Teknonymy (from 'child' and 'name') is the practice of referring to

parent A parent is either the progenitor of a child or, in humans, it can refer to a caregiver or legal guardian, generally called an adoptive parent or step-parent. Parents who are progenitors are First-degree relative, first-degree relatives and have ...

s by the

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...

s of their

children A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

. This practice can be found in many different cultures around the world. The term was coined by anthropologist

Edward Burnett Tylor Sir Edward Burnett Tylor (2 October 18322 January 1917) was an English anthropologist, and professor of anthropology. Tylor's ideas typify 19th-century cultural evolutionism. In his works '' Primitive Culture'' (1871) and ''Anthropology'' ...

in an 1889 paper. Such names are called teknonyms, teknonymics, or paedonymics.

Examples

Teknonymy can be found in: * Various

Austronesian peoples The Austronesian people, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples who have settled in Taiwan, maritime Southeast Asia, parts of mainland Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melan ...

: ** The

Cocos Malays Cocos Malays are a community that form the predominant group of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, which is now a part of Australia. Today, most of the Cocos Malay can be found in the eastern coast of Sabah, Malaysia, because of diaspora originating ...

Cocos (Keeling) Islands The Cocos (Keeling) Islands (), officially the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands (; ), are an Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean, comprising a small archipelago approximately midway between Australia and Sri Lanka and rel ...

, where parents are known by the name of their first-born child. For instance, a man named Hashim and his wife, Anisa, have a daughter named Sheila. Hashim is now known as ''Pak Sheila'' (literally 'Sheila's father') and Anisa as ''Mak Sheila'' ('Sheila's mother'). **

Toba Batak people The Toba Batak people () are the largest ethnic group of the Batak (Indonesia), Batak peoples of North Sumatra, Indonesia. The general term ‘Batak’ is sometimes used to refer to the Batak Toba people, for one thing because the Toba people a ...

of Indonesia. The case is very similar to the Cocos Malays. **

Balinese people The Balinese people (, ) are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the Indonesian island of Bali. The Balinese population of 4.2 million (1.7% of Indonesia's population) live mostly on the island of Bali, making up 89% of the island's population ...

of Indonesia. ** Dayak and related indigenous peoples of

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

, like the Penan ** Betsileo people of Madagascar, in particular the Zafimaniry subgroup ** language of the

Madurese people Madurese people ('' mUH-dOO-rUH''; ; ) are one of the Austronesian-speaking ethnic group native to the Indonesian island of Madura in the Java Sea, off the northeastern coast of Java. They speak their own native Madurese (with diverse varieties ...

of Indonesia **

Mentawai people Mentawai (also known as Mentawei and Mentawi) people are the Austronesian people of the Mentawai Islands (principally Siberut, Sipura, North Pagai and South Pagai) about 100 miles from West Sumatra province, Indonesia. They live a semi-nomadic hu ...

of Indonesia ** Tao people of Taiwan * the

Korean language Korean is the first language, native language for about 81 million people, mostly of Koreans, Korean descent. It is the national language of both South Korea and North Korea. In the south, the language is known as () and in the north, it is kn ...

; for example, if a Korean woman has a child named Su-min, she might be called (meaning 'mother of Su-min') * the

Chinese language Chinese ( or ) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and List of ethnic groups in China, many minority ethnic groups in China, as well as by various communities of the Chinese diaspora. Approximately 1.39& ...

has a similar but also very flexible phenomenon. Suppose a boy's nickname at home is (''Er'er''), then the father of the child can call the child's mother , meaning 'his mom'/'child's mom'/'Er'er's mom', respectively. Similar applies to the boy's mother calling her husband (i.e., the boy's father) by changing ('mom') to ('dad'). This usage occurs mostly between parents, but can also be found in other limited scenarios, e.g. a teacher calling a child's parents. * Bangladeshi people * the

Arabic-speaking world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

; for example, if a Saudi man named Hasan has a male child named Zayn, Hasan will now be known as (literally 'father of Zayn'). Similarly, (Malik is a name used for males) is 'mother of Malik'. This is known as a in Arabic and is used as a sign of respect for others. * areas of Amazonia * the

Zuni language Zuni (also formerly Zuñi, endonym ) is a language of the Zuni people, indigenous to western New Mexico and eastern Arizona in the United States. It is spoken by around 9,500 people, especially in the vicinity of Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico, and ...

, indigenous to

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

* various African peoples, particularly in West Africa ** the Nupe people of Nigeria; for example, if a man has a son named Isyaku, he will be known as ''Baba Isyaku'', whereas his wife would be called ''Nna Isyaku''. ** the

Yoruba language Yoruba (, ; Yor. ) is a Niger–Congo languages, Niger-Congo language that is spoken in West Africa, primarily in South West (Nigeria), Southwestern and Middle Belt, Central Nigeria, Benin, and parts of Togo. It is spoken by the Yoruba people. ...

of West Africa; for example, if a woman has a son named Femi, she will now be known as (meaning 'mother of Femi') and her husband (meaning 'father of Femi'). ** the

Hausa language Hausa (; / ; Hausa Ajami, Ajami: ) is a Chadic language spoken primarily by the Hausa people in the northern parts of Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Benin and Togo, and the southern parts of Niger, and Chad, with significant minorities in Ivory Coas ...

of West Africa; for example, if a man has a son named Adam, the man will be known as ''Baban Adam'', while his wife would be called ''Maman Adam''. ** Swahili, as spoken in Tanzania and Kenya; for example, if a woman has a son named Musa, the woman would be known as . Musa's father would be known as . ** to some extent, among Habesha people in the Horn of Africa

References

External links

* {{Personal names Family Onomastics

Examples

See also

References

External links