The religious and socio-cultural implication of African names: Igbo naming system as a paradigm

Abstract

Man is a religious being and whatever he does revolves around his religious belief because humans’ belief is that the spiritual controls the physical and the supernatural controls the natural. All over the world, name has been an important aspect of human life. Some people of the world give their children names without considering the implications of those names on their children. By implications we mean the effects of the names given; but this is not so with Africans. Africans in the past valued their culture and their worldview so much that they portray them through their names. In Africa, particularly in Igbo land, names given to children are sacred because they are given before the presence of both the living (man) and the dead (spirit) as witnesses. Name and naming ceremony in Igbo land especially in Anambra State of Nigeria is a very important issue that cannot be toyed with. These days, it has been observed that the present Igbo people in particular, and Africans in general have lost sight of the sacredness and values of their names as well as the implications of the type of names they give their children. To correct this error, this paper therefore, aspires to look into the different Igbo names as one of the African countries as well as their religious and socio- cultural implications. This will be beneficial to the present Africans, particularly the Igbo people in choosing the names they give their children, knowing that names given to a person can affect him or her negatively or positively.

Keywords: Religious, Socio-cultural, Implication and Paradigm