In most contexts, personal names function as identifiers and as a locus for identity. Therefore, names can be used to trace patterns of kinship, ancestry, and belonging. The social power of naming, however, and its capacity to shape the life course of the person named, becomes most evident when it has the opposite intent: to sever connections and injure. Naming in slave society was primarily practical, an essential first step in commodifying human beings so they could be removed from their roots and social networks, bought, sold, mortgaged, and adjudicated. Such practices have long been integral to processes of colonization and enslavement. This paper discusses the implications of naming practices in the context of slavery, focusing on the names given to enslaved Africans and their descendants through baptism in the Lutheran and Moravian churches in the Danish West Indies. Drawing on historiographical accounts and a detailed analysis of plantation and parish records from the island of St. Croix, we outline and contextualize these patterns and practices of naming. We examine the extent to which the adoption of European and Christian names can be read as an effort toward resistance and self-determination on the part of the enslaved. Our account is illuminated by details from the lives of three former slaves from the Danish West Indies.

中文翻译：

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从奴役到解放：丹麦西印度群岛的命名实践

在大多数情况下，人名充当标识符和身份位置。因此，名称可用于追踪亲属关系、血统和归属感的模式。然而，命名的社会力量及其塑造被命名者生命历程的能力，在它具有相反的意图时变得最明显：切断联系和伤害。奴隶社会中的命名主要是实用的，这是人类商品化的重要第一步，因此他们可以从根源和社交网络中移除、买卖、抵押和裁决。长期以来，这种做法一直是殖民和奴役过程不可或缺的一部分。本文讨论了在奴隶制背景下命名实践的含义，专注于在丹麦西印度群岛的路德教会和摩拉维亚教会通过洗礼给予被奴役的非洲人及其后裔的名字。根据史学记载以及对圣克罗伊岛种植园和教区记录的详细分析，我们概述了这些命名模式和做法，并将其置于背景中。我们研究了在多大程度上采用欧洲和基督教的名字可以被解读为被奴役者争取抵抗和自决的努力。来自丹麦西印度群岛的三名前奴隶的生活细节阐明了我们的叙述。我们研究了在多大程度上采用欧洲和基督教的名字可以被解读为被奴役者争取抵抗和自决的努力。来自丹麦西印度群岛的三名前奴隶的生活细节阐明了我们的叙述。我们研究了在多大程度上采用欧洲和基督教的名字可以被解读为被奴役者争取抵抗和自决的努力。来自丹麦西印度群岛的三名前奴隶的生活细节阐明了我们的叙述。