The Naming of Educational Institutions in Algeria: A Socio-Onomastic Study

Names convey social and cultural models, as well as, first and foremost, an affiliation to a given identity. They reflect the customs and traditions of the society in which they emerge. Accordingly, the system of naming places and persons constitutes a major field of inquiry that requires serious and rigorous investigation, given the meanings and social impact carried by names. Algeria is among the countries seeking to develop this naming system, as the designation of places has become a civilisational necessity due to its influence on individuals’ lives. It represents one of the scientific and practical approaches adopted by developed cities across the world.

From this perspective, the act of naming — that is, assigning a name to a person or a place — cannot be regarded as trivial. Place names, in particular, encapsulate social history, the geographical environment, and even animal and plant references. Thus, public facilities, for example, are often named in order to honour figures who have distinguished themselves in a given field (martyrs of the Revolution, artistic, scientific and literary figures, leading athletes, philosophers, and others).

Among the systems of place naming is that of educational institutions. This phenomenon has generated considerable debate regarding naming practices, especially in view of the absence of meaningful references in the names of many Algerian primary schools, middle schools and secondary schools. One finds institutions named after neighbourhoods, others identified by numbers, or schools bearing anonymous names, despite the fact that Algeria’s cultural, intellectual and revolutionary history abounds with significant figures and symbolic references.

In this context, a governmental decision issued by the Ministry of Moudjahidine introduced the naming of educational institutions after martyrs of the War of National Liberation and historical events. This legal text raises numerous questions concerning the criteria adopted for naming, as well as the reasons and motivations underlying the implementation of this decision in the naming and renaming of educational institutions.

Through this research, and following an in-depth analysis of the findings obtained from the fieldwork, we aim to elucidate naming practices in order to reflect images and actions grounded in the reality of the field under study — namely, educational institutions in the wilayas of Blida, Algiers, Biskra and Souk Ahras.

This study constitutes one of the emerging research projects devoted to a scientific examination of how the names of educational institutions are selected, on the basis of scientific, artistic and cultural content, in harmony with the nature of the institution to which the name is attributed within the Algerian educational system.

This situation surrounding the naming process leads us to question the criteria employed: what are the reasons and motivations behind the choice of names? Is there indeed an authority responsible for guiding and regulating the process of place naming, particularly in the case of schools? If so, how is this process implemented and on what basis are names selected? Given that naming represents a pedagogical tool, what impact do these names have on schoolchildren?

In this research, we shall seek to identify the underlying reasons for these naming practices through a comprehensive analysis of all school names across the country. We will endeavour to establish a map of denominations — that is, a nominal map of schools — in order to highlight the main dysfunctions in name selection (repetition of names, lack of coherence, or arbitrariness in naming, among others).