On the prohibition of name matchings among the Ainu based on the materials of XIX century acts

In the XIX century Ainu society there existed a custom not to name children after their deceased relatives or villagers, which made every given name unique. A similar practice has been recorded among many Tungus peoples. The prohibition on first name duplication was based on the Ainu viewing afterlife as continuation of the soul existence in the other world equivalent to that of the living as well as on the correlation «one first name = one soul». The analysis of archive documents of different periods and areas of the Ainu habitation in the XIX century showed no coincidence of their first names within one family or community, with less than 1 % duplication on the entire territory of modern Hokkaido, Sakhalin and Kuril Islands. The number of the coincidence cases rose insignificantly (up to 1,6 %) after the beginning of forced assimilation and japanization of the Ainu. The ban was strictly observed by the Ainu in spite of their regular seasonal migrations, a complex family structure including non-blood relatives, and a custom of changing names after age-related initiations and meaningful life events. In the oral society the transfer of vast information was carried out by elderly people, i. e. guardians of tradition, folk-lore narrators, members of local community councils of Elders. The ban on first name duplication was a part of the Ainu culture and played an important role in their social organization.