Familial Naming Practices

A special issue of Genealogy (ISSN 2313-5778).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 April 2019) | Viewed by 14721

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. Polytechnic Campus, Arizona State University, Mesa, AZ 85212-6415, USA
2. College of Integrative Sciences and Arts, Arizona State University, Mesa, AZ 85212-6415, USA
3. University College, Arizona State University, Mesa, AZ 85212-6415, USA
Interests: family history; genealogy; surnames (patronymics); writing instruction; composition pedagogy and curriculum; portfolio assessment; writing across the curriculum; writing program administration; the scholarship of teaching and learning; the role of academics as public intellectuals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Social Sciences and Communication, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR 72204, USA
Interests: family history; composition studies; writing program administration; community engaged writing; social justice; online education; feminist administration; first-year composition and national learning outcomes

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are thrilled to begin our editorship with a special issue on naming practices in family history, a topic particularly dear to both of us. This Special Issue of Genealogy invites submissions on the topic of “Familial Naming Practices” to examine ancestral naming and naming practices or patterns, specifically surnames. Surname can be used as an entry point to learning more about historical demographics and family make-up throughout the etymological family history. We acknowledge and honor, “A person’s given name is a badge of cultural identity” because “the names that people bear are determined in large part by the culture that they belong to” (Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges, 1990, p. vii).

Manuscripts may focus on topics around identity and belonging in association with names, naming practices, and changing of names--particular surnames during immigration. Some potential areas of focus may include the following, although other submissions are welcome and encouraged:

  • Diversity and naming
  • Nationality, ethnicity, and naming
  • Family names via origin through profession, birthplace/location, or kinship
  • Immigration and recognition
  • Immigration patterns and name changes
  • Patronymic surnames
  • Race, gender, and naming
  • Familial naming patterns, including traditional patterns and faith-based application
  • Research associated with modified or changed surnames due to xenophobia
  • Names associated with location
  • Enslaved persons and naming
  • Assimilation
  • Cultural identities

Because the literature surrounding naming within genealogical and historical scopes is expansive, we are open to how authors frame the conversations around this special topic. We call for a wide range of voices and scholarship to be represented. As José Medina (2014) observes, “We have the individual and collective responsibility to do everything we can to keep cultural dialogues open and to allow for the identities of groups and individuals to be polyphonic (original emphasis), that is, to contain a (diverse and heterogeneous) plurality of voices” (p.184). Diverse and heterogenous voices reside in people with diverse and heterogeneous names through the inclusion of naming and language as identity practices.

Those who wish to submit to this special issue on names and naming should send a short statement of interest with a short description of the plans for the manuscript to the editors no later than October 1, 2018. These should be sent to both: [email protected] AND [email protected]

Prof. Dr. Duane Roen
Dr. Sherry Rankins-Robertson
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Genealogy is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • family history
  • genealogy
  • surnames
  • immigrants
  • kinship
  • family names
  • oral histories
  • identity
  • xenophobia
  • belonging
  • narrative

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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17 pages, 904 KiB  
Article
For Whom and by Whom Children Are Named: Family Involvement in Contemporary Japanese Naming Practices
by Giancarla Unser-Schutz
Genealogy 2019, 3(2), 29; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy3020029 - 30 May 2019
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4704
Abstract
In pre-modern Japanese naming practices, familial relationships were frequently demonstrated systematically through personal names, but with changing lifestyles, family structures and naming trends, such systematic ways of creating familial ties through personal names have largely been lost. However, personal names may still express [...] Read more.
In pre-modern Japanese naming practices, familial relationships were frequently demonstrated systematically through personal names, but with changing lifestyles, family structures and naming trends, such systematic ways of creating familial ties through personal names have largely been lost. However, personal names may still express familial ties, but in different ways than in previous times. To consider this, this article utilizes a unique data set of 303 messages in municipal newsletters from parents about how they chose their child’s name, focusing on who was listed as choosing the name; whom the child was named for; and common elements within parent–child pairs and sibling sets. Parents themselves were most frequently noted to have selected the name, followed by the child’s older siblings; in comparison, grandparents were listed rarely. The use of a shared kanji ‘Chinese character’ between parents and children was also not common; however, it was more frequently observable in siblings’ names. Although the data set is small in size, the data strongly suggests that contemporary families are focused more on creating intragenerational connections between siblings, rather than intergenerational familial ties, which may be a result of the nuclearization of contemporary families. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Familial Naming Practices)
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14 pages, 259 KiB  
Essay
Complexity and Politics of Naming in Yoruba Tradition: A Dramatic Exploration of Once Upon an Elephant
by Lekan Balogun and Sesan Fasanu
Genealogy 2019, 3(2), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy3020018 - 11 Apr 2019
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 9507
Abstract
This paper examines the connection between naming and oral tradition, specifically àló and ìtàn, by discussing Bosede Ademilua-Afolayan’s Once Upon an Elephant (2015), and demonstrates the ways in which contemporary Nigerian playwrights appropriate the same to engage their political realities. The Yoruba [...] Read more.
This paper examines the connection between naming and oral tradition, specifically àló and ìtàn, by discussing Bosede Ademilua-Afolayan’s Once Upon an Elephant (2015), and demonstrates the ways in which contemporary Nigerian playwrights appropriate the same to engage their political realities. The Yoruba are aware that names are not mere signs but the material nodes of the social network, hence the rites associated with naming underscore the people’s belief in birth, life, and living, as well as the totality of existence. The paper is in three parts: a background to the analysis, a discussion of Yoruba belief about naming that is linked with a discussion of oral tradition, and an analysis of the play with materials that are drawn from the previous discussion in order to show how the playwright has used the strategy of naming to engage a broader socio-political reality of her society. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Familial Naming Practices)
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