Deciphering Nigerian Naming Culture and Identity through their Presidents’ Names: A Sociolinguistic Study
Deciphering Nigerian Naming Culture and Identity through their Presidents’ Names: A Sociolinguistic Study

Summary/Abstract: This study explores the interplay of religion, culture, and historical identity in the naming patterns of Nigerian past and present rulers. The study adopts socio-onomastics as the theoretical framework which considers names as linguistic markers of identity shaped by social structures. Qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis are adopted to analyse the names of 15 Nigerian leaders comprising of 1 Prime Minister, 9 Presidents and 5 military heads of State across different geopolitical zones through historical and linguistic sources. The qualitative aspect unveils the origin and the contextual meanings of the names. It is discovered that religion significantly influence name choice, as observed in Arabic and Hebrew influences among Muslim and Christian leaders, respectively. Culture also plays a crucial role, particularly among the Yoruba, who bear praise names and deity-related names. Northern naming conventions are often derived from toponyms. Additionally, intercultural interplay is seen in names that combine Arabic, English, and indigenous influences. The quantitative analysis presents the statistical distribution of the names following Adeniyi (2017) classification of names. Thus, given/birth name has the highest percentage (33.33%); followed by God worshiped/deities name which holds 23.53%. Royalty/nobility has 15.7% while place name owns 9.80%. Animal oriented names, plant names and hydronyms attract the same percentage of 3.92% each. Destiny/situational names, infantile mortality names and personal praise names take the least frequency of 1.96% with just a single token in each. This study concludes that Nigerian names are complex identity markers that enshrine religion, ethnicity, history and culture.

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