Tribal name

A tribal name is a name of an ethnic tribe —usually of ancient origin, which represented its self-identity.

Studies of Native American tribal names show that most had an original meaning comparable to "human," "people" "us"—the "tribal" name for itself was often the localized ethnic self-perception of the general word for "human being."

In Israel, tribal names are used by the central election committee instead of town names, in cases where tribes do not live in recognized towns, or are nomadic.

See also

• Native American name controversy