The Kelabit tribe of Borneo has a unique tradition relating to names. A Kelabit could have at least three names in his or her lifetime. Yes, the Kelabits do change their names to mark each significant stage in their life, namely a given name at birth, a new name taken after having the first born and another upon having the first grandchild.
Nowadays, a person is given a personal name, a common or popular one, including a western name, or one from any culture or nationality. And even a name from some other tribes or races.
For the Kelabits, the most common practice is to follow the patronym practice where a component of a personal name is based on the given name of one’s father. But the second and third name change tends to be more traditional names either specifically created for the person or inherited or borrowed from some usually long-deceased predecessors.
Traditionally, especially before their mass conversion to evangelical Christianity, the given names at birth were common traditional names like Lian, Balan, Tingang, Gerawat, and so on for boys and Supang, Bulan, Dayang, Sigang, Remat, and so on for the girls. Nowadays, names are borrowed from virtually everywhere and mainly westernised names.
It is also possible to have more than the three names in one’s lifetime based on the conventional milestones as mentioned earlier. One such scenario is a change of name for someone who believes that his or her name is not appropriate because of some ill-luck or misfortune that has befallen upon the person, or a perception of lack of appropriateness or fit of a name given to the person and where it is felt that a name change would somehow stop the circle of bad luck or remove the misalignment. Another occasion is where, especially in the olden warring days, as a means to confuse the enemy a person will change the given or current name and thereby seek to project a new identity altogether.
So, to the Kelabits, a name is everything. Names are carefully selected and there are traditional milestones or special circumstances where the opportunity for a name change is possible. To them, a name is not just a simple term used for the identification and classification of a person. It signifies important stages through life. It labels the persona and the attributes of a person or celebrates and perpetuate an ancestral lineage.
A chosen name can hold great value and meaning to a person and the community as a whole. To the Kelabits, the ability to remember and pronounce the traditional name of someone correctly is not just recognition of the individual to whom it belongs but is deemed as a sign of a cultured or a well-brought-up person. Such a person is worthy of respect and remembrance in return. So, for example, if someone remembers my traditional name and pronounces it correctly when he interacts with me or mentions me in a conversation with others, it is implied that he or she can call me anytime and is entitled to my love, respect and reciprocal honour and service.
A name is a unique label; it identifies a person and carries his or her legacy long after his or her lifetime. In that sense, a name signifies the belief that as long as his or her name is spoken of, a person is in that sense not dead or forgotten.
Therefore, the given name of a person is his or her special identity and the link to the particular individual who is bearing the name.
In the language of marketing, the name of a person is the branding of that person, a special attribute that differentiates that person from others.
Your name as an individual is your brand which shows who you are, your unique identity, your personality, and portrays the values you have exhibited or characteristics that are inherent in you.
Such branding effect or reputation is reflected in everything you do, from the perceptions held by others of you to the actual conduct and relations with others, all of which projects or reinforces the perception and experience of your personality and reputation by the community.
Hence, a carefully chosen name is your unique identity and can truly reflect what you are on the inside, and that which will emanate externally from you to those around you. In the old days, the process of selection can be deliberate and elaborate where a lot of discussions are made about the suitability and name being conferred upon a person. Consensus and general acclamation usually indicate the suitability of the name change and this could follow with celebration and feasting. It is an art and science all in one. As someone had once said, “Proper names are poetry in the raw. Like all poetry they are untranslatable.” — W.H. Auden.
In other words, your name encapsulates the whole person that you are. Your name is like beautiful poetry that is felt and is very real but often not easily translatable. The import of the name is more than the literal meaning of the words and is deeper than the translation of the words making up your name.
To the Kelabits, they have their convention, based on their culture and tradition, which governs or guides their naming protocol. For example, a popular convention or practice is for subsequent generations to adopt the names of the previous generations. So, a grandchild would adopt the name of the grandfather or grandmother depending on the gender of the person seeking to change his or her name. Names of other relatives in the extended family circle could also be adopted.
Some brave ones even adopt or create new names.
