The decision whether to give a child a custom name and/or "foreign name" may be tied to the parents' expectations of the child's future life path: whether he would remain in his village and inherit his ancestors' property and social roles, or whether he would leave to pursue a career elsewhere.
[3] Dickinson Tevi of the Mama Graon Project has expressed concerns that due to Western influence, the use of traditional names is dying out; he described traditional names as a vital link between children and their cultures and customs.
[4] Traditional names may be given at birth,[2] or bestowed in adulthood by chiefs.
[5] Chiefs may also remove a traditional name so bestowed; in 2012, the chiefs of Tanna and then-President of Vanuatu Iolu Abil came to an agreement that Abil would no longer use the traditional name "Kaniapnin".
[7] For example, in central and southern Vanuatu, men's custom names make reference to the place where their clan's founding ancestors first appeared, known in Bislama as stamba.