Names as Traps: Onomastic Destigmatization Strategies in Pakistan

Abstract

Pakistan is a largely Muslim country carved out of British India in 1947. Its majority Muslim population (96.28 per cent) is divided into two major sects Sunni and Shia. The census does not enumerate percentage figures for sects but anecdotal estimates place the Shias as 20 per cent of the population. Other religious minorities are: Christians (1.59 per cent), Hindus (1.85), Sikhs (0.01), Parsis and very small minorities of other religions (0.03).1 Although there are other divisions: ethnic and linguistic;2 class,3 regional (urban and rural), modern and traditional etc, the religious one is the most problematic because names indexed to religion or caste are perceived as traps by their bearers at least in threatening situations. Names pertaining to other divisions, though less threatening, may cause embarrassment or preclude the appropriation of a deiderated identity. The aim of this article is to describe situations in which names become such liabilites for their bearers as to feel like ‘traps’ and to study how people and the affected groups respond to such situations. Our focus will be on onomastic destigmatization strategies such as name-changing, modification of names, using names shared with the majority community, and using alternative names in public. The term ‘onomastic destgmatization’ is borrowed from Moa Bursell4 who uses it to describe the adoption of Swedish names by immigrants to avoid discrimination.