Necronym

Not to be confused with Deadname.

A necronym (from the Greek words νεκρός, nekros, "dead," and ὄνομα, ónoma, "name") is the name of or a reference to a person who has died. Many cultures have taboos and traditions associated with referring to the deceased, ranging from at one extreme never again speaking the person's real name, bypassing it often by way of circumlocution,[1] to, at the other end, mass commemoration via naming other things or people after the deceased.[2]

For instance, in some cultures it is common for a newborn child to receive the name (a necronym) of a relative who has recently died,[2] while in others to reuse such a name would be considered extremely inappropriate or even forbidden.[3] While this varies from culture to culture, the use of necronyms is quite common.

  1. ^ Rév, István (October 1998). "The Necronym". Representations. 64: 76–108. doi:10.2307/2902933. ISSN 0734-6018.
  2. ^ a b Bayliss, Miranda (1973). "The Cult of Dead Kin in Assyria and Babylonia". Iraq. 35 (2): 115–125. doi:10.2307/4199959. ISSN 0021-0889. JSTOR 4199959. S2CID 191381280.
  3. ^ Allan, Keith; Burridge, Kate (2006-10-05). Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of Language. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-45760-6.