Cover not available

Article published In: International Journal of Language and Culture
Vol. 8:2 (2021) ► pp.218–244

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

The functions of emotion-referencing names in Ibibio

 | University of Calabar | FRIAS | University of Freiburg
 | Virginia Commonwealth University
 | University of London
Published online: 20 September 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijolc.19009.men
Abstract
In certain societies including the Ibibio of Akwa Ibom State, South-Eastern Nigeria, naming is a distinctive system of communicative practice which is used to express emotion and construct the personhood and identity of the name-bearer. This article examines emotion-referencing names among the Ibibio and adopts an ethnographic approach to investigate the motivations for the name choice, their socio-onomastic significance and the extent of influence they have over their bearers’ ‘selves’. We find that emotion names are bestowed through a range of motivations such as being a reflection of familial problems, death-prevention, religiously inspired and namesaking. We conclude that regardless of these motivations or whether the name has a positive or negative VALENCE, for the Ibibio, emotion-referencing names appear to have a subtle psychological impact upon the name-bearers self-perception. Naming among the Ibibio, therefore, is not only a form of cultural identity but a prominent site to reflect on and interpret emotions.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Name, identity and psychology
  • 3.Methods and participants
  • 4.Data analysis and discussion
    • 4.1The Ibibio naming tradition
    • 4.2Emotion-referencing names
  • 5.Conclusions
  • References
References (66)
References
Aboh, R. (2018). Language and the construction of multiple identities in the Nigerian novel. Grahamstown. NISC (Pty) Limited. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Aceto, M. (2002). Ethnic personal names and multiple identities in Anglophone Caribbean speech communities in Latin America. Language in Society 31(4), 577–608. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Anchimbe, E. (2011). On not calling people by their names: Pragmatic undertones of sociocultural relationships in a postcolony. Journal of Pragmatics 431, 1472–1483. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Agyekum, K. (2006). The sociolinguistics of Akan names. Nordic Journal of African Studies 15(2), 206–235.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Allport, G. (1937). Personality: A psychological interpretation. New York: Henry Holt and Company.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ansa, S. & Okon, B. (2014). Names as index of social history: The Efik example. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences 4(28), 83–92.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Batoma, A. (2009). Onomastic and indirect communication among the Kabre of Northern Togo. Nordic Journal of African Studies 18(3), 215–234.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bassey, A., Ojua, A., Archibong, E., & Bassey, U. (2012). Gender and occupation in traditional African setting: A study of Ikot Effanga Mkpa community, Nigeria. American International Journal of Contemporary Research 2(3), 238–245.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Beck, A., Freeman, A. & Associates. (1990). Cognitive therapy of personality disorders New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brendl, M., Chattopadhyay, A., Pelham, B., & Carvallo, M. (2005). Name letter branding: Valence transfers when product specific needs are active. Journal of Consumer Research 321, 405–415. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bruning, J. (1972). The effect of connotative meaning on the learning of names. Journal of Social Psychology 861, 105–110. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Buchanan, B. & Bruning, J. (1971). Connotative meanings of first names and nicknames on three dimensions. Journal of Social Psychology 851, 143–144. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Clasberry, E. (2012). Culture of names in Africa: In search of cultural identity. Indiana: Xlibris.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Clyne, M. (1994). Inter-cultural communication at work: Cultural values in discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Connell, B. (1994). The Lower-Cross languages: A prolegomena to the classification of the Cross River languages. Journal of West African Languages 34(1), 3–46.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Creswell, D., Welch, W., Taylor, S., Sherman, D., Gruenewald, T., & Mann, T. (2005). Affirmation of personal values buffers neuroendocrine and psychological stress responses. Psychological Science 16(11), 846–851. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Denzin, N. & Lincoln, Y. (Eds.). (2003). Collecting and interpreting qualitative materials (2nd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dixon, R. (1964). On formal and contextual meaning. Acta Linguistica 141, 23–46.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ekanjume-Ilongo, B. (2014). The naming practice in Akoose: Deviation from cultural steoreotypes. International Journal of English Language and Translation Studies 2(2), 228–235.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Erikson, E. (1968). Identity, youth and crisis. New York: Norton.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Essien, O. (1986). Ibibio names: Their structure and their meaning. Ibadan: Daystar Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2000). What’s in a name? A linguistic and cultural explication of Ibibio personal names. In W. Ekkhard & O. Gensler. (Eds.), Proceedings of 2nd World Congress on African Linguistics (pp. 103–130). Koln: Rudiger Koppe.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Faraclas, N. (1989). The Cross-River languages. In J. Bendor-Samuel. (Ed.), The Niger- Congo languages (pp. 277–294). Lauhaum: University Press of America.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Findlay, J. (2018). Largest ethnic groups in Nigeria. World Atlas. [URL] Accessed July 17, 2019
Gawronski, B., Bodenhausen, A., & Becker, A. P. (2007). I like it because I like myself: Associative self-anchoring and post-decisional change of implicit attitudes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 431: 221–232. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gebauer, J., Riketta, M., Broemer, P., & Maio, G. (2008). How much do you like your name? An implicit measure of global self-esteem. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 441, 1346–1354. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Han, C. (2002). Interpreting interrogatives as rhetorical questions. Lingua 1121, 201–229. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Haviland, W., Prins, H., & McBride, B. (2013). Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge. Stanford: Cengage Learning.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Holland, R., Wennekers, A., Bijlstra, G., Jongenelen, M., & van Knippenberg, A. (2009). Self-symbols as implicit motivators. Social Cognition 271, 579–600. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
