Bearing Names of the Dead: Memory, Identity Formation, and Family History in Bekwarra Naming Culture

Earlier studies on Bekwarra names have focused on cultural and syntactic perspectives, with limited attention to how the Bekwarra naming culture transmits family history and serves as a cultural archive in which the experiences, struggles, and social roles of departed relatives are encoded. This study, therefore, takes a different direction by showing how name bearers become living extensions of ancestral memory, thereby strengthening and reinforcing kinship ties within the community. Ethnopragmatic theory was adopted as an analytical framework to uncover the cultural meanings embedded in these names. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and informal conversations with 25 participants in Nyanya and Abuochiche Wards, Bekwarra Local Government Area, Cross River State, southeastern Nigeria. The findings reveal that Bekwarra people use naming practices to retain memory, sustain lineage consciousness, and maintain intergenerational connections. Beyond functioning as linguistic labels, Bekwarra names constitute an active social process through which the past informs present identities. To conclude, this study deepens the understanding of the intricate relationship between names, memory, and the ways in which naming acts as a repository of cultural knowledge.