One of the most daunting things about parenting, perhaps, is knowing that one’s child will carry with them everything one bequeaths: trauma, baggage, confidence, love.
Few things will carry forward quite as determinedly as their name. Perhaps for this reason, cultures around the world, and backwards through time, have framed rituals and superstitions around how an infant’s name is chosen.
Among the Lapps of Northern Scandinavia, a pregnant woman nearing her delivery date waited to see a deceased ancestor in a dream. The ancestor would tell her which long-gone relative was being reborn as her child. That relative’s name would then be given to the child.
If the woman had no such dream, it fell to the father or extended family to determine the name by divination or by consulting a shaman.
Among the Arunta of Central Australia, a person’s real name was traditionally kept secret, known only to a few. Considered sacred, it was used only on solemn occasions, and even then in a whisper.
The Akamba people of West Africa wait three days after a birth, to ensure the child is healthy and will survive. They then slaughter a goat, to give thanks, and a name is chosen.
Many cultures wait a few days between the birth and the naming ritual.
In Malaysia that number is seven, and the naming occurs in a small ceremony held in the parent’s home. The men of the family carry the infant into the front room, where the eldest and most respected relative carefully snips a few strands of the baby’s hair. Rice paste and rose water are dabbed on the child’s forehead and a name is selected. The women continue the hair-cutting in an inner room. Finally, the baby’s mother sweetens the infant’s tongue with tiny portions of betelnut juice, honey and salt, to enable the child to “speak eloquently and with wit before princes”.
In Hindu tradition, the naming ceremony typically occurs between the 12th and 28th day after birth.
In China, the ceremony is called a Red Egg and Ginger party and is held one month in. At a ceremonial feast, eggs dyed red play a key role, representing fertility and good luck. Pickled ginger is offered to the mother to help her regain her strength.
After a feast, the baby’s head is shaved and gifts are presented. A name is then chosen by an elder. The Chinese believe one’s name influences one’s destiny, and so “auspicious” or rare characters are often included. By many estimates, about half of China’s 1.3 billion people have at least one rare character in their name. Mandarin, rather paradoxically, has a total of 17,000 rare characters for parents to choose from.
As one can imagine, it is not easy later working those characters into government forms or trying to type them out online. In fact, this has presented such a problem that the Chinese government, over time, has drawn up lists of “rare” characters that parents may ideally choose from, so that their child will not later struggle to open a bank account or buy a flight ticket!
(Adam Jacot de Boinod is the author of The Meaning of Tingo and Other Extraordinary Words from Around the World)
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