There are three chief conditions which lead Todas to change their names. If two men have the same name, and one of the two should die, the other man would change his name, since the taboo on the name of the dead would prevent people from uttering the name of the living. The most recent example of this occurred about six years ago. There were two men named Matovan, one of Pan (19) and the other of Kwòdrdoni (34). The Kwòdrdoni man died and Matovan of Pan changed his name to Imokhvan, and it is this name which will be found in his pedigree.
This change of name may also be effected even when there is only a similarity between two names. Thus when Punbuthuvi, the wife of Parkurs (8), died, Sinbuthuvi of Kusharf (65) changed her name to Pukuruveli. Similarly when Òners of Kuudr (56) died, Einers of Piedr[3] (64) changed his name to Tokulvan.
A person may also change his name merely because it is the same as, or very similar to, that of another, this being done simply to avoid inconvenience and misunderstanding. It sometimes happens that a child is given the same name as some other child, and then one or other is renamed. Thus a boy was named Oblodj, but it was found later that there was a girl at Kars called Obalidz (12), and so the name [[626]]of the boy was changed to Meilitars (44). A boy of Päm was called Kudeners, but it was found that there was another Kudeners at Taradr (25), so the name of the former was changed to Arparners, often shortened to Arpar (38).
When Kainir (3) married, his wife’s name was Kanir, but she changed it since it was so like that of her husband. It was said to have been changed to Singub, but she was always known as Udz at the time of my visit.
Change of name of this kind is not obligatory, and there are several cases in which two people now living have the same name. When a change is made because two people have the same name or similar names, it is the younger of the two who changes. In most of the cases in which two people bear the same name it will be found that one belongs to the Tartharol and the other to the Teivaliol, and I am doubtful whether in this case names are changed except as the result of death.
A third reason for changing names is illness or other misfortune. When a man is ill, change of name is sometimes recommended by a diviner, but this is not often done. One of my guides, Kutadri (7), had changed his name twice. His original name had been Okeithi or Okvan, but as there was another Okvan of Keadr (68), he became Tagarsvan. Later he fell ill, and, on the recommendation of a diviner, Tagarsvan changed his name to Kutadri, and I never heard him spoken of or addressed by any but this name during my visit.
Taboos on Names
The only definite restrictions on the utterance of the names of living people are those connected with kinship which have already been considered in [Chapter XXI]. A man may not utter the names of his mother’s brother, his grandfather and grandmother, his wife’s mother, and of the man from whom he has received his wife, who is usually the wife’s father. The names of the above are tabooed in life, while after death the restrictions are still wider, and it is forbidden to utter the name of any dead elder relative, while the names of the dead are in any case only said reluctantly. [[627]]
It may seem strange that this reluctance should exist among a people who possess so full a genealogical record. The reluctance probably only extends to the public utterances of ordinary life and disappears when the people discuss affairs in which genealogical lore plays a part, or when they are transmitting this lore to others.