Teknonymy (fromAncient Greek:τέκνον 'child' andὄνομα 'name')[1] is the practice of referring toparents by thenames of theirchildren.[2] This practice can be found in many different cultures around the world. The term was coined by anthropologistEdward Burnett Tylor in an 1889 paper.[3] Such names are calledteknonyms,teknonymics, orpaedonymics.[4]
TheCocos Malays ofCocos (Keeling) Islands, where parents are known by the name of their first-born child.[5] For instance, a man named Hashim and his wife, Anisa, have a daughter named Sheila. Hashim is now known asPak Sheila (literally 'Sheila's father') and Anisa asMak Sheila ('Sheila's mother').
Toba Batak people of Indonesia.[6] The case is very similar to the Cocos Malays.
theKorean language; for example, if a Korean woman has a child namedSu-min, she might be calledSu-min Eomma (meaning 'mother of Su-min')[3]
theChinese language has a similar but also very flexible phenomenon. Suppose a boy's nickname at home is二儿 (Er'er), then the father of the child can call the child's mother他妈/孩儿他妈/二儿他妈, meaning 'his mom'/'child's mom'/'Er'er's mom', respectively.[12] Similar applies to the boy's mother calling her husband (i.e., the boy's father) by changing妈 ('mom') to爸/爹 ('dad'). This usage occurs mostly between parents, but can also be found in other limited scenarios, e.g. a teacher calling a child's parents.
theArabic-speaking world; for example, if aSaudi man named Hasan has a male child named Zayn, Hasan will now be known asAbu Zayn (literally 'father of Zayn'). Similarly,Umm Malik (Malik is a name used for males) is 'mother of Malik'. This is known as akunya in Arabic and is used as a sign of respect for others.
theNupe people of Nigeria; for example, if a man has a son named Isyaku, he will be known asBaba Isyaku, whereas his wife would be calledNna Isyaku.
theYoruba language of West Africa; for example, if a woman has a son namedFemi, she will now be known asiya Femi (meaning 'mother of Femi') and her husbandbaba Femi (meaning 'father of Femi').
theHausa language of West Africa; for example, if a man has a son named Adam, the man will be known asBaban Adam, while his wife would be calledMaman Adam.
Swahili, as spoken in Tanzania and Kenya;[14] for example, if a woman has a son named Musa, the woman would be known asMama Musa. Musa's father would be known asBaba Musa.
to some extent, amongHabesha people in the Horn of Africa
^Reflections on Japanese Language and Culture. Studies in the humanities and social relations. Institute of Cultural and Linguistic Studies, Keio University. 1987. p. 65. Retrieved16 June 2019.On the Notion of Teknonymy In the field of anthropology, the custom of calling the parent after the child is known as teknonymy, a term coined from the Greek word teknon "child" and the anglicized form of onoma as onymy "name".
^Oxford English Dictionary (2005), "paedonymic,n."
^Winarnita, Monika; Herriman, Nicholas (2012). "Marriage Migration to the Malay Muslim community of Home Island (Cocos Keeling Islands)".Indonesia and the Malay World.40 (118):372–387.doi:10.1080/13639811.2012.709020.S2CID162569220.
^Geertz, Hildred;Geertz, Clifford (1964). "Teknonymy in Bali: Parenthood, Age-Grading and Genealogical Amnesia".The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.94 (2):94–108.doi:10.2307/2844376.JSTOR2844376.
^Gao, Yingpei (17 November 2008)."相声·钓鱼".YouTube. Tianjin TV Station. Retrieved24 February 2022.
^Vilaça, Aparecida (2002). "Making Kin out of Others in Amazonia".The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute.8 (2):347–365.doi:10.1111/1467-9655.00007.JSTOR3134479.
The dictionary definition ofteknonym at Wiktionary