An investigation of the attitudes of young Bambara, Songhay and Fulbe people towards their traditional personal names

Abstract

Abstract: In Africa, more and more voices are rising against foreign cultures, calling for the continent to regain its identity. However, the use of traditional first names which can be the most significant way for Africans to display their identity, receive little attention from Pan Africanists most of whom bear foreign names. The problem is that traditional personal names are unknown to the majority of the younger population; therefore, they are abandoned in favor of Arab and European first names to show religious affiliation. The authors of this paper assume that young people would have a positive image of traditional personal names and would want to use them more often if they knew their meanings. To test this hypothesis, a liker scale questionnaire was administered to 90 Bambara, Songhay and Fulbe students to 1) determine their familiarity with and general perception of traditional personal first names, and 2) to examine any change in their attitudes towards these names after having had thorough explanations about them. The findings show that more than sixty percent of the participants developed positive attitudes towards traditional personal names and want to give them to their children, thus confirming the hypothesis. However, first names with negative connotations and the names of idols are still subject to rejection. Keywords: tradition, personal names, identity, attitudes, anthroponomy