I had a look a thread earlier regarding names and ethnic identity. A couple of posters mentioned that that they feel it’s important to name a child according to your ethnic background so that they maintain their identity. I’ve heard people say this in real life as well.
I quite disagree with this though as ethnic identity and culture go far beyond name and encompasses a variety of things, such as language, history, cuisine and the like. In addition to that, having an ethnic name does not guarantee that you will not be confused for something else. Even in the event that one is confused for another ethnicity/religion, one does not become, say Norwegian, simply because one is confused for Norwegian.
What do you think? Do you think it’s important to name children according to your ethnic background? Do think not doing so has any effect on identity?
The real question under current situation is : Do majority of people know their ethnic roots themselves to distinguish it from other culture and ethnicities?
Just ask people to name local heroes and they will be silent. Google will not help them either :D
Quite agree. There is also a flipside to this though. In our community, some people seem to go out of their way to distinguish themselves from other cultures and ethnicities to the point of it being excessive, especially in regard to names.
Exhibit A: My husband’s parents
**I must say though, my parents come in at a close second with that. lol
The society is going through many complexes and having those complexes sometimes lead to total denial of roots as it will cause someones’ claim of superior ancestry flawed.
I’ve come across that as well. I’ve met people who knowingly misrepresent their ethnic background and claim to be something else despite have no knowledge (or apparent interest even) in the culture they claim to be. I find it rather unfortunate. We all have some sort of history and should try to understand it rather than deny it.
In my husband’s parents case, it’s nothing of that sort though. I just find it rather unusual (and bordering on the excessive) the manner in which they went about naming him and his siblings.
For example: My Husband
Yousuf (first name)-(distinctly Pashto name) (Tribe name as a middle name) (Surname)
They have a distinctly Pashtun surname, so I doubt anyone would be confusing them for something else. My parents did something similar with my brother and I, albeit with a bit more restraint though. We have both have two names, one Dari and one in Pashto as a middle name. I mean, identity is important but it just seems a bit excessive.
I think you may have a distinction of your identity, which can be recognised in the ethnicity / race you belong. In most of the cases, other people can't recognize where a particular caste / surname belongs. Moreover, many castes / surnames are based in different regions and one can not easily recognise a person's identity belonging to such castes, etc.
Like there are Baloch tribes, who live in Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan. A person with Leghari caste can't be recognised whether he belongs to Sindh, Punjab or Balochistan. Same is case with Jatoi, Chandia, Jamali, Mangi, Magsi tribes.
To add further, most of the Punjabi Jaats have similar surnames irrespective of the religion. In Mustansar Hussain TaraR's words, caste/ biradri was more powerful identity than religion in pre-partition Punjab.
It's not personally important to me.. My name is Persian but my family doesn't claim Persian roots at all or anything like that.. My mum just liked it..
Quite a few people in my family have Hindu names even though none are Hindus and some have Western/Christian names as well (those don't tend to be their 'formal' names though).. It can make identifying people easier sometimes and help preserve culture so I guess if that's important to you then yeah, it makes sense.. If you're living in a bit of a melting pot and you're not that bothered then it won't hold much importance obviously..
I had a look a thread earlier regarding names and ethnic identity. A couple of posters mentioned that that they feel it's important to name a child according to your ethnic background so that they maintain their identity. I've heard people say this in real life as well.
I quite disagree with this though as ethnic identity and culture go far beyond name and encompasses a variety of things, such as language, history, cuisine and the like. In addition to that,** having an ethnic name does not guarantee that you will not be confused for something else**. Even in the event that one is confused for another ethnicity/religion, one does not become, say Norwegian, simply because one is confused for Norwegian.
What do you think? Do you think it's important to name children according to your ethnic background? Do think not doing so has any effect on identity?
As long as oneself isn't confused about its own identity and the background behind his/her name, it doesn't really matter what others confuse you with. In life you will always be confused with something you are not.
To answer your question, I believe in giving children name he/she can easily identify with. I definitely won't be giving my children any random exotic sounding Eastern European orthodox Jewish names just because it sounds 'unique' or has a good meaning. Nor I'd be naming my child as Apple, Orange or North West. I believe and respect history and heritage, but not in Third Reich inspired ethnic purity.
“ There was a time, when listening to name of a person was enough to know whether the person was Sindhi, Muhajir or Punjabi. Sindhi names Peeral, Bakhshal, KoRo Khan, KiruRu, Yaar Muhamamd, Muhammad Ibrahim, Ghulam Muhammad, Ahmed Khan, Pariyal Shah, Allah Bachayao, Allah Rakhiyo, Ghulam Nabi, Ghulam Hussain, Soonhari Khan… not only the names were simple, but they got a local character as well. We (Sindhis) didn’t name our children with big names like Nabi, Hussain or Muhammad Ahmed, but Ghulam Nabi, Ghulam Hussain, Ghulam Muhammad or Ahmed Bukhsh, Ghulam Ali like names represent our obedience and loyalty. When Muhajir came, we herad names like Ahmed Mujtaba, Ali Abbas, Abbas Haider, Hasnain, Sibtain, Fatima Zehra and big names like these, which used to make us shiver and made us think how come we call a common person as Ahmed Mujtaba, because for common Sindhi it was equal to disrespect. Some people in urban areas and Pirs and Syeds used to name their children like this and common men had impression that elites had their own ways (wadde log waddi galan). Other than this, children of common people were slaves of nabi (Ghulam Nabi), For granted by Ali (Ali Bukhs), Saved by Allah (Allah Bachayo) and these names suited them. But when two cultures mingle, then exchange of many customs is bound to happen. Its also a fact that if culture of rural areas is strong and deep rooted then urban areas culture has power to spread like epidemic disease.”
^ Allah Bux, Allah Raha, Allah Bachaya I have heard in Punjab too (in the past and rural areas)....
Allah Bachaya is Allah Bachayo in Sindhi and Allah Rakha was Allah Rakhiyo. So, there were ways to identify ethnicity inspite of common names in certain cases.
