Modern personal naming practices among Vhavenḓa from South Africa

Abstract

Modern personal naming symbolises social change in most African communities, including the Vhavenḓa of South Africa. Among Vhavenḓa, elders and grandparents in the family were solely responsible for personal name-giving. However, currently, grandparents no longer name newborns in Tshivenḓa culture. This study investigates the practice of personal naming among modern Vhavenḓa in South Africa guided by the autoethnographic approach. Social Change Theory and the Modernisation Framework underpinned the study. The findings reveal that some modern Vhavenḓa parents name their children, a ‘foreign practice’ that denotes social change in personal naming practices in Tshivenḓa culture. Furthermore, rituals that accompany traditional Tshivenḓa personal naming practices are no longer practised in some families. Modernisation, Christianity, education, and politics catalyse social change in personal naming among modern Vhavenḓa parents in South Africa.

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