Endangerment of Yorùbá Individual Names: Implication on Yorùbá True Identity

Name plays an important role in Yorùbá society. Yorùbá does not bear names without considering some factors because of its future consequences. Although, name is for identification, it also serves as a source of honour and pride, especially for those who are born from heroic and warrior families. People love identifying with such names by bearing the names of the heroes or warriors. These names have been reduced to surnames today. Other names are praise namely Àmo ̣̀ke ̣̀, Àrìnpè, Àmo ̣̀ ó, Alàní, Àkànke ̣̀, and Àbe ̣̀ke ̣̀. These names are regarded as archaic today and nobody reckon with them anymore. It is dismal that these names and many others that are associated with deities are gradually going into extinction owing to modern religions. This forms the discussion of this paper. The purpose of the paper is to call the attention of Yorùbá scholars to the fact that not only Yorùbá language is going into extinction, Yorùbá original names also do. The data collection for the paper is drawn from texts and journals on Yorùbá names. An interviewed was conducted among the youths and the informants who are between 70 and 75 years old from AdóÈkìtì were consulted. They are selected because aged people value names unlike the youths who bear names without minding the implication. The JAMB admission broad sheet students seeking admission into Èki ̀ti ̀ State University, Ado ́Èki ̀ti ̀, Nigeria and the Faculties final admission lists sent to the Faculty of Arts were consulted. The data cover three sessions; 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19. This is possible because the researcher is in-charge of admission process in his Department. The paper adopts descriptive approach for the data


