From Ancestors to Modernity: How Bekwarra Personal Names Carry History Across Generations
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Personal naming traditions in Bekwarra communities of Cross River State serve as vital cultural repositories encoding memory, identity, and collective experience. While names have historically reflected lineage, spirituality, and communal values, contemporary socio-cultural shifts threaten the continuity of these meanings. This study examines how Bekwarra personal names function as carriers of ancestral history and how their significance is negotiated within modern contexts. It addresses the gradual loss of historical awareness among younger generations, who face pressures from Western naming practices, urban lifestyles, and weak intergenerational storytelling. The objectives of the study are to describe the forms and semantic categories of Bekwarra personal names (for example, those derived from lineage, events, occupation, objects, and animals); to analyse the sociolinguistic functions of personal names in Bekwarra communities (identity, kinship, history, and social norms); to document oral narratives (including Ogar Agba) that connect names to community memory and values; to examine processes of change affecting naming practices, including colonial legacies, religious conversion, urbanisation, and globalization; to assess community attitudes toward name retention, change, and revitalisation strategies; and to propose community centred recommendations (documentation methods, educational materials, and digital tools) for safeguarding Bekwarra naming heritage. The study adopts Cultural Memory Theory, a framework that explains onomastics by arguing that names are social symbols whose meaning is kept alive through collective interaction, not just etymology. It explains how names operate as mnemonic devices and sites where tradition and modernity intersect. Findings reveal that Bekwarra personal names function as living archives, encapsulating events, moral values, kinship ties, and ancestral encounters. The study also notes a widening generational gap between elders who retain deep name knowledge and many youths who recognize meanings only superficially. Despite this, there is emerging evidence of cultural revival, as younger individuals increasingly reclaim indigenous names as markers of heritage pride. The study recommends strengthening family-based storytelling, documenting naming histories through publications, and integrating indigenous onomastics into local school curricula to safeguard the cultural reservoir embedded in Bekwarra personal names and ensure continuity across generations.
Source: Genealogy
Authors: Timothy Adie Okpe, Jude Terkaa Tyoh
Institution: University of Calabar
Language: English
Topic: Language and Culture
Subfield: Linguistics and Language
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,689
OpenAlex ID: W7225118149