International records / OpenAlex research

A Shift in Batonu Personal Naming Practices

The contact of the Batonu people with Arab traders and Islamic missionaries back in the 16th century resulted in the Batonu people’s embrace of Islam which has brought profound effects on most of the traditional practices of the Batonu people. Before the Batonu people converted to Islam, every Batonu child had been given a Batonu name at birth based on order of birth, gentility, circumstance of birth, parents’ occupation, natural phenomena, etc. Such child was expected to be known and addressed by that name both within and outside the community. Today, this custom seems endangered as most Bato…