Do you often forget names in your target language? Do you sometimes struggle to identify names within a text or distinguish the names of characters in a TV show? Do you ever feel embarrassed because you can speak a language fairly well but you have to ask a native speaker for their name several times before you can pronounce it or identify it?
One of my particular interests within the field of linguistics is onomastics, the study of names. Primarily, the names of people or places. Onomastics can cover a wide range of topics, from the use of place names to determine the origins of historic settlements, or the study of how modern surnames indicate societal change. However, I feel that onomastics is an area of study largely overlooked within foreign language education. In my opinion, the study of personal names (or anthroponyms) in particular, is an area of language learning that would greatly benefit the student if granted more attention.
That is to say, when you reach an advanced level in a language, you will have learned vocabulary for talking about complex topics like literature, art, science and the economy, but you may never have learned the most 10 common given names in countries where the language is spoken. I think that should change.
Why do you need a knowledge of names in your target language?
Names are extremely important to people.
A person’s given name in particular, is a highly valued unit of language. As Dale Carnegie, author of How to Win Friends and Influence People eloquently describes:
“Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”
(Carnegie 1981: 113)
However, we all know that when we are presented with a name we are not familiar with, it takes more effort to remember and more difficulty to pronounce. Not recognising or being familiar with someone’s name, and consequentially, forgetting or mispronouncing said name, is certainly not a good way to ingratiate yourself to someone. A grammar mistake can be forgiven, mistaking one word for another is acceptable, an issue with pronunciation is expected, but misusing someone’s name is personal. Most people will correct you if you mispronounce it, and will be a little offended if you forget it. In some senses, given names are some of the most important vocabulary you will learn.
A knowledge of names can make language more comprehensible.
A study conducted with ESL learners found that students who took a listening comprehension test which included names they were familiar with performed better than those who took the test including names they were unfamiliar with (Koveleba, 2012). This shows that the presence of unfamiliar names decreases the chances of understanding spoken English, which indicates that names are useful vocabulary for language comprehension.
From personal experience, an issue I often came across when studying Chinese, was misunderstanding a sentence because I did not know that the unknown elements of the sentence were, in fact, a name. In a language where the words are so phonologically similar, and the writing system gives minimal clues as to the sound or meaning of the word, identifying names with no prior knowledge can be tricky. For example, I might be reading a news article and come across two characters that I don’t know. When I search the characters in my dictionary, there may be a definition, but there is no explanation of what these characters mean together and what their relevance to the text is. I then have to search the internet to check that what I’ve stumbled across is indeed a name and not a very obscure word. As you can imagine, this is time consuming. Of course, this problem lessens as you advance in the language and become more familiar with the common characters used for names. Nevertheless, common name elements are useful to know at beginner or intermediate level, and are something that could easily be taught. As such, I wonder why we must reach this stage of advanced learning and consistent immersion before we gain this knowledge?
Even in Spain, where the most common names are familiar and identifiable for an English speaker, a knowledge of names is a useful tool for communication. For example, most Spaniards have four names, and it is not always obvious which of these four names should be used and in what circumstances. Spanish names don’t contain middle names, but often two given names e.g. if someone is called Ana María you will use both names to address them (not simply Ana) unless otherwise suggested. Furthermore, Spanish people have two surnames, a paternal and a maternal surname. In most cases, the paternal surname comes first and is the one used to address them. For instance, the full name of the current Spanish Prime Minister is Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón, but he is referred to as President Sánchez. Whilst you may be taught in your Spanish class how to write an email or send a cover letter or job application, you may never be taught how to properly address the person to whom you are writing.
It is clear that names, both as linguistic and cultural elements of a language, are essential learning material for communicating at an intermediate to advanced level, yet in my experience, are rarely mentioned in language classrooms.
Names are important cultural artefacts that can tell you a lot about the history of a people and their language.
I became particularly interested in foreign language name studies whilst writing my dissertation at university, which was a comparison of the top 10 given names in Spain and Scotland from 2002 to 2019. I found that even just the top ten names in a country studied over a short period of time can tell you a lot about a culture. For example, the data showed that deeper religious ties, a preference for international-sounding names, more fixed gender norms, and a stronger sense of tradition characterised the Spanish names in comparison to the Scottish names. This small data set alone can tell you a lot about the religious, political, and socio-economic situation within a country.
Don’t worry, I’m not suggesting that you conduct a study on the names in the language you are learning (although it is actually very interesting, if it takes your fancy!). However, I do suggest that you will find learning a little about naming practices in the country or countries where your language is spoken a rewarding experience.
For example, if you are learning Icelandic, it is fascinating to learn that it is the only country in Scandinavia that maintains the old naming system which prioritises the given name as the most important name, and favours patronymic surnames over family names e.g. if your father is Magnus, your surname is Magnusson (Tomasson, 1975). If you are learning Japanese, you will find out that names often contain a hidden poetry within them, due to the use of three different scripts within the writing system. Therefore, even if the sound of your name is common, depending on which combination of scripts you use, the name will have a different written meaning. This allows for a layering of different meanings within a name and often leads to the creation of something unique and meaningful for each person (Watanabe, 2007). If you are learning Hindi, you may find out that names are often greatly tied to the Hindu religion and in this case, are much more than simply an identifier, but a prediction of the character and the destiny of that person. Names are frequently chosen with the help of astrologers and with close adherence to religious texts, and children are named in a sacred naming sacrament called the nāmkaran sanskāra (Mehrotra, 2019).
