Naming as a marker of identity on Nairaland

Abstract

Names are very important in every culture of the world as it is by one’s name that he or she is first of all known and identified. A name can say a lot about an individual: it can inter alia say something about the appearance of a person, about his behavior and about his family background. It is against this backdrop that this paper was aimed at investigating naming as a crucial instrument of expressing different forms of identity. The data for the study were drawn from Nairaland, a discussion forum dominated by Nigerians at home and abroad. By drawing insights from different sociolinguistic works and by selecting extracts purposively from the forum, the data were presented and analysed. The analysis showed that while personal names were used by discussants to indicate religious and ethnic identity, pseudonyms and diminutives were used on the forum as strategic means of expressing and linking up global youth culture. The study concluded that naming is the most important marker of identity.

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