A diachronic analysis of the socio-semantic features of Igbo personal names

This paper examines Igbo personal names from the perspectives of anthropological linguistics, socio-semantics, pragmatics and diachrony. It traces the evolution of name-giving within three major eras, pre-Christian (before the 1850s), early-Christian (from 1857--1960s) and Pentecostal (1960s to date) among the Igbo. The data for the study are 300 personal names sourced through interviews with both old and young members of the Igbuzo-Igbo community as well as from class registers of some nursery, primary and secondary schools in Port Harcourt. This paper reveals three interesting and important findings. First, indigenous Igbo names are culturally, semantically and pragmatically significant. Second, the principles and practice of name-giving have undergone some drastic changes through the eras. During the early-Christian and Pentecostal eras, the forces of Christianity, modernization and globalization have resulted in new names that reflect these changes. Third, indigenous names which belong to the core vocabulary of the language are seriously endangered. The paper concludes that if the indigenous names that are replete with meaning, and portray the values, identity and the beauty of the Igbo culture are allowed to die through lack of intergenerational transmission, then this aspect of the language and culture will also die.