receive a new identification card, complete with a chip containing biometric data, such as iris scans and fingerprints. | Counting citizens is less the government’s priority than registering them. Many Afghans hope a successful census will help prevent election fraud of the sort that plagued the presidential election this past year. Each adult is asked to answer more than 30 questions to provide a variety of personal data including surname, father’s name, grandfather’s name, education level and ethnicity. Each Afghan will also receive a new identification card, complete with a chip containing biometric data, such as iris scans and fingerprints. |
| Many worry that the new cards may upset the country’s delicate ethnic balance. Afghanistan is ethnically diverse, with Pashtuns, the largest group, across the south and east, and a sizable Tajik minority in the nation’s north. There are also Hazaras, an oft-persecuted Shiite minority, not to mention ethnic Uzbeks, and others. | Many worry that the new cards may upset the country’s delicate ethnic balance. Afghanistan is ethnically diverse, with Pashtuns, the largest group, across the south and east, and a sizable Tajik minority in the nation’s north. There are also Hazaras, an oft-persecuted Shiite minority, not to mention ethnic Uzbeks, and others. |
| If the Pashtuns feel secure in their standing, many other groups are anxious that the data could show a smaller population than had been claimed. | If the Pashtuns feel secure in their standing, many other groups are anxious that the data could show a smaller population than had been claimed. |
| But for many Afghans, the trickiest question to answer is probably their name. | But for many Afghans, the trickiest question to answer is probably their name. |
| While some countries, including Iran and Turkey, imposed surnames on their citizens in the first half of the 20th century, the practice never took hold in Afghanistan. | While some countries, including Iran and Turkey, imposed surnames on their citizens in the first half of the 20th century, the practice never took hold in Afghanistan. |
| The remote, insular and tribal nature of Afghan villages may have had something to do with the lack of surnames. So perhaps did the historic weakness of national governments, which have tended to require fixed names in the interest of keeping track of people, whether to draft them or tax them. | The remote, insular and tribal nature of Afghan villages may have had something to do with the lack of surnames. So perhaps did the historic weakness of national governments, which have tended to require fixed names in the interest of keeping track of people, whether to draft them or tax them. |
| Some Afghans adopted surnames in recent years when applying for visas to foreign countries. Others, particularly Kabulis, did so with the influx of foreign organizations and employers after the Taliban government was toppled in 2001. | Some Afghans adopted surnames in recent years when applying for visas to foreign countries. Others, particularly Kabulis, did so with the influx of foreign organizations and employers after the Taliban government was toppled in 2001. |
| But even some Afghans with two names lack a true surname in the sense that neither name is commonly held by relatives. | But even some Afghans with two names lack a true surname in the sense that neither name is commonly held by relatives. |
| So when Mohammad Akhtar, a retired police commander, opened the door last month to Khaliddudin’s census team, he said he was ready to select a surname and bestow it on his seven children. “Mohammad Akhtar,” he explained, was just his first name. For a surname he chose Naibkhil, the name of his tribe. | So when Mohammad Akhtar, a retired police commander, opened the door last month to Khaliddudin’s census team, he said he was ready to select a surname and bestow it on his seven children. “Mohammad Akhtar,” he explained, was just his first name. For a surname he chose Naibkhil, the name of his tribe. |
| “I have thought about this second name and now I’m ready to choose it,” Mr. Naibkhil said. | “I have thought about this second name and now I’m ready to choose it,” Mr. Naibkhil said. |
| For his part, Khaliddudin, the census worker, said he would use a shortened version of his father’s name, Mayrojuddin, for his surname, though his father and his other relatives have picked out a different surname, Hanifi, after his grandfather. | For his part, Khaliddudin, the census worker, said he would use a shortened version of his father’s name, Mayrojuddin, for his surname, though his father and his other relatives have picked out a different surname, Hanifi, after his grandfather. |
| “My family is using Hanifi, but I will use Mayroj,” he explained, proud to be the only relative to take his father’s name. “I told my father that I would select his name as my surname, and while he didn’t say anything, I know he’s happy about this.” | “My family is using Hanifi, but I will use Mayroj,” he explained, proud to be the only relative to take his father’s name. “I told my father that I would select his name as my surname, and while he didn’t say anything, I know he’s happy about this.” |