60 perceives the projected identity. Pfukwa (2007) says that the self has an image it perceives and seeks to project and this is the projected identity. The recipient or the public have their own perceptions, and this is what Joseph (2004) calls receptive processes in identity. The two processes in identity do inform this research to a greater extent in that through Zezuru personal names, one will be able to identify the name bearer on gender lines because most of the personal names are pregnant with gender connotations.
61 personal identities”. Parents choose names for their children being guided by social and cultural factors. Gender being one of the products of social constructions, will obviously influence the choice of names for both boys and girls. Sue and Telles (2007) in their study on assimilation and gender among the Hispanic parents who migrated to Los Angeles County in 1995 found out that gender plays a very significant role in the assimilation process especially during the naming of their children. The authors found out that Hispanic parents are to assimilate while maintaining a connection to their ethnic origins through names which they give to baby boys.
In addition, they found out attitudes favoring assimilation are particularly great when naming daughters when mothers usually give girls English names. From the research, it came out that Hispanic couples tend to give sons Spanish names, but they often give daughters English names without Spanish reference. These gender differences persist even among US-born Hispanics married to non-Hispanics were the father will give sons names with his ethnic connections.
From the research it came out that females assimilate faster than men. In their research, they found out that immigrant parents are more likely to give sons ethnic names, as Witkins and London (1994) in Sue and Telles (2007) found for Italians and Jews in 1910 and Lieberson (2000) showed for Mexicans and Asians in recent decades. The present research will be looking at how Zezuru personal names can reflect the gender status of their name bearers.
Another research carried out by Lieberson in 2000 established that gender differences give rise to different names altogether.Lieberson (2000:123) says, “Gender differences led to different names given to sons and daughters”. Lieberson argued that other factors which include fashion and premigration linguistic tastes come into play in influencing the differential treatment of sons’ names compared to daughters. The findings demonstrate how names can also be an indicator of gender dynamics that occur within families, both between mother and father and the gender of the child. Based on these findings tend to agree with Rossi 1965, Lieberson and Bell 1992, and Stahl (1992) in Sue and Telles (2007) that males are, more likely to be carriers of the family line, both in the symbolic sense of parents giving Spanish names to sons and in the tendency for fathers’ ethnicity to be more influential in naming both sons and daughters.
The role of gender in influencing the naming trends among the immigrants as was seen by Sue and Telles will give direction to the current study which looks at the gendered process of naming among the Zezuru.
Rothman (1989) says that gender theorists argue that men represent family continuity and tradition. Zulu (2001:328) says, “From patriarchal society’s point of view, being male and hero is part of the psychology of a patriarchal society”. Such a patriarchal psychology is expressed
62 by the male/female binary thought where victory is seen as the culmination of male activity, and defeat is considered an aspect of female passivity. Browner (1986) in Sue and Telles (2007) in a Mexican migrants’ case study found out that women often have less interest than men in maintaining their tradition as was evidenced by their high rate of assimilation. This was reflected by the desire for women to adopt new personal names found in the area in which they will have migrated to while for men usually they continue naming their male children names from their native countries. Research shows that migrant parents, especially fathers, opt for traditional names for boys. Rossi (1965) found that American middle-class parents more often choose kin names for boys. Rossi (ibid) argues that girls’ names usually symbolize their mothers’ contemporary social relations whereas boys’ names reflect tradition which is rooted in the past. Lieberson and Bell (1992) in their analysis of 1973 and 1985 New York birth records of White and Black newborns, also conclude that boys’ names represent tradition.
While these scholars seem to be too general as they look at tradition and personal naming, the present research will look at how personal names can reflect the gender status of the name bearer.
