BBC Learning English - 6 Minute English / How names can tell painful stories

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Introduction

Can names be attached to painful histories? Neil and Beth discuss this and teach you some useful vocabulary.

This week's question

According to a recent global survey, what is currently the world’s most popular boys’ name? Is it:

a) Jesus?
b) Mohammed? or,
c) Noah?

Listen to the programme to hear the answer.

Vocabulary

injustice
situation in which there is no fairness or justice

Christian name
(British English) first name; the name you were given at birth

noble
irable, morally good

baggage
beliefs and feelings, especially outdated or unhelpful ones, which influence how someone thinks and behaves

speak truth to power
when people non-violently resist an oppressive force, such as a government or corporation, by telling the truth

ruffle someone’s feathers
(idiom) upset or annoy someone

TRANSCRIPT

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Neil
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Neil.

Beth
And I’m Beth.

Neil
In every language, there’s one word which has special power over us: our name. Our senses, feelings and whole identity are closely linked to our name. Yet strangely, our name isn’t usually something we choose – it’s given to us by our parents.

Beth
But what if the name you were given at birth doesn’t fit? Maybe you simply don’t like it, or maybe there are bigger reasons for wanting to change your name, reasons connected with historical injustices, or unfair events in the past. In this programme, we’ll be meeting two people whose family history has caused them to consider changing their name. And, as usual, we’ll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.

Neil
Sounds good, Beth, but first I have a question for you. My name – Neil – is a British name and was given to me at birth. But names change a lot between cultures and religions. Many Muslim boys are named Mohammed, Indian boys are often called Ram or Krishna, and in Mexico, some boys are named Jesus. So according to a recent global survey, what is currently the world’s most popular boys’ name? Is it:

a)    Jesus?
b)    Mohammed? or,
c)    Noah?

Beth
Hmm, I guess it’s Mohammed.

Neil
OK Beth, I’ll reveal the answer at the end of the programme. In Britain, a person’s first name is also called their Christian name, and in Christianity, many names have a religious meaning. The name John, for example, means ‘God is good’. Anderson Jeremiah is the Bishop of Edmonton. He was born in South India, but he doesn’t have a traditional Indian sounding name. Here, Bishop Jeremiah explains the roots of his name to BBC World Service programme, Heart and Soul:

Bishop Anderson Jeremiah
It was the name of one John Anderson. He was the first educational missionary who came and worked and set up several schools in South India, who had very noble ambitions, but also as with any missionaries, he was a big collaborator of the colonial establishment at that point in time, so he has a very a strong baggage that goes with it. So, Anderson is my Christian name, and Jeremiah is my dad's name.

Beth
Bishop Anderson Jeremiah’s name comes from another man, John Anderson, a Christian missionary during the British empire. The history of the British empire in India is controversial with many views on all sides. Bishop Jeremiah thinks that some of the empire’s missionaries were noble, meaning irable or morally good.

Neil
But nevertheless, John Anderson was part of a violent and exploitative empire. Bishop Jeremiah uses the word baggage to describe the beliefs, especially outdated or unhelpful beliefs, which influence how people think. Emotional baggage tends to influence the feelings of one individual, while historical baggage can affect whole societies.

Beth
In India, names serve an important purpose: to signify social status. Low-status Indians, including Bishop Anderson’s grandparents, escaped social discrimination by converting to Christianity and taking another, Christian, name. But elsewhere in the British Empire, names were connected with something completely unchristian: slavery.

Neil
Black British writer, Professor Robert Beckford, is an activist theologian at the University of Winchester. His surname – Beckford - is a slave name, ed down from his enslaved African ancestors in

.18th century Jamaica. Here, Professor Beckford talks to BBC World Service programme, Heart and Soul, about his decision to name his son, Micah:

Professor Robert Beckford
My son is named Micah, Micah Beckford, after one of the prophets, so I do like the idea of people in the Biblical tradition who speak truth to power, who ruffle people's feathers, who challenge the injustice. I haven't thought of giving myself a biblical name. I could never find a name that really resonated with me.

Neil
The phrase to speak truth to power describes times when people non-violently resist an oppressive force, such as a government or corporation, by telling the truth. And if you ruffle someone’s feathers, you upset or annoy them.

Beth
Maybe it’s not so much your name, as what you do with it that counts. Anyway, it’s time to reveal the answer to your question, Neil.

Neil
Yes, I asked you which boys’ name is currently the world’s most popular, and you guessed Mohammed, which was… the correct answer! Right, let’s recap the vocabulary we’ve learned, starting with injustice, a situation lacking fairness or justice.

Beth
In British English, your Christian name is your first name, the name you were given at birth.

Neil
The adjective noble means irable or morally good.

Beth
Baggage refers to beliefs and feelings, especially outdated or unhelpful ones, which influence how someone thinks.

Neil
The idiom speak truth to power describes when people non-violently resist an oppressive force, such as a government or corporation, by telling the truth.

Beth
And finally, to ruffle someone’s feathers means to upset or annoy them. Once again, our six minutes are up, but to us again next time for more trending topics and useful vocabulary, here at 6 Minute English. Goodbye for now!

Neil
Bye!