“Boundary-Maintenance” or “Boundary-Crossing”? Name-Giving Practices among Immigrants in Germany

Abstract

This study investigates why some immigrants choose names for their children that are common in their home country whereas others opt for names used by natives in the host country. Drawing on the sociological literature on symbolic boundaries, the first strategy can be described as boundary-maintenance whereas the second can be classified as boundary-crossing. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study and applying bivariate and multivariate methods, two broader explanations for name-giving practices are tested: (1) cultural proximity and the permeability of the symbolic boundary between home and host country; and (2) immigrants’ levels of linguistic, structural, social, and emotional integration in the host country. Overall, the theoretical model explains the differences very satisfactorily. Whilst both sets of factors proved relevant to immigrants’ name-giving practices, the immigrants’ level of integration in the host country was less important than the cultural proximity between the origin group and host country.

Keywords:

• symbolic boundaries
• boundary-making
• immigrants
• integration
• Germany
• anthroponymy

Notes

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) under Grant CRC 1171.

Notes

1 In 2018, the share of the population with an immigrant background in Germany amounted to 25.5 percent. A person is considered having a migration background when he or she or at least one parent does not have the German citizenship. Most of the people with an immigrant background in Germany come from Turkey (14.4 percent), Poland (10.9 percent), Russia (7.2 percent), Italy, and Romania (4.5 percent each) (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung 2018). Laws and regulations about first names in Germany are more restricted than in the US. Certain names are not permitted in Germany, such as 1) names that are the same as siblings' names; 2) offensive, ludicrous, or otherwise burdensome names as well as names taken from consumer products; and 3) names that are not gender-specific. Although since 2008 it has been possible to choose a gender-neutral first name, it must be accompanied by a further name which clearly identifies the sex of the child. First names may be rejected by the registry office if they do not conform to the regulations.

2 Although we acknowledge that these terms do not constitute linguistic antonyms, we sought to maintain the link to the scholarship in this field and therefore kept the original terms.

3 Interested readers will be provided with an anonymized version of the data set for replication on request.

4 As supplementary coding could only be conducted with regard to the question of whether or not a name is common in Germany, it was unfortunately not possible to generate a third category of hybrid names that are common in both the home and host country. For this purpose, it would have been necessary to do the ex-post coding for all languages that are represented in the sample, which was beyond the scope of this project.

5 See http://www.elinguistics.net. For instance, the distance between Swedish and German is 25.0, between Polish and German 68.1, and between Turkish and German 95.5.

6 Unfortunately, the wording of the question is vague in another aspect. In the explanation provided for the question, it was specified that the three persons a respondent could mention could be non-relatives as well as relatives who live outside the respondent's household.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jürgen Gerhards

Jürgen Gerhards is Professor of Sociology at Freie Universität Berlin. His research interests include comparative cultural sociology, and the sociology of European integration.

Julia Tuppat

Dr. Julia Tuppat is a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Sociology at Freie Universität Berlin. Her research interests include social inequality, migration and integration, as well as the sociology of health and education.