James, W. (1978). The varieties of religious experience. New York: Doubleday.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jones, J., Pelham, B., Carvallo, M., & Mirenberg, M. (2004). How do I love thee? Let me count the Js: Implicit egotism and interpersonal attraction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(5), 665–683. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kellogg, S. & Young, J. (2008). Cognitive therapy. In J. Lebow. (Ed.), Twenty-first century psychotherapies: contemporary approaches to theory and practice (pp. 43–79). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Koole, S., Dijksterhuis, A., & van Knippenbeg, A. (2001). What’s in a name: Implicit self- esteem and the automatic self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 80(4), 669–685. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kripke, S. (1980). Naming and necessity. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kuiper, J. & Askuri, A. (2017). Islamization and identity in Indonesia: The case of Arabic names in Java. Indonesia 1031, 25–49. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kuppens, P., Realo, A. & Diener, E. (2008). The role of positive and negative emotions in life satisfaction judgment across nations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 95(1), 66–75. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lambek, M. (2002). The weight of the past: Living with history in Mahajanga, Madagascar. New York: Palgrave-Macmillian. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lamidi, T. & Aboh, R. (2011). Naming as a strategy for identity construction in selected 21st. century Nigerian novel. The South-Asian Journal of English Language Studies 17(2), 35–47.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leuba, J. (1912). The development of emotion in religion. Harvard Theological Review 5(4), 524–543. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lyons, J. (1977). Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mamvura, Z. (2021). An ethnopragmatic analysis of death-prevention names in Karanga society of Zimbabwe. African Studies 80(1), 111–124. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McAndrew, F., King, J., & Honoroff, L. (2002). A sociological analysis of namesaking patterns in 322 American families. Journal of Applied Social Psychology 32(4), 851–864. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mensah, E. (2009). Efik naming system: Socio-cultural and grammatical insights. Nsukka Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 61, 1–17.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2015a). Frog, where are you? The ethnopragmatics of Ibibio death prevention names. Journal of African Cultural Studies 27(2), 115–132. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2015b). Personal names in language contact situations: A case of Cross River State, South-eastern Nigeria. Acta Academica 47(2), 102–138.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2020). Name this child: Religious identity and ideology in Tiv personal names. Names: A Journal of Onomastics 68(1), 1–15. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mensah, E. & Offong, I. (2013). The structure of Ibibio death prevention names. Anthropological Notebooks 19(3), 41–59.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mensah, E. & Rowan, K. (2019). African anthroponyms: Sociolinguistic currents and anthropological reflections. Sociolinguistic Studies 13(2–4), 157–170. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nuttin, J. (1985). Narcissism beyond gestalt and awareness: The name letter effect. European Journal of Social Psychology 151, 353–361. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nwala, T. (1980). Changing moral values and social development in Nigeria. In E. Amucheazi. (Ed.), Readings in social sciences, issues in national development (pp. 295–302). Enugu: Fourth DimensionGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Obeng, S. (1998). Akan death-prevention names: A pragmatic and structural analysis. Name 46(3), 163–187. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Park, C. (2007). Religiousness/spirituality and health: A meaning system perspective. Journal of Behavioural Medicine 301, 319–328. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pelham, B., Mirenberg, M., & Jones, J. (2002). Why Susie sells seashells by the seashore: Implicit egotism and major life decisions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 821, 469–487. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rossi, A. (1965). Naming children in middle-class families. American Sociological Review 30(4), 499–513. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schonberg, W., & Murphy, D. (1974). The relationship between the uniqueness of first names and personality. Journal of Social Psychology 93(1), 147–148. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Searle, J. (1958). Proper Names. Mind 671: 166–173. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sherman, D., Nelson, L., & Steele, C. (2000). Do messages about health risks threaten the self? Increasing the acceptance of threatening health messages via self-affirmation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 26(9), 1046–1058. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Steele, C. (1988). The psychology of self-affirmation: Sustaining the integrity of the self. In L. Berkowitz. (Ed.), Advances in experinmental psychology (pp. 261–302). New York: Academic Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ukpong, E. (2007). An inquiry into culture: Ibibio Names. Uyo: Dorand Publishers.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ullmann, S. (1962). Semantics: An introduction to the science of meaning. New York: Barnes and Noble.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vicary, A. (2011). Morality salience and namesaking: Does thinking about death make people want to name their children after themselves. Journal of Research in Personality 451, 138–141. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Williamson, K. (1989). Benue-Congo overview. In J. Bendor-Samuel. (Ed.), The Niger-Congo languages (pp. 3–45). Lauhaum: University Press of America.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ysseldyk, R., Matheson, K., & Anisman, H. (2010). Religiosity as identity: towards an understanding of religion from a social identity perspective. Personality and Social Psychology Review 14(1), 60–71. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zweigenhaft, R. (1981). Unusual names and uniqueness. Journal of Social Psychology. 1141, 297–298. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zweigenhaft, R., Hayes, K. & Haagen, H. (1980). The psychological impact of names. The Journal of Social Psychology 1101, 203–210. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (6)