Makondo (2013:13) says that personal name usage and taste varies depending on the gender concerned. In a study which he carried out he found out that almost all given names have subtle or otherwise traces of this gender influence in its bid to capture its deep feelings and thoughts against the perceived Shona patriarchal dominance. This male dominance can also be seen in decision making of which naming a newborn is one of the incidents where fathers are the name givers. According to Makondo (2013:115) most popular Zezuru names are a result of a number of factors that influence the namer or namers before they come up with a name.When coming up with a name, the namer must communicate an important message through the meaning of the name. From his research, it came out that when coming up with most popular female names the namers were so creative so as to come up with meaningful and charming names as if it was a marketing strategy to enhance the marketability of the bearers of the names. With such a nature of names it the gender status of the bearers of the names can easily be identified.
There are works of Allen, Brown, Dickinson, and Pratt (1941) in Lawson (1988) who found out that most men usually opt for common names while on the other hand women prefer fashionable names. In addition, women tend to take up names which are very unique and nice sounding. Among the Zezuru, girls were not casually named, instead, the namers among other things had to make sure that they coined meaningful and charming names. Not all girls received these charming names. Peter (2010) says, “Names convey various cultural attributes which
63 characterize females in different ways. Some attributes displayed by a name point to the current sexual roles.” This research benefited from Peter’s idea that a name given to an individual can be a pointer to the sexual roles the name bearer will have in society. If a personal name can have the capacity to determine the sexual roles of an individual it automatically means that personal names have the potential of reflecting one’s gender. Merleau-Ponty (1962) says that through the personal name one is identified. He goes to add that for one to be recognized as a person or to be a member of a community, it is necessary that the person be named, and therefore identified. The idea of giving name can also allow one the freedom of personhood through association with other members of the community who will identify you with your name.
Makondo (2013:115) gives what he calls the top five most popular personal female names.
These names are Chipo (Gift), Tendai (Be thankful), Tsitsi (Mercy), Chiedza (Light) and Vimbai (Trust). It emerges from the study that the name Chipo is a shortened version of the name Chipochangu (My Gift), Chipochedu (Our Gift), Chipochedenga (Heaven’s Gift), ChipochaMwari (Gift from God), Chipochatapiwa (The gift we have been given).All the extensions of the name Chipo (Gift) are given to a child who is usually born with a certain deformity hence the namer will be declaring that despite the deformity the child might have, the namer is going to accept the child. In the Shona culture, children are regarded as a gift from God. Failure to bear children on the other hand is regarded as a curse from God. Makondo (2013) added that these names draw from the Christian exposure afforded to Africans by the missionaries. Makondo’s views definitely informed the current study, especially his idea that girls were given gloomy-laden names because normally girls among the Zezuru do receive names which sort of advertise them as if they are goods on the market. While Makondo just looked at the meanings of the personal names which are popular among girls, this study will want to find out why certain names are said to be gender specific and will go on to look at the gender connotations which are found in both male and female personal names given to various people among the Zezuru people.
In his study of male and female names in Zulu, Koopman (2007) came up with names specifically for males and females respectively. He looked at the differences between male and female names by examining the derivational sources of these names. He also looked at the linguistic structures of both male and female names and he concluded that male and female names are inflected differently. Koopman (2007) states that “male names are unrestricted in their choice of the lexicon whereas female names are for the vast majority based on words that
64 already indicate the feminine in their meaning.” In other words, from Koopman’s point of view male names were derived from nouns that are either masculine or neutral. Female’s names on the other hand are derived from nouns that are feminine. He goes on to talk about names derived from nouns that are in turn derived from verbs and he said this is only possible for male names only. From his research he concluded that one of the things to be noticed about female Zulu names is that they are restricted in their distribution and that several structures which land themselves easily to the derivation of male names are not permitted at all in the derivation of female names. Koopman’s the linguistic analysis of Zulu names will also inform this study in that all Shona names are also derived from nouns and some form verbs respectively. The only notable difference from Zulu names is that the linguistic structure of both male and female Shona names is basically the same. There are no inflections found on the names which are for a specific gender group as is found among the Zulu. Koopman’s study was done on Zulu names but the present study will be on Zezuru personal names and it will not be looking at the structure of Zezuru names but the meanings of these names as they reflect the gender status of their name bearers.