Kinship and Descent Naming

Kinship and descent naming systems are evident in societies all around the world. It seems to be one thing that all cultures have in common. The purpose of a naming system in different cultures is to be able to put a word or name to relationships within a family. These names can also give general clues as to the age and gender relative to the subject at hand. (Wikipedia, 2013) Two naming systems that have been used in our world are the Eskimo and Hawaiian systems. The Eskimo system is the most common naming system used today in North America and Europe. The Hawaiian naming system is found in about one-third of the world’s societies and is primarily found in the Malayo-Pacific and Polynesian Islands.

The Hawaiian system is less complicated than the Eskimo system. It used four terms to describe kinship. These four terms are mother, father, sister, and brother. The naming system does not differentiate between different sides of the family. This kinship naming system reflects the differences between sex and generation only. (Nielson, 2010) The Eskimo system is similar to the Hawaiian system where there are names given to distinguish between age and generation. However, the Eskimo system goes into more detail distinguishing between “Mother” and “Aunt” and “Uncle” and “Father”. Also, distinction is made between a brother or sister and a cousin. Cousins do not have dinstinction on gender or side of the family. Aunt and Uncle have the distinction of gender but like cousins do not have distinction of the side of the family they hail from. The main difference between Hawaiian and Eskimo systems is the detail they go into naming.

Naming systems used can reflect the importance that cultures place on certain rules or traditions. For example, marriage between cousins in the Hawaiian culture is taboo as they are referred to as brother and sister. Also, the Hawaiian naming system reflects the responsibilities place on the entire