Igbo Personal Names, Meanings, and Influence of the Christian Religion: A Historical Analysis (1857 - 2020)

Résumé

This paper presents a discussion on the meanings of Igbo personal names, as well as the influence exacerbated as a consequence of the arrival of Christianity on the shores of Igbo land, starting from the historic 1857 when the foremost batch of English speaking missionaries from Europe arrived. It seeks to underpin the fact that all Igbo personal names convey meaningful meanings, which are often connected with specific family situations, dispositions, prayers, heart desires, fears, and concerns, among others. The indication is that every Igbo name is fully loaded with meanings. Among the people, giving or bearing of meaningless names to children and family members are nonexistent, but have the cultures of giving and bearing personal names which explain the hearty desires,’ wishes and prayers of the family of bearers. It is against this background therefore, that the arrival of Christianity in Igbo land seemed to create enormous negative impact on the Igbo attachment to their cultures of giving their children and wards culture based personal names, which were widely rejected as church baptismal names by the various missions. Made to believe that local names were idolatrous and pagan-rooted, Igbo families’ contact with Christianity dampened their resilience in baptizing their family members with those names, most especially as the ministering officials rejected their use as church baptismal names. For them, bearing of local Igbo names were synonymous with idol worship. It is therefore, the argument of this paper that the religious hegemony of the Christian religion adversely impacted the Igbo culture of adopting traditional names at church baptisms. However, with the arrival of the 21st century, the trends of adopting vernacular names seem to be trending again among Igbo families.