Introduction
Yorùbá pays a serious attention to names. Since names have imparted on the moral conduct and future of their children, according to Yorùbá belief, they are careful at giving names to their children. Names with a positive connotation are adopted while the names with a negative connotation are frown at (Ekundayo, 1977). Apart from using names as a mark of identity, names are also used among Yorùbá people to demonstrate their loyalty and honour to their deities and their progenitors who were at the fore-front of the worship of these deities (Ajiboye, 2009). Other functions that names perform in Yorùbá society are showing the circumstance surrendered the child birth, the family occupations and the situations in the family or in the society during the child birth (Akintoye, 2015). These functions make all families in Yorùbá society to try as much as possible to preserve their families' names.
In spite of these functions, the present generation does not value some of Yorùbá names any longer owing to modern religions and civilization. Instead, they try to modify the names to suit their new religions and avoid some names that they regard as archaic. Some even prefer English names to Yorùbá names. The researchers such as Adeóyè (1972), Oduỳọ yè (1972), and Ẹ kuńdayọ (1977) are of the opinions that Yorubá adopt names that associated with their deities and occupations as demonstrated below.
Ògúndọro ̣ "the god of iron became wealth" Ṣàngóṣèyí "the god of thunder did this" Ifáṣọlá "divination created wealth" Àyànyẹmi "drumming suits me" Ifáde ̣ ro ̣ "divination becomes simple" O ̣ suntáyo ̣ "O ̣ ṣun goddess is equal to joy" Ògúndáre "the god of iron gave a fair trial" There is a total departure from these names by the present generation as stated by Ìko ̣ tún and Aládésanmí (2012), Ìko ̣ tún (2013, 2014) and Akintoye (2015), they prefer such names like Jésùtófúnmi "Jesus is enough for me" Olúwágbàmílà "the Lord delivered me" Ìtùnúolúwa "the comfort of God" Jésùṣọlá "Jesus created wealth" Ọlọ̀ runyẹmí "God suits me" Olúwade ̣ ro ̣ "The Lord becomes simple" Ọlọ̀ runtáyo ̣ "God is equal to joy" Olúwádáre "the Lord gave a fair trial".
If this continues, there is a possibility for Yorùbá names to go into extinction. This is the thrust of this paper. The purpose of the paper is to call the attention of Yorùbá scholars to the fact that not only Yorùbá language is going into extinction, Yorùbá original names also do. The paper adopts descriptive approach for the data analysis.
The paper is divided into five sections. The introductory part forms the section one of the paper. Section two contains the literature review. Section three consists of the research method. Section four examines the attributes of Yorùbá native names. Section five deals with the name change, modifications and avoidance as stigma on Yorùbá true identity.
Previous studies show that many scholars have written on naming in Yorùbá society. For instance Ogunbowale (1966), Daramola and Jeje (1967), Adeoye (1972), Abiodun (1997), and Osunnuga (2003) mention that naming is very important in Yorùbá culture and it is done with fanfare. Akinnaso (1980) explains that Yorùbá personal names are drawn from the home contexts. He also says further that personal names with negative and unpleasant connotations are avoided, because a child's name plays an important part in its development and future career. That being the case, a child may react to a name that has negative social implication in the future. The scholar itemises some contexts that are considered by Yorùbá before giving names to their children. Adeoye (1972), Ekundayo (1977), and Babalola and Alaba (2003) also categorize Yorùbá traditionbased personal names into different groups; names related to the circumstances surrounding the child birth (orúkọ àmúto ̣ runwá), names related to the family's deities, chieftaincy names, reincarnation names, names related to events and festivals in the community, family occupations, praise names and appellative names. Ajiboye (2009) argues that the practice of name change or modifications because of Christianity is a violation of God's commandments, disrespect to parents and it can lead to a semantic ambiguity. It is of the opinion that if there will be a desire to change one's name or parent's name, one should take a new name that will not bastardize the existing names. Ikotun (2012) has a contrary view; he argues that surname change is not new. It has been in existence right from the Bible time and it has nothing to do with religion but a personal decision. Ikotun (2013) argues that the advent of Christianity in Yorùbá society introduced new dimensions to Yorùbá naming like, the modifications of Yorùbá personal names whereby the NPs which show the belief in Yorùbá gods are replaced with 'Lord', Hebrew and European names were also introduced into the Yorùbá naming system. Akintoye (2015) explains that a name marks a period of events and promotes morals in Yorùbá society, hence, a Yorùbá adage says Orúkọ ọmọ ni ìjánu ọmo (The name that a child bears regulates his/her habit). He stresses further that a name is a mark of an identity. There are names that are confined to a particular community, such as Akińkúgbe, Akińdùtirẹ , Akińreliẹ́ , Akińtẹ iǹwá, Akińgbesọ tẹ and Akińkúòlúliẹ́ which are only restricted to Oǹdó, Idànrè and Ilẹ -Olújiì́ (all in South-western Nigeria). A name is also a source of pride and honour, especially to the families of those that made exploits in terms of war or politics. People used to be identified with the names of such families in the olden days by christening their children such names with a belief that they would do exploit like the original owners of the names. The names that are similar to them are praise names (orúkọ̀ oriḱi) like, Àmọ kẹ , Àriǹpe, Àmọ ó, Alàni, Àkànkẹ , Àbẹ kẹ . These names are regarded as archaic these days and nobody reckons with them anymore owing to modernization.
A critical study of the works of these scholars shows that although, many issues have been discussed about naming in Yorùbá, attention has not been paid to the fact that Yorùbá names are endangered; the arbitrary modifications of Yorùbá surnames and avoidance of some Yorùbá names regarded as archaic may lead to Yorùbá original names going into extinction in the nearest future.

Methodology
The data for the paper were drawn from texts and journals on Yorùbá names and the informants who are from Adó Èkiti. Their ages ranged between 70 and 75 years. They were selected because aged people value names, unlike the youths who bear names without minding the meanings and the implications. The JAMB admission broad sheet of the students seeking admission into Èkitì State University, Adó-Èkiti, Nigeria and the Faculties final admission lists sent to the Faculty of Arts were consulted. This is possible because the researcher is in-charge of admission process in his Department. The data cover three sessions; 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19. The lists contained the names, date of birth, religions, and the State of origins of the newly admitted students. The data showed that the date of birth of students entering into Nigerian Universities nowadays falls between 1999 and 2003 and that the personal names adopted by majority of these students were modified. In the sense that the subjects of the names were modified to suit their parents' new religion while the Verb Phrases were retained. An interview was also conducted among twenty students who are Yorùbá native speakers from Ekiti State University, Adó-Èkiti. These students were randomly picked to know their views on why the youths of today do not like to adopt the praise names. There were divergent reactions from these students. Twelve of these students were of the opinion that the names have become old fashion (old school, in their own language). Three saw the names as supplementary given to the children by their old grand-parents which the children may decide not to adopt if they grow old. Two of the students commented that the names are adopted by the people from the local areas. Two of them also said that they liked the names and they would be happy if people called them so. The remaining one student did not see anything wrong with the names only that they did not blend with the modern trends. The outcome of the interview shows that there is a drastic departure from Yorubá original names and praise names by the present generation.

