Name as a Vehicle of Communication: A Case of the Efiks of Nigerias Cross River State

This paper seeks to examine the Efik naming system and how it communicates the cultural and genealogical identity of the Efik people of Cross River State of Nigeria. In-depth interviewing is the research technique used for this study. Altogether, 28 persons - nine traditional rulers and 19 community elders - were interviewed; and this is augmented by the researcher’s intuitive knowledge. The theoretical framework adopted for the study is Bormann’s symbolic convergence symbol theory (SCT). Discussion is done in a descriptive form. Findings show that an average Efik person can bear up to six names - enyiñ emana (birth name), usio enyiñ (given name), udori enyiñ or nditik enyiñ (nickname), enyiñ uko or enyiñ akparawa (honorific or pet name), and can also have enyiñ uduök-mmöñ (baptismal name) and enyiñ edisöñö (confirmation name), if he/she is a Christian, especially of the Catholic faith. The implication of these findings is that name, among the Efik people, has the capacity to communicate the identity, birthday, place of origin, genealogy, achievement, attribute, and ancestry of its bearer though many Efik people are now deviating from the established naming conventions that had existed among them. To, therefore, preserve the Efik tradition and culture, this paper recommends that the naming system should be respected and maintained.