Isnt the name speaking apart of aboriginal culture?
we come across this a lot at work - there are some customers (indigenous) may have had many different names due to not being able to speak the name of a deceased person (if they share a name/named after someone, they will often change their name). it can be very difficult when they are applying for urgent payments to attend a funeral as well, as they can't speak the name - so there is a need for cultural sensitivity when trying to confirm the details (urgent payments are taken from the next payment the customer is going to receive, so it's important they're not dished out willy nilly)

there is a specific queue at work to receive calls from indigenous customers - those consultants have been through additional cultural sensitivity training regarding indigenous beliefs etc. we all undertake training regarding different cultures, and the main aspects we may come across, and i don't recall the name thing in any others that i've come across.


on another note, we have friends from a lot of different religions, and some have similar rituals to what Onyx has described. From memory, Greek Orthodox have the very early, they don't eat meat for 40 days (unless pregnant - a pregnant woman is expected to take full and proper meals to maintain herself and her child), they dont eat sweet foods etc (so no cake/biscuits), it may even be a form of fasting. not quite sure - the last death in the family of our friends happened overseas so i didn't have a lot of exposure to the cultural aspect. i know the men don't shave for those 40 days. they have another full church service and celebration of the life of the deceased at 40 days. there is also another full service 12 months after the death.

i find it interesting to learn about other cultures and the similarities (and vast differences) that exist between them.