Exploring the Ethnonomastics of Hausa Indigenous Personal Names

This study investigates how Hausa personal names function as linguistic and cultural expressions of identity, worldview, and continuity. Anchored in Dell Hymes’ Ethnography of Communication Theory, the research adopts a qualitative ethnonomastic approach to analyze Hausa indigenous names as communicative acts embedded in sociocultural contexts. Data were collected through oral interviews, participant observation, and document analysis in Guga, Bakori Local Government Area of Katsina State, involving sixteen (16) indigenous names categorized under circumstances of birth, physical traits, flora and fauna, and occupation. Findings reveal that Hausa personal names are rich semiotic codes that encapsulate moral values, social experiences, spirituality, and communal ideologies. They serve as repositories of cultural memory, linking language to social identity, and functioning as expressive tools of moral instruction, identity negotiation, and resistance to cultural erasure. Despite the pervasive influence of Islam and globalization, which have introduced significant shifts in naming preferences, Hausa indigenous names continue to embody cultural resilience and continuity, preserving the people’s heritage and communicative worldview.