Exploring Complexity of First Names from a Theoretical Approach

This work explores the possibility of first names as a complex phenomenon in which not only language, but society and culture are involved. Given names are a category of the natural languages in which different facets of human beings as sociocultural subjects are intertwined. Not only do such names belong to the language they are expressed in but also, they integrate their bearers into the social and cultural structure of their communities. By understanding speakers as ongoing members of different groups within the community and by integrating their interaction as well as the symbolic constructions that emerge from such interaction, the category can be conceived as the result of a dynamic relation between a set of inseparable heterogeneous elements. Hence, language in use, society and culture cannot be isolated or considered separately as they all become the category. Because of this, both the process of name-giving (which first names come to be used by) and the changing repertory resulting from such a process becomes of great relevance to this endeavour. Taking these into consideration, a model of a complex adaptive system will be presented to propose the category of first name as its emergent property.