The Attributes of Yorùbá Names
This section discusses the significance of names in Yorùbá society. This will enable the readers to see the reason why research works must tend towards naming to forestall Yorùbá original names going into extinction. The primary function of naming is for identification purpose. Without names, there will be Journal of Language andLiterature Vol. 20 No. 01 -April 2020 ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) misrepresentation among human beings (Ogunbowale, 1966). Naming goes beyond identification of individuals; clans, families, communities and things generally are recognized by their names. According to Adeoye (1972), the super beings or deities have names which enable their devotees to differentiate them from one another and the devotees also adopt names that portray their affinity to these gods and goddesses as itemized below.

Ògún
Ògúnyẹ̀ mi "the god of iron fits me" Ògúnṣ̀ ọ̀ lá "the god of iron made wealth" Ògúnlọ̀ lá "the god of iron is wealth" Ògúndánà "the god of iron made a way"

O ̣ ṣun
Ọ sunyẹ̀ mi "Ọ ṣ̀ un goddess fits me" Ọ súndùn "Ọ ṣ̀ un goddess is sweet" Ọ ṣ̀ ungbemí "Ọ ṣ̀ un goddess favours me" Ọ ṣ̀ untẹ yẹ̀ "Ọ ṣ̀ un goddess is equal to honour" Ṣàngó Ṣ̀ àngófẹ mi "the god of thunder loves me" Ṣ̀ àngógbemí "the god of thunder favours me" Ṣ̀ àngótọ lá "the god of thunder is equal to wealth" Ṣ̀ àngòlọ wọ "the god of thunder has respect" In Yorùbá setting, according to Oduyoye (1972), there were names that were related to positions which were meant only for the families that held such positions in those days. For instance, the royal families are associated with Adé (crown), Ọlá (honour) like Adeǵoróye, Gbádebọ , Adeýẹ̀ mi, Adetóyeṣ̀ e, Adeólú, Adeǵbólú, Adeĺabú, Ọ̀ láwùmi, Gbọ lágade. The warriors are identified with the names that are associated with Akin (bravery) and ogun (war) like Akińrógunjó, Akińrogun, and Akińgbógunniýi. The afore-mentioned names have different semantic interpretation from the ones borne by the general populace like.
Adebọ lá → a-dé bá ọ̀ lá "he that came to meet honour" Adeŕẹ miĺẹ kún → a-dé rẹ mí lẹ kún. "he that came to console me" Adebùsọ lámi → a-dé bù sí ọ̀ lá mi "he that came to add to my wealth Akińtóyè → Akin tó oyè "bravery is equal to chieftaincy" Akintáyọ → Akin tó ayọ "bravery is equal to joy" Akinwùmí → Akin wù mi "I like bravery" There are professional names which are only peculiar to the families or clans that engage in the professions as highlighted below (Ilesanmi, 1989) Àyàngbemí "drumming favours me" Àyànwálé "drumming came home" Àyàntọ lá "drumming is equal to wealth" Àyànṣ̀ ọ̀ lá "drumming made wealth Ọ jeĺàdé "masquerade has crown" Ọ̀jẹ niýì "masquerade has honour" Ọ jẹ gbadé "masquerade received crown" Ọ jẹ gbemí "masquerade favours me" Ọ jẹ tọ lá "masquerade is equal to wealth" Ọ̀ dẹ̀ ṣ̀ ọ̀ lá "hunting made wealth" Ọ̀ dẹ̀ sanmí "hunting favours me" Ọ̀ dẹ̀ tọ lá "hunting is equal to wealth" Ọ̀ dẹ yẹ̀ mí "hunting favours me" Ọ̀ dẹ wálé "hunting came home" Awóyińká "divination surrounds me" Awóniýì "divination has honour" Awógbàmí "divination delivered me" Journal of Language and Literature ISSN: 1410-5691 (print); 2580-5878 (online) Akintoye Oluwole Samuel & Ojo George Adekunle Awópeǵba "divination profits me" Abifádé "coming along with divination" Amóògùnniýì "making medicine to have honour" Eweǵbemí "leaves favour me" Ewejẹ "leaves are active" Ijiĺóògùn "wind has medicine" Ọ̀ nàdapọ "arts and crafts mix together" Ọ̀ nàṣ̀ iĺé "arts and crafts opened the house" Ọ nàbáńjọ̀ "arts and crafts fit him" Ọ nàgbemí "arts and crafts favour me" Each community has names that are confined to it which no other communities can bear. If the names are found in other areas, the source can be traced back to the original owners of the names. Some of these names show Yorùbá philosophy, like Ikálẹ names. Our observation here is at variance with Ikotun (2014) who is of the opinion that surnames that are peculiar to a particular area may be found in another area as a result of wars and business activities. The reason for our claim above is that Oǹdó, Idànre, Ilẹ -Olújiì́ and Ikálẹ still protect their names, such that the names have not migrated to other areas as shown below.

