Abstract
In a multilingual and multicultural country like South Africa names, particularly among black South Africans, personal names play a very important role. The discipline concerned with names and systems of names is called onomastics. The term is derived from the Greek word onoma that means “name”. There are various categories in the onomastics field of study, with anthroponymy (personal names) and toponymy (place names) being the most important. The total population of South Africa is around 58 million, with Xhosa speakers numbering between seven and eight million, making it the second biggest ethnic group.
The purpose with this contribution is to analyse the role of name-giving and the names themselves among the amaXhosa, as they are also known. Because personal names and occasionally also last or surnames are derived from the Xhosa lexicon, the names are often semantically transparent. Because of this transparency name-giving is considered as an extremely important cultural aspect. Name-givers therefore tend to choose names that have a positive meaning. As the name carriers grow up, they become aware of the positive qualities their names represent, and strive towards fulfilling those qualities. In this context the names are often intimately and strongly linked to the concept of identity, and this will also be investigated.
The database represents various categories that will be abstracted to serve as illustrations to be discussed. In many cases name-givers, given the specific circumstances around the birth of a child, can be extremely creative. Some of the names were collected in a project at the University of the Western Cape by way of a questionnaire. Besides the university campus questionnaire, many other printed sources in the Western Cape, like books, dissertations, articles and newspapers were also consulted, as well as printed sources from the Eastern Cape, which forms a strong base of the Xhosa community.
The basic approach in this contribution is socio-onomastic, in other words, the analysis and interpretation of names as they appear in the Xhosa community. The rise of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKSs) has become popular over the last 25 years, and it is clear that Xhosa onomastics, notably the anthroponymy feature, is an important part of the IKS. A common viewpoint nowadays is that IKS exists in a post-millennium modernising Africa. Name-giving traditions among the amaXhosa can be considered as a part of IKS, notably because of the strong link between the personal name and identity. That sets the amaXhosa apart from other non-black ethnic groups. It is likely that IKS would apply to all ethnic groups where semantic transparency exists in personal names and hence remains a strong cultural feature.
Keywords: identity; IKS; name categories; name-givers and name carriers; name-giving; onomastics; Xhosa speakers
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