Fig 1: Hoima-Bujumbura Parish

Fig 2: Q. Can you please one by one tell me your name and why you were given it? A. Nkiboinehati (I have just realised it [that this is a blessing]): seventeen children were born before me and out of those fourteen died. I was the last born... A. Birakurataki (it will follow others): twelve children before me died and they thought that I would also die... A. Bagwiraguza (they darken the heart): there was someone talking badly about the family. A. Bagambakabiri (that people are double edged): someone who comes to you and pretends that he is for you and starts talking ill things about someone but turns around, goes to that person to tell him all that you have said... That is the situation that prevailed when I was born. A.Atalimugere: I was born weak and the name comes from a proverb ‘atalimugere akusobora naasamba’, that if you are a weak person whoever wants to will step on you.[1][1] [1] Male focus group discussion, 6 Aug (transcripts are in the possession of the author). The participants were aged

Fig 3: Births and Deaths in Bunyoro ( ) According to Chiefs' Returns 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8, live births deaths

Fig 4: Still Births as a Percentage of All Births %

FIG 5: The frequency of mortality-related names in colonial Bunyoro

Fig 6: Relationship Between Parental Perceptions of Mortality Risk and Birth Spacing

FIG 5: Frequency of mortality-related names in post-colonial Bunyoro

Figure 6: Distribution of baptismal age by name category

FIGURE 7: The changing frequency of religious names