Naming conventions

How people are named.

Bep OLD

Typical Bep names are fully flexible, although the "surname" part is less likely to be changed than the "given" part. Since Bep lack the structure of a blood family / lineage, it doesn't really make sense to talk about given and sur-/family names; much rather, there's a malleable and a rigid name. Both are mostly decided by the consensus of your ncawe (≈whānau).

The name that rarely changes, "surname" if you'd like, is typically a more or less completely meaningless 'nickname'. These names are chosen throughout the person's early childhood because they sound nice, and suit the person phonoaesthetically. Sometimes these "surnames" are homophonous with actual words, but they will not be related as such. How they're chosen depends, naturally, on the habits and sensibilities of those around you. These names are usually used in general contexts, and are not that long.

"Surnames" often have a slightly regional ring to them, with processes and pronunciations and whatnots for making up a callsound/name being differing between regions. They may be changed if you move to a new place and integrate with its community and change/expand ncawe, either through a complete reassignment or by people adapting the general vibe of your name to the local habit. Whether and how this happens depends very much on your social standings and specific area.

Random example: aiso /a.i.sɤ/

The name that changes a bunch, "given name" if you'd like, is usually based on some form of item; specifically, plants, fungi, and some more passive creatures (snails, oysters, clams..). In other words they're chosen from the realm of $WORD. Crucially, traditional names may be edible, but not staple foods as such. The Bep region has plenty of biodiversity and regional nomenclature for it, so there are plenty of names to go around. These names are typically a bit on the longer side, used in familiar contexts, either as-is or turned into shorter nicknames.

These "given names" are usually revised every now and then, at "important" hui, when a larger portion of your ncawe comes together to celebrate themselves or just you (e.g. celebration of a common victory / celebrations of eras of your life). The new name will largely be borne from consensus; usually some new (local) plant that can be specifically or symbolically associated with how you've been.

Random example: śaśawnceu /ɕa.ɕa.ɯ.ŋɘ͡ɨ/, a small blue flower. Could be shortened to something like śaśa.

The past couple hundred years there's also been a rise in people being given names after ingredients and various other food-related stuff, which is sort of treated as an extension of the plants/passive animals realm of $WORD that names are already based on. It's sort of a more "modern" convention. Early cases of this arose in the form of people being named after fruits/veg/critters that were (ingredients of) local staple foods; by now, full-on meals also happen, usually as a sort of way for your community to show off where you're currently living.

Food-related names like these represent ~17% of given names (~79 million people)(slightly generous estimate), making them a sizeable and growing minority. This percentage may wiggle around a bit depending on what you consider as a possible ingredient versus defined as an ingredient; this is a common topic of meaningless semantic quarrel in Bep society.

tldr, Where you might've been named specific type of oyster before, you can now also end up as oyster soup with strips of brackish algae or pan-fried oyster on fried leaf mix.

Random examples:

• dwrwi /dɯ.rɯ͡i/, a kind of jackfruit (staple food)
• xeunanmna /ʎ̥ɘ͡ɨ.na.n.na/, a kind of escargot soup (local specialty)

Paperwork typically requires dating and for you to list your previous name(s) if any; the Bep have a whole discipline of keeping track of names in paperwork, although this is in large part automated now.

A minority (~8%, ~36.5m people) of the Bep population follows naming conventions entirely deviant from the above.