Making African names trendy: sociolinguistic implications of the Englishisation of indigenous Igbo names

This study examines an aspect of linguistic globalization known as Englishisation (Kachru 1994; Boussebaa & Brown 2016; Mensah 2021) by adopting the sociolinguistic approach to investigate the creative modifi cations of some Igbo indigenous names with the aim of ascertaining their underpinnings and implications for linguistic and cultural diversity in a globalized world. The findings reveal that in addition to contact and assimilation, the quest for global relevance and integration underlies the linguistic modifi cations of African (Igbo) names. The study concludes that Englishisation is posing a threat to linguistic and cultural diversity and recommends deliberate concerted reorientation in order to check the trend.