Names and Culture

Names and Culture
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Names are very important for identification and they are greatly influenced by people’s values. People’s values are understood as their culture, which is different in different parts of the world. Some cultures are very dynamic while others are more resistant to change. For instance naming among the Islamic communities is relatively static as fewer Muslims adopt Christian or westernized names. On the contrary, Christian communities welcome western names and easily diverge from naming their children after saints and Christian characters in the bible. This paper explores the identity function of names, how names depict cultural factors and the changing naming systems triggered by cultural shifts.
Names give one a personal identity as well as an identity with a particular social group. On a personal level, names convey messages of gender, which is determined by the sex of the individual. It is also common to name children after relatives to identify one with a particular family tree. For instance among some African cultures, a husband names his first child after his mother or father while the wife names the second child after either of her parents (Ngade, 2011).
Parents give their children names for reasons such as identifying a child with a particular personality, portraying the social class, portraying ethnicity, portraying the aspirations of the parent, portraying beauty, portraying cultural inheritance among other personal identifiers. Parents believe that the names evoke meaning and form a child’s identity. It is a way of distinguishing one person from another, associating the child with certain desirable aspects of life and influencing how a person acts, feels and thinks about self (Elchardus & Siongers, 2010).
Naming also indicates belonging to a particular group. In Asia, people adopt Western names or names that identify them as Christians when they convert to Christianity. For instance, when Ni Shuzu converted to Christianity, he changed his name to Watchman Nee (Yangwen & Macdonald, 2012). This change symbolized his new found commitment to keep watch over sinful people and inform them about the coming rapture and the return of Jesus Christ. Other Chinese adopt names of saints when they convert to Catholicism to give an indication of their identity as Christians. Others adopt names that show solidarity in opposing certain political entities. For instance, to reflect anti-Chinese attitudes, Thailand and Indonesians use non-Chinese names (Yangwen & Macdonald, 2012).
Names are a very important element to the individuals in society and they identify one’s culture. Different cultures have different ways of naming. Some cultures have a high sense of ancestry, which influences them to name their children according to family tree. Other cultures derive their names of events surrounding the pregnancy and birth of the child. Other cultures derive their names from ethnic spiritual rituals such as magic. Many people retain the names given at birth while others acquire additional names through their lifespan. Some cultures bestow additional names when celebrating important milestones such as initiation into adulthood, or when they desire to keep off evil spirits (Hoerr, 1951).
Different cultures adopt names that reflect their values. For instance, in the United States, many parents name their children after celebrities, popular songs, ancestors, friends and even after figures cited in their religious beliefs. In China among the Cantonese speakers, parents name their children based on emotions, what they hope their children will achieve and according to their family traditions. In Tibet, parents name their children in accordance to family traditions and it is also very common for Buddhist priests...