No Surnames In Cook
p. 40 · Read in the full issue
Islands !
By Edwin Gold
IT is a curious fact that, except in the case of Euronesians who inherit a papaa family name, no Cook Island Polynesian has any other appellation than his own and his father’s “given” name. It works out something like this (applying the Cook Island system to an imaginary European family-tree).
Ancestor: John Brown.
Son: Thomas John.
His Son: William Thomas.
His Son: Henry William.
His Son: James Henry.
But the line may be at any time inter
rupted by another form of Cook Island peasant nomenclature. James’s son may be: “Little Jimmy.” So we go on: His Son; Edward Little Jimmy.
Then we go back to normalcy again.
Edward’s son is Arthur Edward, and his son is Charles Arthur.