Derogatory Akan names as pragmatic tools for social evaluation

This study explores the use of derogatory Akan names (DANs) as pragmatic tools for social evaluation among Akan speakers in Ghana. Drawing on a tripartite model of African name meaning, the study explores how DANs are used to express criticism, mockery, and moral evaluation in everyday interaction. Data were collected through observations of naturally occurring interactions in selected communities in Kumasi, using a descriptive qualitative approach. Thirty-five DANs were identified and analysed thematically. The findings show that DANs function as culturally meaningful evaluative resources targeting civility, gender performance, morality, intelligence, physical appearance, and social maturity. The study argues that DANs regulate behaviour, reinforce communal expectations, and negotiate social relations within Akan discourse. It contributes to African onomastic scholarship by foregrounding derogatory naming as an underexplored dimension of indigenous sociolinguistic practice.