Cited by six other publications

Mensah, Eyo
2025. Eco-cultural identity construction through personal naming practices: a socio-onomastic appraisal. Critical African Studies 17:2 ► pp. 207 ff. DOI logo
Mensah, Eyo & Kevin Egbo
2025. Shut up! you are not God: religious identity in commercial tricycle texts in Nigeria. Language and Semiotic Studies DOI logo
Mensah, Eyo, Ngozika Obi-Ani & Utomobong Nsebot
2025. War Is Fearful: The Recollection of War Memories Through Personal Naming Practices in Southeastern Nigeria. Genealogy 9:2 ► pp. 53 ff. DOI logo
Michael, Akumjika C. & Eyo O. Mensah
2025. Child of an outcast: cultural context of naming among the Nsirimo (Igbo) people in Nigeria. Cogent Arts & Humanities 12:1 DOI logo
Mensah, Eyo, Kirsty Rowan & Mfon Ekpe
2024. The Representation of People in the Ibibio Anthroponymic System: A Socio-Onomastic Investigation. Languages 9:6 ► pp. 188 ff. DOI logo
Uwen, God’sgift Ogban & Edadi Ilem Ukam
2024. This Is the Sacrifice: Language, Ideology and Religious Identity Performance in Erei Personal Names. Languages 9:10 ► pp. 326 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 12 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue