As mentioned, totem class names, patrilineal totems, and conception totems may all be used to refer to or address an individual. Some aboriginal people when given English names took the totem class name as a surname eg. Alec Eagles.

There is little information about personal names among Mantharta language speakers because of a general ban on people uttering their names. Personal names are almost never used to refer to, or address individuals. People may be named after their conception site and those place names used as personal names. People may also be named after the country they inherit rights to, both through their mother and father.

The Mantharta group and western neighbours shared a common system of kinship nomenclature that is a system of names. The kinship system is a variation of the Aranda type; it excludes marriage to a cross-cousin ( mother’s brother’s child, or father’s sister’s child) and preferred marriage is for a man to marry the child of his mother’s cross-cousin, that is his mother’s mother’s brother’s daughter’s daughter or his mother’s father’s sister’s daughter’s daughter. Such women are termed yakanma. Within this system there are four lines of patrilineal descent:

1. Ego’s patriline - including "papu" father and "mayili" father’s father.
   


2. Ego’s mother’s patriline — including "pipi"- mother and "thami" — mother’s father.
   


3. Ego’s father’s mother’s patriline — including "ngapari" — father’s mother, and ego’s sister’s children.
   


4. Ego’s mother’s mother’s patriline — including "Kantharri" — mother’s mother, and "nganyi"- mother-in-law.
   

Marriage was arranged at an early age for boys and girls. In Warriyangka, one of the Mantharta group, (Austin, 1997) notes that both mother and father are involved in the process of promising a girl to her future spouse.