Names

Names, also called proper names, proper adjectives, or proper modifiers, are a special type of Toki Pona word. Traditionally, a name can be any phonotactically valid sequence of sounds, and only occurs as a modifier of a content word.

Examples of names are jan Sonja and ma Kanata (Canada).

Headnouns

The head word of a name is commonly called a headnoun, though it can include earlier modifiers before the name (or even act as a verb?).

Toki Pona is all about describing what you're talking about in simple terms, so the headnoun indicates the basic nature of the thing being named. In jan Sonja and ma Kanata, the headnouns are jan and ma. They tell us that Sonja is a jan, "person", and Kanata is a ma, "land", which might be just enough information to realize it refers to Canada.

Headnouns often also distinguish between multiple beings with the same name. For example, in English, "Sydney" could refer to a city, a person, a chatbot, or many other things. In Toki Pona, these would be ma Sini, jan Sini, and ilo Sini respectively.

While the most common headnoun for people is jan, some people choose to use different ones for a variety of different reasons. For example, a waso might be otherkin or therian, a furry with a waso fursona, someone whose surname is "Finch", someone wanting to differentiate themself from someone else with the same name, currently paragliding, or just using a fancy headnoun for fun.

Writing

Names aren't specially marked in speech, potentially causing confusion when the name collides with an existing word (like jan Luka). Because writing is more permanent, many writing systems distinguish names in some way.

In sitelen Lasina, names are the only standard words written with an initial capital letter. This reflects that names are typically capitalized in other Latin-script languages, like English.

sitelen pona takes an acronym-like approach. A name is written as multiple words whose starting sounds match those of the name, wrapped in a niminimi-shaped box called a cartouche ([...][...]). The exact choice of words is up to the person being named, or, failing that, the writer. This can be used to convey extra meaning, e.g. writing ma Inli as [ijo ni li ike][ijo ni li ike] ("This thing sucks"). A few people use syllable- or mora-based approaches instead, e.g. jan Misali's preferred name form is [mi sona ante li][mi sona ante li] ("Msal"); nasin sitelen kalama is an attempt to formalize such names while increasing readability.

sitelen sitelen also puts names in cartouches. Instead of using word glyphs, names use a separate set of syllable glyphs.

Tokiponization

Tokiponization is the process of converting a name to be compatible with Toki Pona phonology and phonotactics. The exact method of doing so varies between people, but a common method is to follow the guidelines written by jan Sonja.

Names don't have to be tokiponized if doing so would hinder understanding.

Self-determination

Names ought to be determined by the person or group that they refer to. (This is true in any language.) For example, if Canadian tokiponists broadly agreed that Canada should be tokiponized differently, people should use that tokiponization. You can also break the rules for your name if you like.

If the referent has not determined their own name in Toki Pona, it is recommended to make an educated guess where possible, such as by using endonyms and native pronunciation. For example, Toronto could become ma Towano rather than ma Tolonto, to match the local pronunciation of [tʰəˈɹɒnow].

Breaking the rules

The subject of this article is nonstandard and will not be understood by most speakers.

If you are a learner, this information will not help you speak the language. It is recommended to familiarize yourself with the standard style, and to be informed and selective about which nonstandard styles you adopt.

As with all parts of Toki Pona, tinkerers love to exceed the boundaries of what's considered a name. Examples include:

• Intentionally using disallowed sound groups
• Using non-toki pona sounds in an otherwise tokiponized name
• Using a nimisin as a headnoun and/or in lieu of a name
• Not using a headnoun at all, or leaving it up to the speaker
• In sitelen pona, using a custom "name glyph" that may or may not indicate pronunciation

Against names

A fair few people believe that names either don't belong in Toki Pona or are overused. They may see them as a dependency to get around the principle of describing everything, or feel that a hypothetical native Toki Pona culture would only apply proper names to foreigners.

To some extent, even jan Sonja herself argues against the use of names in the first line of her guidelines:

It is always better to translate the "idea" of a foreign word before attempting to create a new phonetic transcription that may not be recognizable by everyone. (Example: Jean Chrétien, Prime Minister of Canada, becomes jan lawa pi ma Kanata, rather than jan Kesijen)