Common traditional names revolve around the Kelabit word for “tiger” where the word “Balang” or tiger is given certain attributes which seek to portray the prevailing or hoped-for characteristic of the person. Examples include Balang Nadun (literally ‘The tiger which sets the pace or is the benchmark or criterion for others), Balang Maren (Famous or well-known tiger), Balang Buren (Tiger that is always well-spoken about), Darah Balang (Blood of the tiger’), Mayung Balang (The guy who speared the tiger), Ribuh Balang (‘A thousand tigers’ implying a strong tiger or person) and so on.
It’s rather fascinating, this fondness for or connection with the tiger when tigers are not known to be found in Borneo in the present day. But Kelabit folklore and mythology make copious references to the animal. Perhaps, being the excellent hunters that they were the Kelabits would have hunted down the Bornean tiger to extinction – a perversed adoration for the animal and its skin which led to the ultimate extinction of the species.
Other popular themes for names revolve around words that mean or define fame, positive reputation and attributes. Thus, words like “Maren”, “Aren”, “Raja”, “Ribed”, “Paren”, “Pengiran” and derivatives of such words which hint of fame, fortune, good luck, wholesomeness and inherent beauty are popular traditional names.
Probably, this is not surprising since all over the world, people of different cultures and traditions follow different conventions when naming their children. The most common practice around the world is to follow the patronym practice where a component of a personal name is based on the given name of one’s father. On the other hand, matronymic surnames are far less common than patronymic surnames. Apparently, in some cultures in the past, matronymic last names were often given to children of unwed mothers, thereby displaying elements of gender bias or social norms and value systems.
So what is in a name? Well, it’s everything, especially so to the Kelabits.
Your name or title is your branding. It’s your unique identity, the avenue for projecting your core values and identity. Your name or given title is you. Your name is the branding effect or mechanism which cultivates what your counterparties, customers and the audience will come to expect of you, and what they experience when interacting with your communication, dealings, business or relationships.
And your brand or given name is the base or foundation for all your ‘marketing and projecting’ efforts, and the focal point or pivot from where you connect with your stakeholders, customers and people who interacts with you.
And while branding is your given or perceived identity or name, the marketing, communication and projection of the values and characteristics inherent in your name are the tactics and goals used to communicate that identity, to enhance or build relationships with others such as stakeholders, counter-parties and customers. In the olden days, traditional songs and special compositions were attached to the names of individuals who were the pillars and leaders of the community.
A good brand, name or identity is fundamental to creating value and impact. In business, such value and impact come in the form of increased sales. A good brand name makes marketing tactics and campaigns more effective, lending true credibility and believability to the reputation sought to be cultivated or communicated. A good name supports and reinforces core values that are inherent in the brand or auspicious name. These values are the true identity of the brand or name. And values never change, they are enduring and lasting attributes of the person or the names attributed to a person.
We should not begrudge others their chosen or preferred names, or the convention or identity they chose to follow or develop the name from. Everyone is entitled to choose whichever name they like, based on the parameters they have chosen or generally accepted by the community and for the reason that they prefer. It’s their choice, so who are we, especially outsiders, to judge or let alone begrudge them?
Naming conventions are a true exercise of democracy and free will. Even at the village or community level. To those who seek to begrudge others their choice of name or nomenclature, perhaps the words of William Penn ring loud and clear:
“Some men do as much begrudge others a good name, as they want one themselves: and perhaps that is the reason for it.”
By way of a footnote, William Penn (born 1644– died 1718) was the founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the British North American colony that became the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.
Coincidentally, the University of Pennsylvania is where the Wharton Business School is located, one of the top business schools in the world. I was fortunate to have been allowed to graduate from Wharton, a top name in business education. This, perhaps, is a happy coincidence to the name ‘Balang Nadun’, literally meaning the tiger which sets the pace or the reference criterion. The good fortune came with the name or after the name? Well, what is in a name anyway? You tell me.
But no one can dispute that a good and right name is most important. Something everyone would want for themselves.
Imagine someone with all the ideal attributes in a person but without a name. What will be the result? Surely, one would feel something is missing.
Therefore, a name is the most important thing. A name completes the person.