Ìkále ̣
Morúwàawọ̀ n "I saw their habit" Amùseghọ̀ n "I know their habit" Mámúkúyọ mí "do not reproach me with death" Tọmọmeghò "I consider child" O ̣ ro ̣ dúùgbàgbé "word is not easily forgotten" Meó̀nújù "do not think too much"

Ìlàjẹ
Éhùúwàyijọ mọ̀ "there is no habit that is greater that a child" Iỳàọ̀ mọ̀ leŕè "suffering on a child is rewarding" Ọ̀ mọ̀ jùlówó "a child is better than money" Iẁáijómọ̀ "no habit is greater than a child" Olówófóyekùn "a rich man cannot miss a chieftain title"

Òyo ̣
Ládigbòlú "having a contact with wealth" Ṣ̀ iỳànbọ lá "run to meet wealth" Gbádeǵẹ̀ ṣ̀ in "put the crown on the horse" Adeń́relé "the crown is going home"

O ̣ wo ̣
Ajagunnà "a warrior name" Àjàná "a warrior name" Ọ̀ látẹ rù "wealth is big enough for load" Ọ̀ lágbẹ gí "wealth deserves tenderness" Names are also a source of honour and pride to the owners. People delight to associate with the popular figures in the society by giving their children the names of these figures with the belief that their children will excel like them. The popularity may be in terms of wealth, academic achievement, and gallant performance in the battle field, political exploit, and royal status. All tribes have these popular figure, for instance, some people bear Ab́iọ lá because of June 12 th incident, Tinúubú after the heroine, late Madam Ẹ̀ fúnróyè Tinúubú. Some even go to the extent of bearing foreign names such as Obama, being the first African man to become an American President, Osama Bin Laden, and the Islamic notorious terrorist. The families of aforementioned names are highly respected and they occupy prominent positions in the Federal and States. What their generations enjoy and they will continue to enjoy are the names that their fore-fathers have built a long time ago.
The peculiarity of the names in examples above lies on dialectical perspective, for instance, Ikálẹ and Ilàjẹ̀ names are philosophical, in the sense that they showcase Yorùbá concepts in ọmọ (child), ikú (death), o ̣ ro ̣ (word), and ìwà/ìṣe (habit). Another examples are Yorùbá attach a strong importance to child such that nothing can be substituted for it as shown in Éhùúwàyíjo ̣ mọ (there is no habit that is greater that a child), Ọmọ̀ ̣ jùlówó (a child is better than money), and Ìwáijọ̣ mọ (no habit is greater than a child). No matter how much some women suffer in their matrimonial homes, they may endure it and not pack out just for the sake of their children as shown in Tọmọmeghò (I consider the children) and Ìyàọmọlérè (suffering on the children is rewarding).
Yorùbá also believes that whatever one says goes a long way, therefore, they are careful of their utterances. Hence, an adage says; "Ẹyin lohùn, tó bá bale ̣ a á fo ̣ " (word is an egg, if it drops, it will scatter). If one talks carelessly to a person, such person may not forget forever as shown in O ̣ ro ̣ dúùgbàgbé (word is not easily forgotten) and this can make the person to ponder much on the matter as reflected on Méònújù (do not think too much). Although eighty percent of Oǹdó, Idànre, and Ilẹ -Olújiì́ names have Akin as the NP, the peculiarities in Oǹdó, Idànre, and Ilẹ -Olújiì́ names lie on the Verb Phrases as highlighted in the examples above. The peculiarities in Èkitì names lie on the NPs; Ọni (human being), uyì (honour), u ̣ à (ceremony or habit), ùsì (fame), Ọlụ̣ a (a kind of god), and O ̣ ṣà (orìṣà) (deity). Name formation obeys vowel harmony principle in that [-ATR] vowels /ọ̀ / and /ụ̀ / in Ọlu ̣ a and [-ATR] /ọ̀ / and /a/ in O ̣ ṣà cooccur with each other respectively in Èkitì dialect. In addition, Èkiti, Oǹdó, Idànre, Ilẹ -Olújiì, and Ikàlẹ dialects operate vowel /u/ word initial as reflected on their names in the examples. Ẹ gbá names are recognized by the segments lí and ṣó while Ijẹ bú names are known with ùgà (fame), odù (divination), ọna' (arts and craft). These differences make names to be a tool of origin tracing. No matter how long a person or a group of people stays in a particular area, if their names differ from the names common to the immediate neighbours, their origin can be easily traced and they will be regarded as sojourners. They cannot have a sense of belonging in that area neither can they hold traditional chieftaincy titles.

