The Evolution of Naming Things
How did we go from grunting and pointing to having complex systems of names and language? The evolution of how humans name people, places and ideas has been fascinating to witness over time. Language is such an integral part of our lives nowadays that it’s easy to take for granted all the developments that had to occur for communication to progress to where it is.
As a history buff, I find exploring how our ancient ancestors interacted and conceived of the world around them to be endlessly interesting. Some of the earliest evidence we have of communication comes from cave paintings and carvings from tens of thousands of years ago. Archaeologists have hypothesized that these non-linguistic symbols were a way for early humans to convey meaning to each other before developed speech. You can almost imagine a Neanderthal grunting and gesturing at a drawing of a mammoth to say “food is over there”.
From there, it’s believed oral languages gradually emerged as homo sapiens developed more advanced speech capabilities. But these were likely very basic, devoid of some of the intricacies of modern language. Terms would have been concrete nouns referring directly to observable things in the physical world. Imagine the first “word” ever being something like “tree” or “fire”. Abstract ideas, relations between concepts, subjunctives — these elements of language took millennia to evolve.
As tribes grew larger it became necessary to develop more complex systems of nomenclature to differentiate individuals. Some anthropologists even theorize this may have been an early driving force behind language development. The advent of names is a fascinating transition point. Early names were probably derived from qualities people observed about each other — for example, someone tall might be called “Tall One”. Over generations of a group coexisting, naming conventions became more standardized.
Jumping forward many millennia, the ancient Egyptians had a sophisticated method of naming. A typical name would consist of several segments that communicated elements like the child’s birth order, the god/gods their parents worshipped, their hopes for the child, and more. Meanwhile in some far off lands names were beginning to represent important cultural concepts. Take the Chinese character for “strength” — a pictogram of a man tilling soil, conveying the importance of hard work.
These early naming systems stored meaningful information about an individual and their place in the world. But as civilizations grew more interconnected, limitations began to emerge. For global trade to flourish, there needed to be consistency in how places were referred to between different language communities.
One interesting development was the rise of surnames in Europe during the Middle Ages. As societies urbanized from rural villages, more distinct record-keeping was necessary to avoid confusion between individuals with the same first name. Surnames could reference a person’s trade, where they lived, a parent’s name, and other distinguishing details. In this way, complex family trees and lineages first came into existence.
The modern era has taken naming conventions to a whole new level. With 7.9 billion people on Earth and counting, uniqueness and cultural identification are as important as ever. While many traditional naming practices endure, people also incorporate influences from all over the world. Names evolve alongside us, telling the rich and diverse story of humanity with every “Hello, my name is…”. Who knows what clever solutions future generations may develop to systematize or personalize identity in an ever-shrinking, increasingly virtual global community!
In wrapping up, I find the incremental progress of naming things fascinating to observe over our evolutionary timeline. From the basic vocabularies of our earliest ancestors, to sophisticated naming customs encoding meaning, and now the blending of traditions on a global scale — it’s amazing to see how language has developed right alongside human civilization. Systems of nomenclature reveal so much about the values and social structures of different eras. I look forward to seeing how naming continues shaping — and being shaped by — the changing world around us.
