CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND ONOMASTICS THEORY 2.1 Onomastics: What’s in a name?
2.5 Gender in names
The term “gender” when applied to human beings has been given various definitions by different scholars and researchers alike. The common idea is that while sex is biologically determined, gender is a socially and culturally constructed phenomenon. There is, however a strong relationship between gender and sexuality. While Harding (1986) cited in Berge and Ve (2000:19) distinguished between three interrelated forms of gender, i.e. ‘gender structure’,
‘gender symbolism’ and ‘individual gender’, Johnson (1995) states that:
Although gender is a word with a long history of diverse usages, its sociological meaning refers to cultural ideas that construct images and expectations of females and males.... Gender is usually defined around ideas about male and female personality traits and behavioral tendencies that take the form of opposites.
24 Function and responsibility in various societies have in many instances been defined
according to gender and sexuality. In order for the society to be functional, various
responsibilities have been accorded to people according to their gender. There are those roles that were and still are regarded as being feminine, for example cooking, cleaning, etc. and those that were and in some instances still are ascribed as being masculine, for example making decisions for the household. The scope of this study does not, however, allow me to address issues of gender inequality in South Africa or Africa as such. In African thought, it is acceptable that men and women were made to be different in order to assist and complement each other.
Gender roles had an influence in the naming systems of South African people. In South Africa like in many other countries, roles of various people were and in some cases still are defined according to biological composition. Manicom (2001:134) is of the opinion that:
Biology is a western construction for organising the social world and gender is based on an ideology of biological determinism.
This cultural logic is actually a ‘bio-logic’. She asserts that social categories like ‘woman’ are based on body-type and are elaborated in relation to and in opposition to another category:
man, based on the presence or absence of certain organs, which determines social position.
Therefore, biological determinism, or body-reasoning as she terms it, is inherent in western thought.
By virtue of most societies in South Africa being patriarchal societies, naming was the
responsibility of men. In some cases, women were involved in the naming of the children, but their involvement was minimal when compared to that of men. Naming a child was
considered a great responsibility as the name giver did not just give a label that would be used to distinguish one child from another, but was shaping and moulding the identity of the newborn child with that of the community where the child was born.
By virtue of most societies in South Africa being patriarchal societies, naming was the
responsibility of men. In some cases, women were involved in the naming of the children, but their involvement was minimal when compared to that of men. Naming a child was
considered a great responsibility as the name giver did not just give a label that would be
25 used to distinguish one child from another, but was shaping and molding the identity of the newborn child with that of the community where the child was born.
Traditionally, men, like women, were assigned some responsibility in the homestead.
They had the final word in the naming of the child, except among the Northern Sotho and the Venda where women were given the responsibility to name the child. Women’s passiveness in the naming of children was witnessed among the Zulu, the Xhosa and the Tsonga people to mention a few. The name giver was usually someone who was aware of various factors or conditions prevailing in the community or within the family in order to name the child appropriately. In traditional societies, most places were named by men, as men were the ones who were travelers and needed to identify the places they were travelling to. Nevertheless, there are some entities that were named by women.
Names, surnames and clan names have a gender element to them and that is because of the people that used them or how they are built or put together. Names are given to certain genders but others are unisex. In reference to amaXhosa in the olden days they used ‘No-’ to differentiate between a boy’s and a girl’s name, for example Nosiseko (female) and Siseko (male) and this is still evident in some societies. In African communities unisex names are given because they are thankful to God and the ancestors no matter the gender of the child.
An example of this is my name, Sithembele (meaning trust) which is usually given to boys but since my parents wanted another boy they already had that name. They also wanted to link my name to my brother’s name whose name is Sithembiso (meaning wish), which is why it is also said amaXhosa do not name their children without justification. Unisex names are a new trend in the African society.
The reason certain names are given to a certain gender is because of how our societies are structured. The African society is one that is very strong in culture and every gender is expected to do certain things, that is why you would find that personal names of boys normally are expectations of what they should do as men, for example Vusumzi (build the home), Ntsikayomzi (Pillar of the home), Luxolo (peace). This is because in the African culture men are seen to be the protectors of the household, where they instruct peace, build their homes, following in the footsteps of their fathers.
26 This kind of mentality has changed in the new democracy, but not totally because woman have now been the strengths of their home doing what men are ‘supposedly’ to do. Therefore giving certain names to a certain gender does not mean that the person will follow the
meaning of that name. Names should be unisex and children should be named not because of capabilities of a certain gender. However, because of the history of names and the number of people that have names of a certain gender, this cannot change completely, but only by parents naming their children with names of the other gender (boy’s name given to a girl and vice versa).
With surnames and clan names they are not specifically given to a certain gender because you do not choose these names yourself - you inherit them from your family. The only gender elements found in these names is that these names are said to be names of forefathers, with few or no feministic element found in them. This is then why I can say giving personal names according to gender helps to distinguish if the person is a boy or girl in most cases when you look at their names.