Names Change, Modifications and Avoidance as Stigma on Yorùbá True Identity
This section focuses on the reasons for name modification and name avoidance and the consequences in Yorubá society. A plethora of research has shown that language endangerment is of a serious concern to scholars. All scholars are using their research to look for solutions on how to preserve the endangered languages from going into extinction. Although, if a language dies will affect culture, the concern that the scholars have for the endangered indigenous languages, like Yorùbá, has not allowed attention to be drawn to the fact that Yorùbá clan and praise names with orúkọ àmúto ̣ runwá (natural names) are also endangered. The reasons are because of the arbitrary name change and modifications to suit religious affection and avoidance of some names regarded as archaic. Although the previous studies on naming, like Ajiboye (2009), Ikotun and Aladesanmi (2012), Ikotun (2013), and Akintoye (2015) discuss intensively on surname change, none of these scholars mentioned the dangers of surname change in Yorùbá land.
According to Ikotun (2014), the advent of Christianity introduced Western and European address forms in Yorùbá land whereby the use of surnames is emphasized was a blessing to Yorùbá. What was a blessing then has turned to become harm in Yorùbá land in that the Yorùbá Christian fanatics are modifying the subject NPs that portray the faith of their progenitors in their deities in the first parts of their surnames or clan names to suit their new religions. They regard such names as being associated with paganism as demonstrated below.
Ògúnyẹ̀ mi "god of iron favours me" becomes Ọ̀ lọ runyẹ̣̀ mi "God favours me" Ògúnjimí "god of iron shook me" becomes Ọ̀ lọ runforijimí "God forgave me" Ògúnniýì "god of iron has honour" becomes Olúwaniýì "the Lord has honour" Ògúnniŕan "god has generation" becomes Olúwaniŕan "the Lord has generation" Ọ ṣ̀ untóbi "Ọ ṣ̀ un goddess is great" becomes Olúwatóbi "the Lord is great" Ọ ṣ̀ unlọ lá "Ọ ṣ̀ un goddess is wealthy" becomes Olúwálọ lá "the Lord is wealthy" Ọ ṣ̀ unlẹ yẹ̀ "Ọ ṣ̀ un goddess has honour" becomes Olúwalẹ yẹ̀ "the Lord has honour" Ọ ṣ̀ undùn "Ọ ṣ̀ un goddess is sweet" becomes Jeśùdùn "Jesus is sweet" Ọ ṣ̀ unládé "Ọ ṣ̀ un goddess has a crown" becomes Jeśùládé "Jesus has a crown" Fániŕan "divination has generation" becomes Olúwániŕan "the Lord has generation" Fániýì "divination has honour" becomes Jeśuniýì "Jesus has honour" Fálọ̀ là "divination is wealthy" becomes Ọ̀ lọ runjẹ mbọ là "God is wealthy" Fálohùn "divination has voice" becomes Ọ̀ lọ runlohùn "God has voice" Fágbàmiĺà "divination delivered me" becomes Olúwágbàmiĺà "the Lord delivered me" There are other names that are gradually fading out. People do not like to adopt them because they are regarded as archaic. Such names are praise names. If these names exist as first names and they are embraced at all, it will be in the villages given by the grandparents or uneducated parents. These names are adopted by both males and females as itemized below.

