Names and naming in adoption: Birth heritage and family‐making

Pilcher, Jane; Hooley, Zara; Coffey, Amanda

Abstract

© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd In this article, we consider the significance and practices of names and naming in adoption to develop understanding of the issue amongst scholars, policymakers, adoption practitioners, and adoption communities. Research on the topic of names and adoption is scarce and focused mostly on international and domestic adoptions in the United States. We draw on the research literature to critically explore names and naming in adoption through two recurrent and related themes. The first is “birth heritage,” where names, forenames especially, are shown to be important in the approach taken by adopters to their child's birth family and cultural identity. The second theme is “family-making,” where namesaking and homogeneity of surname emerge, amongst others, as strategies to create, sustain, and display “family.” In gathering together for the first time an otherwise scattered, disparate body of research, our article showcases names and naming as illuminating distillations of key contemporary challenges experienced by families formed through adoption. We conclude our article by considering emergent gaps in existing knowledge and understanding about names, naming, and adoption that might usefully be addressed, to inform professional advice and familial decisions about names, and enhance outcomes for adoptees and their families.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 14, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Jan 15, 2020
• Publication Date: Aug 1, 2020
• Deposit Date: Apr 20, 2020
• Journal: Child and Family Social Work
• Print ISSN: 1356-7500
• Electronic ISSN: 1365-2206
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 25
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 568-575
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12728
• Keywords: sociology and political science; health(social science); adoption; adoptive identity; family display; family‐making ;names; naming
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/5883439
• Related Public URLs: http://orca.cf.ac.uk/128781/
• Additional Information: Published: 2020-01-15