A favourite reef, a beloved atoll: Marshall Islands parents name children after vanishing landmarks

It was once rare for Marshallese children to be given such names: most received the names of relatives. In recent years, however, and among better-off Marshallese, there has been a small surge in children named after the places from which their families come, highlighting the emotionally-laden ways Pacific Islanders are grappling with the future of a region battling economic challenges and climate turmoil.

Milne-Paul says their decision to name Elenak and Tarlan after the islands they love so much was mainly driven by the Marshall Islands’ economic challenges and their hope that their children will one day pursue opportunities overseas. When they do, she says, their names will give them an important connection to the country of their birth.

She says she is still coming to terms with the growing impact of climate change on her islands. As she does so, however, she has grown to realise the deeper significance of the names. “It would mean so much more that it’s an island that used to exist, and no longer exists,” she says.

Among the notable Marshallese whose children share their name with local islands or plots of land are the country’s highest civil servant, Kino Kabua, and its most famous poet, Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner, who named her daughter Peinam, after a parcel of land belonging to her mother’s family.