Kendra Willson

I analyze discourse surrounding legislation on personal names from a linguistic and ethnographic standpoint, focusing on how name law discussion relates to broader societal changes in views of ethnicity, gender and family structure, and language. The geographical emphasis is on Northern Europe and the work seeks to place current debates in historical context. Personal names are simultaneously linguistic artifacts, identifying labels used to keep track of citizens, and markers of identity on many levels. Historically, regulation of personal names is part of the consolidation of the state. While the state remains the main domain of name law, national policies which often have roots in Romantic ideas of the nation-state have had to adjust to increased mobility, multilingualism and pluralism. Assimilationist policies have yielded to multiculturalism. Gender roles and normative family structures encoded in name practices are increasingly questioned - for instance, how surnames are transmitted in families; whether a given name should indicate the sex of the bearer. A general trend toward liberalization reflects the above changes.

Freedom in name choice is viewed as a human rights issue, often with reference to article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. However, gradual changes occur within a preexisting framework and, like all reforms, are attended by anxiety and debate. Legal, scholarly and popular discourse reflect different facets of this discussion. Government representatives, language experts, and the general public often see the issues in different terms and seem to talk past each other. By understanding the dynamics of this frequently dysfunctional discourse I aim to help resolve impasses and miscommunications. For administrative purposes, it is seen as desirable that names have a consistent form, e.g. well-defined given and surnames, and be written with a uniform character set. Language planners may focus on the desirability of consistent orthographic practices or the declinability of names. The public often views name choice as a matter of personal freedom of expression and the main argument for restriction a perceived risk of ostracism or inconvenience for the bearer of an unusual name. Concern for preservation of a language may also be expressed. As name law refers to linguistic entities but is often formulated, interpreted, and debated by non-linguists, the discourse has aspects of folk linguistics, but also relates to changing models of language used by experts.

I focus on issues relating to ethnic minorities and migration, surname transmission within families, gender-neutral names, and implicit and explicit models of language. The material studied includes legal, scholarly, and popular writings. Methods are based in discourse analysis. The project incorporates linguistics, history, law and folkloristics.