Death is the cause of my predicament: A cross-cultural study of death-related personal names in Nigeria

Abstract

This article explores the motivations, beliefs, and attitudes toward death-related names in some onomastic traditions in Nigeria: Ibibio, Igbo (south-east), and Owe (mid-west). The study is anchored theoretically on the ethnopragmatic framework which accounts for the locally interpretable meaning of discourse practices in terms of values and beliefs within particular cultural contexts. Drawing on ethnographic qualitative data sourced through participant observation and semi-structured interviews with 30 participants, I argue that death-related names are based on varied cultural scripts that communicate many nuances of meaning grounded in lived experiences of name-givers. The article concludes that death-related names have cultural semantics that are shared cross-linguistically: to acknowledge the inevitability and unpredictability of death; to admit the existence of superior forces that control the affairs of human beings and to question the temporality of life. These names, therefore, serve as consolatory sites for the expression of grief, tension, and the rebuilding of identity.