Ikotun (2013) mentions
In addition, praise names like Àkànjí, Àyìndé Àdùke ̣ , and Àdùnní to mention a few, are also not adopted as names for the children who are below the age of 10. There are reasons for the non-use of the praise names. One of the reasons is that mothers and grand-mothers who are below the age of 60 do not know the Yorùbá eulogies where the praise names are derived. The few great-grand-parents who know are usually cautioned when they start to recite any of the eulogies such as "Àdùnní, ọmọ ẹkùn, ọmọ erin..." (Àdùnní, the daughter of a leopard, the daughter of an elephant...). The reaction from parents would be "ọmọ mi ò kìí ṣe ọmọ ẹkùn, ọmọ erin, ọmọ Jésù ni" (my daughter is not the daughter of a leopard or an elephant, she is Jesus daughter).
Whatever the reasons, they will do all things possible to make sure that other Yorùbá or Christian names overshadow the names that are considered to be archaic. The so called names that are brought from heaven "orúkọ̀ àmútọ runwá" such as Ìgè, Dàda, Òjó, Àìná, O ̣ ke ̣ , Òní, Àjàyí, Táíwò, and Ke ̣ hìndé are also endangered. For instance, many parents do not like their children to be addressed as Dàda (a child born with dreadlock). If they notice that their new babies are Dàda, they will cut the knots before the baby is mature. Some people who do not want to eradicate such names completely usually combine them with other names to form compound names as reflected below.
Olú-Àjàyí Ade-Òjó Òjó-Adé Ade-Àjàyí Ọ̀ lá-Òní Olú-Òjó Ọ̀ lániýi-Igè Owó-Ọ kẹ The above names are also reduced to surnames and commonly adopted by married men while their wives and children adopt the men's first names as their surnames. At the demise of these men, the natural names will be dropped.
People that modify names because of their religious beliefs and demonstration of allegiance to God or avoiding some names in order to flow with the trends of modernization may think that they are justified for that development. Whatever their reasons, the fact remains that the demerits it has on the future of Yorùbá society are more than its merits. Apart from the semantic ambiguity noted by Ajiboye (2009), name modifications and avoidance can lead to a complete elimination of the family religious history in the sense that the generations to come will not know the original religions of their progenitors since their fathers did not bother to tell them due to a wrong perception about the family religion. In addition, name modifications can cause confusion in the family; while one part of the family bears the modified names and the other part bears the family original names, it may be difficult for the third party to link the part that adopts modified names to the part that maintains the family's original names.
It can also lead to a low brotherhood interaction in the family because there is already religion dichotomy in the family whereby the fanatics will have low participations in the family's affairs and also regard other family members as pagans on the ground of religion. These fanatics will definitely indoctrinate their immediate families not to have anything to do with their family members less they indulged them in their fetish activities. Name avoidance can lead to a gradual extinction of the praise names and reincarnation names because with time, there will be a complete repulsiveness for them by the generations to come. As such doing, one part of Yorùbá culture is eliminated.

Conclusion
This paper has considered the dangers of misconception of Yorùbá individual names on the future of Yorùbá true identity. The paper explained that it is not only Yorùbá language that is endangered, Yorùbá names are also endangered. The paper stated the attributes of Yorùbá names in Yorùbá society and the claims of the religious fanatics and the name avoiders for that development. The various demerits of name change, modifications and avoidance in Yorùbá land were highlighted in the paper. There is a need for Yorùbá scholars to use their research works to protect Yorùbá names from going into extinction.