Our Native Names
p. 46 · Read in the full issue
Papeete, Nov. 1.
EUROPEANS who reside in the islands acquire sooner or later native names by which they are known among the Tahitians, to the exclusion of their natal titles.
Some are carelessly given to describe some peculiar feature or characteristic.
Others are bestowed with ceremony, and are usually chosen from the roster of ancestral names of those who give them.
Those fortunate enough to have acquired names of high-chiefly origin become so accustomed to their titles that their European names are seldom used by even their intimate friends.
As with every other gracious custom of old Polynesia, this ceremonial name giving is passing to disuse. It is a pity.
Those of us who have been given fine old names cling to them as we cherish memories of the courtly Tahitians who bestowed them.