Name This Child: Religious Identity and Ideology in Tiv Personal Names

This article investigates the motivations and ideological foundations of religion-based personal names among a sampled population of the Tiv community who are predominantly found along the middle Benue Valley in Benue State, North-central Nigeria. The names bestowed by adherents of different religions (traditional Tiv, Christianity and Islam) reflect a personally determined system of representation based on a belief in spiritual practices and icons like witchcraft, an afterlife, the influence of ancestors, and a supreme God. This investigation demonstrates how religious names in the Tiv sample reflect a strong symbolic association between the name-givers and their faith or beliefs. The names also provide a platform whereby religious adherents can initiate a dialogue with supernatural forces. Religion-based names also permit adherents to project a healthy self-image and create psychological unity thanks to the sense of protection that they are believed to confer.