People's Edit
Naming a Life: How Names are Chosen during Baptisms
Opinion | People's Edit | Raile Rocky Ziipao | 14-Oct-2020
Giving a name to the newborn child in a family is an important event and a marker of identity. Among the Catholic family, often a child is named after a saint or given a biblical name during baptism. Can a child grow up to be a good Catholic/Christian with an indigenous name instead of naming after a biblical or a saint’s name? A young couple whom I know personally was very excited to share the news with me that they are blessed with a baby boy. I was equally thrilled and congratulated them. Out of curiosity, I asked whether they have thought of a name for the child or not? Their response startled me: we have an indigenous name for him but we don’t know what baptism name to give. Thereafter, they requested me to suggest a suitable biblical or a saint name. As I retrospect and revisit my family tree, all of us have what is called a biblical name and that became our first name where we are known to others. The historicity of this practice and tradition stemmed from an early foreign Christian missionary who tirelessly traversed to hilly and difficult geographical terrain to spread the word of God. During the early phase of Catholicism in Manipur where missionaries were mostly from outside the natives, there was an urged to delineate Catholics from that of the naturalists (those who follow fore parent’s religion).
Thus, naming the early converts with a biblical or a saint’s name during the baptism was a hallmark of a new identity and most importantly as the person embraced catholic faith and membership into the church. To illustrate, my father was the first person to be baptized in my village and perhaps became the first person with a baptismal name called Peter. Henceforth, he is known as Raile Peter. His buddy from the same village was also named Paul by the priest during baptism. Thus, the trend of naming a life with Christian/biblical/saint’s name continues until today. This encapsulates a concept of endonym (a name given by self/local) and exonym (a name given by priests/others). Names of some NECARF members also echoed to this trend: Anthony, James, John, Moses, Simon, Joseph, Anna, Rosemary among others are pointers in this direction.
Laboring over the choice of Christian or baptismal name in rural/remote villages as experienced by a young couple is a common phenomenon. It is interesting to note that among the first-generation Christian from the hills of Manipur and other places, their biblical names are often given by their priests/deacons/missionaries. There is a twofold challenge confronting the older folks of rural areas who are mostly illiterate: 1) they find it difficult to pronounce the baptismal name and 2) it is foreign to them and finds no connection/attachment to their lived experience and shared history. Often the name like Thomas is pronounced as Thooma, Elizabeth as Ezabet, Ruth as Rushi and so on by the older folks who are mostly illiterate. Hence, the essence of the Christian name and its meaning gets defiles. However, the onus lies within the domain of the naming culture of the church and not the fault of the older folks. Contextualizing names according to the choices of the parents, relatives, godfather, etc. which are indigenous and within the domain of Christian values could be a way forward to address this persistent issue. What does the Catholic doctrine say in the realms of naming? The Canon Law, number 855 states as follows:
‘Parents, sponsors, and the pastor are to take care that a name foreign to Christian sensibility is not given’.
This entails that one should not name a child something like a Serial Killer, Murderer, Satan, Lucifer, and so on. This would be rather unsettling for both the Church and society. For instance, during the baptism of a child, when the priest asked, what name do you give your child? If the parents are to respond aloud say Lucifer or Killer would amount to blasphemy for a Catholics and a petrifying experience for everyone present.
According to this law, it is indeed the responsibility of parents, sponsors, and the pastor that a child’s name is given which are acceptable to the church and society. It does not spell out that it has to be a biblical or saint’s name. Hence, a child’s name can be tailor with indigenous name or context specific. Here, the role of local priests, catechists, missionaries among others is pertinent to educate and encourage church members by enlightening about the Cannon Law besides teaching the word of God. Often naming a child/infant is seep in the fabric of old practices of the church which might not be of much relevance to contemporaneous culture and the advancement of science and technology. However, this does not also mean to negate completely or obsolete the rich tradition of the past. What is pertinent in this domain of naming a life is to contextualize according to time and space by foregrounding the Christian doctrines.
(The Author is an Assistant Professor of Sociology, Central University of Punjab. He could be reached on rocky123rex@gmail.com. Views expressed are personal)
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