The Ndee avoided using a person’s given name, even when speaking of them in the third person. When they had to refer to someone, they used terms of kinship or nicknames. The nicknames were usually humorous and unflattering and not spoken in the person’s presence.
The People often went by Spanish names, as well as the ones they chose or that were chosen for them; and they changed those names from time to time. When someone died, that person’s name was no longer spoken. If it was the same word as a common object or animal, the Ndee made up new terms for those rather than risk calling up the ghost of the one deceased. For this reason, some names or their translations have been lost.
Some people were known by one or more names to their own people, but by different ones to the Mexicans and Americans. Cochise, for instance, was called Cheis by the Ndee.
To avoid adding more confusion to a situation already difficult for those not familiar with it, I have people refer to individuals by their given names, although rarely calling them that to their faces.