Ukucwaningwa kwamandla encazelo yegama nemiphumela yawo empilweni yabantu abakhuluma isiZulu kanye nabanye abakhuluma izilimi zesintu e-Afrika

Abstract

This research analyses the influence of the power of a name, particularly on Zulu speaking people in South Africa. It further analyses the effect of names in other Nguni speaking communities in this country. On a wider scale it also looks at the power and the influence of names given to people of other countries on the African continent.

The research primarily investigates the effects of the power of a name on the life of a black person. A name could actually lure a person to enact its meaning. For instance, the name uBagangile could influence the bearer of the name to be generally naughty or if not so, relatives around her might act naughty in different ways.

It is pointed out that the act of name-giving with concomitant power vested in a name originates from God. The bearer was expected to act out the meaning of his/her name. God's power hidden in the name would constrain an individual to behave in a certain way within his/her community. The research points out that a name is not only a label that helps in the identification of an individual or an entity. A name is something that is multi-functional. First it becomes a label, a descriptive tool that may refer to a person's body structure. It is possible that a name may divulge a situation in which the person was born. Most importantly, it has the power to make the bearer become what the name means. Usually names carry one of the above accounts. If the name was chosen by an insightful name giver it may carry more than one of the above qualities.

During the years of oppression before the advent of democracy in South Africa in 1994, community members made extensive use of names from the languages of the white oppressors. White names had an impact on the lives of bearers, because of the meanings and contexts associated with them.