Name studies can give you an insight into things like ancient traditions, the linguistic functionality of a language, and the modern values of a culture or society. If you are learning a language because you are intrigued by the culture, or find the language to be beautifully expressive or simply interesting – even a small venture into the history, culture or linguistics of naming will not disappoint.
How can you incorporate learning names into your language learning?
I mentioned above that learning Chinese names and the characters commonly used in names has been a challenging area for me. I remember when I first started learning Chinese, the textbooks that I used were full of personal names of “characters” included in the dialogues. Whilst these people had “Chinese names” that could be written using Chinese characters, the names were essentially English names like David and Wendy that had been transliterated into Chinese to create names like 大卫 (Dàwèi) and 温迪 (Wéndi), names highly unlikely to be chosen by a parent for their child in China. Given the constant repetition of the same 5-10 names throughout the textbooks, I think that this was an opportunity lost to become familiar with genuine Chinese names. I understand that names were not the focus of the learning, and perhaps the textbook writer was trying to simplify what can often be an overwhelming process starting to learn Chinese. However, names do not need to be the focus of the learning, but rather an element of immersive input. Had the textbook included genuine Chinese names, I would eventually have started to remember the names after seeing them repeated several times and added them subconsciously to my lexicon.
Immersion
Essentially, I am not advocating that we all take onomastics classes in our TL or study long lists of names until we can recite them aloud. On the contrary, I am suggesting that we add names to our vocabulary semi-subconsciously. By that I mean that we should find immersive environments where native names will be used, and instead of writing them down and studying them like vocabulary words, try to remember them and use them.
At a beginner stage, that could be
- watching foreign TV shows with subtitles and paying attention the character names (normally the names won’t change),
- making friends who speak your TL and using their real names, not an English version,
- or simply asking your teacher to give example sentences that include authentic names used in your TL.
You could also try to use names in your language output. For example,
- if you are writing a homework assignment that includes characters, try to use authentic names (you can search for them online if you don’t know any),
- if you meet someone new try to repeat their name several times in order to remember it,
- and if you are choosing a name for yourself in your TL, ask a friend or teacher to help you find an authentic one.
In general, immersion is key to gaining a better knowledge of names.
Besides, names have all sorts of hidden meanings within them which can only be studied in a cultural context. Take English as an example, if a character in a movie has a name like Archibald, this will likely signify that the character is posh. If someone introduces themselves as Lizzy instead of Elizabeth, they might be an informal or casual person as they are using a nickname with you. Names can have such strong cultural meanings that they become descriptors in themselves; take the newly coined term “being a Karen” as an example. Without paying attention to common names, you wouldn’t understand that this is a popular name for middle aged, middle/upper class white females in America, and as such, you miss why the term is funny. There have been many times where I have missed a joke in my target language because I did not understand that the name used in the joke was very common, or posh, associated with a certain type of person, or simply a pun. For example, if you don’t know this name, this joke may not make much sense to you.
What do you call a man who is always at your front door?
Matt.
How would you like me to address you?
The only aspect of learning names which I do think is helpful to actually study, is some of the more detailed cultural elements. In particular, forms of address. It is important that we do not impose our own cultural norms on the language we are learning, especially when it comes to naming. As mentioned above, naming is personal. For example, many cultures differentiate between personal names, nicknames and professional names, and you must choose the right one depending on your relationship with that person. In other cultures, it is rude to use someone’s name at all, so this is definitely something you should be aware of when using the language with native speakers. If in doubt, when communicating in the context of a different culture, a great option is simply to ask “how would you like me to address you?” If you take classes in your TL, it might also be helpful to tell your teacher that you are curious about this aspect of language and culture, and to ask questions about it. It’s important to get it right when it comes to naming.
In the name of curiosity
Names are gifts to a language learner, a window into culture and diversity, a journey through history, and an opportunity to get it right and impress native speakers with your knowledge. I hope language teachers in the future will prioritise names as useful pieces of vocabulary and cultural knowledge, and we may even see more textbooks which give us information and context for using these fascinating nuggets of language correctly and accurately.
In the meantime, I’ll be continuing to ask questions, do my research and stay curious about names in whatever language I’m learning. I hope you feel inspired to do the same!
I’d love to know if you’ve had similar experiences to me when it comes to using names in your target language. If you have, or if you have experienced something different, I would be really interested to hear, so please share in the comments at the bottom of the page!
References:
Carnegie, D. (1981). How to Win Friends & Influence People. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
Kobeleva, P. P. (2012). Second Language Listening and Unfamiliar Proper Names: Comprehension Barrier? RELC Journal, 43(1), 83–98. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688212440637
Mehrotra, R. (2019). Hindi Personal Names and Nicknames. In Sociolinguistics in Hindi Contexts. 123-152. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110854633-006
Tomasson, R.F. (1975). The Continuity of Icelandic Names and Naming Patterns. In Names 23(4). 281-289. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1179/nam.1975.23.4.281
Watanabe, N..(2007. Politics of Japanese Naming Practice: Language Policy and Character Use, In Current Issues in Language Planning 8(3). 344-364. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2167/cilp125.0
Linggow 