Elimination by substitution: the travesty of changing cultural names to biblical names by pentecostals in southwestern Nigeria

Abstract

One of the reasons put forward by Yoruba Pentecostals who engage in the phenomenon of changing cultural names to biblical names is the evil connotation which the meanings of such names exude. This might have been informed by the Yoruba belief that a person’s name exerts great influence on the attitudinal and behavioural life-pattern of the person, coupled with what the person becomes in life. However, looking at the meanings of some of the biblical names that the protesting Pentecostals eventually take up, one wonders whether there is any need for such action, when the biblical names to which they change also have negative meanings themselves. This paper raises the question whether the attitude of the Yoruba Pentecostals engaged in name-changing is desirable, or can it be described as a travesty? The paper makes use of literature review on names among the Yoruba and the Hebrew, and unstructured interview with some Pentecostals who have changed their Yoruba cultural names to biblical names. The results are subjected to content analysis and critical evaluation. The study found that many of the biblical names adopted in place of the cultural names also have negative connotations, but the Pentecostals prefer the latter, first because they do not even consider their meanings, and secondly because they often focus on the character and the significant roles those biblical personages played in the biblical narratives. The paper concluded that the action of the Pentecostals could best be described as a travesty of name changing which does not worth its sort.

Keywords: Cultural Name, Biblical Name, Name Changing, Pentecostals, Southwestern Nigeria