1) Information on whether an Isaaq woman takes on the name of her husband; 2) Information on whether children (boys or girls) are named after the mother, the father or both; 3) Information on whether a child would consider the child of her mother's sister (aunt) as a cousin, a very close relative or a distant relative [SOM10922]

1) According to a Somali doctoral student in the Department of African Studies at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), no Somali Muslim woman takes on the name of her husband when she gets married (14 May 1992).

2) The same source mentions that the Somali society is based on the principle of patrilineal descent, thus children are named after their father or grandfather (Ibid.).


For further information on the Somali naming system, please refer to the attached section of a document written by the Somali Women's Health Group in Ottawa (Aug. 1991, 6).

3) The Somali doctoral student states that a child considers the child of her mother's sister as his/her first cousin and refers to that person as a brother or a sister and thus he/she is a very close relative (14 May 1992)

For further information on the Somali kinship ties, please refer to the attached excerpt of the Somalia Cultural Profile entitled The Nomadic Clan of Somalia: History, Culture, Social Structure (June 1991, 5-6).

References


Immigration and Refugee Board Documentation Centre (IRBDC), Ottawa. June 1991. The Nomadic Clan of Somalia: History, Culture, Social Structure, pp. 5-6.

Somali Women's Health Group. August 1991. Somalians in Canada: A Guide for Health and Service Providers, p. 6.

University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA). 14 May 1992. Telephone Interview with a Doctoral Student.

Attachments

Immigration and Refugee Board Documentation Centre (IRBDC), Ottawa. June 1991. The Nomadic Clan of Somalia: History, Culture, Social Structure, pp. 5-6.

Somali Women's Health Group, Ottawa. August 1991. Somalians in Canada: A Guide for Health and Service Providers, p. 6.