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Paper short abstract:

I argue that, among the Cocos Malays, personal names teknonyms and personal names make sense in relation to each other. In general, teknonyms reflect a dividual identity, which contrasts with the individual identity of personal names.

Paper long abstract:

On the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, personal names are passed down from the father. They are usually reserved for formal occassions. In daily life, another naming system is most commonly used. Specifically, Cocos Malays use the name of one's oldest child or grandchild. For instance, I am known not as "Nick". Instead, I take the name of my eldest child "Kiki". So I am referred to and addressed as "Pak Kiki". This literally means "Kiki's Dad" (see: https://nicholasherriman.blogspot.com/2014/02/naming-and-family.html).

This kind of name is called a "teknonym" in the anthropological literature. In general, personal names come from an ancestor and go down through the generations. Teknonyms, by contrast, come from a descendant and go up through the generations.

The most sustained theoretical treatment of the topic is Hildred and Clifford Geertz's 1964 article "Teknonymy in Bali". In it, the authors foreshadow their later interpretive anthropology, arguing that, in Bali, teknonymy "is not just a set of beliefs, a mere theory, but is actually used as a template or blueprint in terms of which Balinese may pattern their concrete behaviour"(1964, 103).

In this presentation, I draw on the Geertzs' idea and combine it with another approach to teknonyms. Drawing on the 'New Melanesian Anthropology', I argue that teknonyms and personal names make sense in relation to each other. In general, teknonyms reflect a dividual identity, which contrasts with the individual identity of personal names. But my argument needs to be tempered by various observations, which I will provide in the presentation.