When in the old days they gave up their own name and chose a new one

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Taking a new name means changing one's destiny. From time immemorial, peoples and tribes believed in this, which were not connected in any way, did not exchange rituals and myths - they simply felt the special role that a person's name plays in his life. Those who want to change their name today, in the 21st century, have something to rely on - there are plenty of traditions associated with this, at first glance, formal action.

Confuse evil spirits

A sacred meaning has always been attributed to the name. It is not for nothing that in many cultures special rituals were associated with naming, they were often carried out secretly - after all, it was impossible to allow evil forces to know about a new defenseless person that could destroy him. By the way, for this reason, the newborn sometimes received a dissonant name - this was the case, for example, in China. Having found out that the child got such a name, the spirits allegedly concluded that he was not so dear to the family, and left the baby alone.

In many American Indian tribes, the child's personal name was kept secret, using nicknames or kinship terms. Often a newborn was given a "baby name", which then changed depending on his characteristics, talents, achievements. The chief of the Hunkpapa tribe, Sitting Bull (Tatanka Yotake), bore the name Slow (Hunkeshni) as a child, which was changed after a successful or unsuccessful military campaign. In general, a change of name with a transition to a new level - both due to age and with a change in social status - was once a common phenomenon for people. after birth: a person who was born could not remain nameless. Later, when the mullah recited a special prayer, the child received a permanent name.

It was a very common custom to change the name of a child if he was sick or weak. Thus, all the same evil spirits were “deceived”. For some peoples - in Siberia, Russia and Ukraine - in families where newborns often died, they performed the ceremony of "selling" the child. For this, the baby was transferred to neighbors for some time, to another house, and then taken away in exchange for a cash payment. After that, the child received a new name, and the evil forces had to "get confused" and leave this family alone.

The custom of changing the name of a sick person exists in Judaism. The name Chaim is often taken as a new one, which means "life." By the way, according to legend, the biblical Abram and his wife Sarah were able to give birth to a child after long years of waiting only when God gave them new names - Abraham and Sarah.

Into a new religion with a new name

Since the transition to a new stage of life was associated with the change of name, appropriate ceremonies were provided for in different confessions. Thus, with the rite of initiation into monasticism, the novice receives a new name. This custom has existed since the 4th century. When tonsured into the schema, the name is also changed - now for the last time.

The same tradition exists in Buddhism - after taking the tonsure and leaving the world, the mentor gave the monk a new name. In Japan, in addition to this, there is a custom to give a Buddhist name to a deceased person, this posthumous name is used in memorial rites and allows you not to disturb the soul of the deceased. Those who convert to Islam are not obliged to change the name, but this is allowed - in those cases, for example, when the former name contained a reference to another religion (Christopher, Krishna), or simply at the request of a convert. So Cassius Clay became Mohammed Ali during his conversion to the Muslim faith.

Converting to Judaism, converts quite often take new names - in Hebrew. The process of Hebrewization, the change of names to Hebrew, which began even before the emergence of the State of Israel, does not stop even now. This custom is common among immigrants. In general, according to Israeli law, you can change your name both in case of illness and for other reasons - however, without a “valid” reason, this can be done no more than once every seven years.

Serving the state and your church

It is difficult to imagine a more serious change of fate than the adoption of leadership over the state or over the church. Of course, in such cases, the name is subject to revision - after all, the next fragment of a person's biography should be included in the world annals. According to tradition, the name of the one who was elected pope changes. This happened for the first time in 533, when the Roman Mercury became the bishop of Rome. It was impossible for the pontiff to bear the name of a pagan god - that is why the new pope became John II. Often the name was changed due to dissonance. The last popes, whose names remained the same after the adoption of the new office, were Adrian VI and Marcellus II, both of whom lived in the 16th century, with the former remaining supreme pontiff for a year and a half after being elected, and the latter for 22 days.

It is noteworthy that none of the popes took the name of Peter II - as a sign of respect to the first Roman bishop, the Apostle Peter. When accession to the throne, the names and rulers of states were changed - both ancient, like Assyria, and quite modern. The monarchs of Great Britain became kings not under their usual name, but under what was recorded at his birth as the second, third or even fourth. For example, the father of Elizabeth II was named Albert Frederic Arthur Georg, and after the coronation he became George VI. Apparently, the current heir to the British throne, Charles, when the time comes, will not be King Charles or, more precisely, Charles: this name has a poor reputation in English history.

But as for not ruling persons, but those who directly affect the well-being and security of the state: in Sweden, until relatively recently, it was customary to take the "soldier's name" when joining the ranks of the country's armed forces. This tradition arose no later than the 16th century and lasted until the beginning of the past. The fact is that the Swedes did not have surnames before, they used patronymics instead. And if in small settlements two or three Karlsson or Frederiksson did not yet create confusion, then in the army an excessive number of repetitions introduced confusion. Therefore, each soldier took his own, new name - under it and served. For example, it could be called "Dolk" - "dagger" or "Rask" - "fast" or "Ek" - "oak". Sometimes a soldier's name was given based on geography - the place where the soldier was from.

With the adoption of the law on the compulsory wearing of the surname in 1901, the need for this disappeared, but many left the soldier's name as a family name, inherited. To the old and even ancient customs concerning the change of name, others were added, relatively modern: for example related to witness protection programs provided by states, or the adoption of a child with a new name.

And here is how they treated the paternal name - patronymic in the culture of different peoples.