Studies of African naming practices focus almost exclusively on the meanings and etymology of names and details about the circumstances surrounding how such names are assigned. Such research has not examined the implications naming has for language planning, ideologies of language, and language shift. Focusing on names and naming practices in Zimbabwe from 1960 to 1990, this paper departs from this well-established tradition. The paper provides empirical evidence to show that naming provides significant insights into language planning, language ideology, language shift and the development of new varieties of English. It demonstrates the effects of non-Standard English on naming practices between the 1960s and 1990s and how this subsequently brought changes not only to the use of African languages, but also to use of names drawn from non-Standard English. This we view as an indication that the policy of promoting indigenous African languages is in sync with practice as ordinary citizens articulate their cultural practices in African languages. In addition, the promotion of English results in the spread not of standard English, but of non-standard varieties of English in the area of naming.
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