I have realized that despite having spent more than a month in my village (including the two-week visit in August), I know the names of no one in my village except my colleagues, a few children, and the shopkeeper's husband. This is not a sign of anti-social tendencies on my part, but rather a reflection of Bariba culture.
Here in Sonsoro, people tend to be addressed by their position or by their relationships. Thus, like the rest of the village, I call the health center pharmacist Commis ('pharmacist') or Maman Farhan ('Farhan's mother'). The nursing assistant is called Dokotoro (like doctor), Sage Femme ('midwife'), or Maman Herman ('Herman's mother'). These names are used in place of first names. For example, I would say, "Commis, do you have change for 1000 CFA?" or "Give this to Maman Herman."
A few weeks ago, I asked Maman Herman to tell me the name of the shopkeeper. She didn't know, even though they have been good friends for years. Everyone here just calls the shopkeeper Maman Jeremie ('Jeremie's mother'), and her husband is Papa Jeremie. Since Jeremie is only four months old, I wonder what name Maman Jeremie used before.
When children are born, they can be given a Muslim name, a Christian name, or a name that reflects their birth order. Thus, my name, Bake ('third daughter'), is extremely common. Out of the 16 pre-natal visits we did yesterday at the health center, three or four of the women were named Bake. Even when a child has a Muslim or Christian name, he/she may be casually referred to by his/her birth order.
As for last names, I haven't figured that out yet. Husbands and wives don't have the same last names. When we fill out vaccination cards, we automatically list the father's first name as the child's last name. Perhaps that is the naming practice here, but I have not yet confirmed that.
It would seem difficult to get someones attention by addressing with a birth order when there might be several people in a room with the same birth order. If you want to address someone who's birth order you don't know it would be difficult as well. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteJean Ralley
I talked to my colleagues about this again recently and mentioned that I get the impression that Bake is the most common female name, even more common than the names for first daughter and second daughter. They agreed. I guess the parents just run out of names by the time the third daughter rolls around. Or maybe Bake has a particularly nice ring to the Bariba ear. I don't know.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem, though, that knowing someone's name is not as important as in the US. My new colleague just calls the pharmacist Pharmacie (literally pharmacy), and the pharmacist calls her Tanti (auntie). It's likely that neither of them knows the other's name and that's not a problem.