Whether a personal name is supposed to have semantic content and reflect real world knowledge or not has been an issue of contention. While Akinnaso (1980) argued that
European personal names have no semantic content, he showed that sociocultural information is encoded in those of Africans. The personal naming practices of the Yoruba, a tribe in southwestern of Nigeria, “represent what one experiences, values, thinks, and knows in the real world” (p.277) in addition to its more obvious function, which is the differentiation of
individuals. Among the Yoruba people, the construction of a personal name is based on lexical, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic rules of their language (Akinnaso, 1980).
Ajewole = Aje wo ile (money enter house)
“Riches have been bestowed on this house.”
Fagbamila = Ifa gba mi la (Ifa rescue me)
“Ifa (God of Divination) helped me through.”
Deyemi = Ode ye mi (hunting befits me)
“Hunting is a befitting profession for me.”
(Akinnaso, 1980, p.281) Yoruba personal names are therefore meaningful and reflective of the Yoruba
conceptual and sociocultural reality. More importantly, Akinnaso showed that the social or circumstantial context of Yoruba personal names is constrained by the home context (HC) principle. There are three rules derived from the HC principle. Here, I briefly discuss two of the rules. First, a personal name is derived from one or more domestic events that satisfy the HC requirement. Here, the term “domestic event” refers to any events, activity, or
information, including family traditions and sentiments. They are considered culturally and significant by the family into which the baby is born. Second, all negatively valued HC are raised to positively valued statues for the purpose of personal name construction (Akinnaso (1980). This rule illustrates that only socially valued information could contribute to the construction of Yoruba personal names. In general, the study showed that sociocultural principles serve as an important factor in the construction of Yoruba personal names.
2.2.2 Susan (1994)
Furthermore, it is observed that Zulu names traditionally appeared to have an important sociolinguistic function in acknowledging the social relations among family members and inter-related family groups (Susan, 1994). The naming practice of South African Zulus normally involves individuals or circumstances relevant to child’s birth. A boy may be called Unyokana (“a little snake”) if a small snake happens to be seen or killed at the same time as he was born. In Zulu, some name givers may give children name that stem from the social fabric of their lives (Susan, 1994). For example, a father might name his son uMandlakhe (“his power”) to refer to his power to have a son or uAmazingazen gugumbane (“porcupine quills”) because the family had enough children and did not want more. Zulu names can also reflect one’s social and economic position in life. For example, a boy was named uNdumiseni (“progress”) because his father was the first one to receive an education and become a teacher.
However, a mother may name her boy uSwelabatsheli (“no one to tell them”) because she had to raise him alone after her husband had abandoned them. In this way, a family’s circumstance can be a source of information to Zulu names.
2.2.3 Exner and Bear (2007)
As Nuessel (1992) defined, a name is a noun phrase that has denotative meaning but no connotative meaning. Nevertheless, traditional North American Indian names can both
denote (identify) and connote (describe) an individual. As shown in Exner & Bear (2007), the traditional form of North American Indian names can tell an autobiographical story because individuals can change names throughout life. In addition to sketching the life story of a person, traditional North American Indian names also identify clan membership. Moreover, North American Indians may have more than one name at the same time, and different names
often carry different social expectations. For instance, Exner & Bear (2007) pointed out that when making an extraordinary social request, people’s tribal names were used because their names both honored people and carried important duties. In general, North American Indian names have three forms: the traditional form, the European form, and a mixture the two because of colonization. Understanding the rules of personal name use requires knowledge of each tribal culture since distinct North American Indian societies have determined their own restriction on the use of personal names.
2.2.4 Adams (2008)
Adams (2008) also indicated the change of names into exotic forms by immigrants represents the cultural assimilation and thus names have social meaning. He investigated French names with Anglicized forms on the headstones in Middlebury and Vermont and pointed there are variations among French Canadian names. Some French names such as Quimette, Trudeau, and Marseilles written with Anglicized forms like Quellette, Troudo / Trudo, and Marcel are names with the French characteristics. Other names are full
Anglicized forms without showing French characteristics; for instance, from the headstone of a French man, Francois Guy, he was buried with the name Francisse Gee. Some other names are shown as original French forms without transformation. The variations of these names represent different identities. Anglicized forms with the French characteristics show that name bearer’s intentions to be an American-origin but also tries to differentiate himself with the French characteristics. On the other hand, names with full French forms indicate name bearer’s attitude to retain his original identity (Adams, 2008). Thus, the assimilation of names to the dominant group serve as an important social factor that affect immigrants’ decisions to change or retain French-Canadian names.
2.2.5 Al-Zumor (2009)
Al-Zumor (2009) conducted a preliminary investigation in the anthroponymic system of the Yemeni community by analyzing female personal names. The study’s classification of names into various categories strongly supports the hypothesis that name choice in Yemen is based on social and cultural considerations. For instance, Saadah and adjacent cities in Yemen are known as business districts, so names such as Tomateek, Canadah (“types of guns”) or Qunbulah (“grenade”) were observed (Al-Zumor, 2009). Specifically, Yemeni name givers are influenced by local and external factors while giving names. For example, weather names, agricultural names, and circumstantial names reflect the (local) agricultural environment in Saadah and its neighboring areas (i.e., Shatwah refers to the winter season).
On the other hand, external factors influence the names of continents, countries, and cities, foreign names, and brand and innovation names. For instance, names of cities or countries that elicit positive feelings for the name giver may be inspiration for baby names. A baby might be named Barees because the name carries the attribute of beauty, like the city of Paris.
In general, names contain information about people’s identities and their social and cultural systems. However, Al-Zumor (2009) warned that traditional naming patterns are at risk because of the villages’ increased exposure to the outside world. Unfortunately, change cannot be avoided, as a new way of name giving is taking up this trend under the pressure of modern technology, the internet, mass media, and globalization.
2.2.6 Kenji (2015)
Kenji (2015) indicated the connection between Japanese young adults’ use of names and family relationships and children’s mental health. In Japanese society, children use kinship terms which show respect and intimacy to their parents, especially father, while they use
non-kinship terms (e.g., first name) to signal disrespect to their families. The meaning of names could be varied depending on the speakers and the addresses in Japanese families. For instance, the kinship term Oyaji “dad” used by daughters and sons results in different
attitudes. It is considered to be a respectful term when it’s used by sons. Also, the address forms for father and mother reflect children’s different perceived paternal and maternal care.
For instance, the address forms used by young Japanese adults for mother reflect their current feelings of the relations between them and their mothers instead of showing their emotional bond with their mothers. On the other hand, the disrespectful address forms used by young adults show their interpersonal feelings of acceptance, rejection, and depressive symptoms (Kenji, 2015). Since Asian societies are usually a patrilineal (in which father is the power center of the family) children are asked to respect their fathers and develop the respectful relations between their fathers. Thus, the use of disrespectful address forms to fathers, which show negative interpersonal attitudes, could be used to predict young adults’ mental health.