Traditional African names often have unique stories behind them. From the day or time a baby is born to the circumstances surrounding the...
Traditional African names often have unique stories behind them. From the day or time a baby is born to the circumstances surrounding the birth, several factors influence the names parents choose for their children.
Whichever ethnic group you look at, these local names reveal a wealth of information about the bearer.
Here are nine different ways African parents name their children:
Events surrounding birth
Among several ethnic groups, picking out names can be influenced by positive or negative circumstances the family finds themselves in around the time a child is born.
Often, such names are complete sentences.
- Kiptanui and Cheptanui are often given to babies whose mothers may have suffered extreme difficulties during childbirth among the Kalenjin ethnic group in Kenya.
- Kimaiyo and Jemaiyo are names sometimes given to baby boys and girls whose births coincide with men drinking locally brewed beer (Maiywek) among the Kalenjins.
Emotional warnings
Some names, especially in Zimbabwe, reflect the mood or circumstance of the family at the time of birth. Some of them serve as warnings or rebukes.
Celebrity culture
The Luos in Kenya are known for adopting famous names for their children. Quite a number of mothers named their baby boys Obama in 2008 after Barack Obama, the son of a Luo man, was elected US president. And when he visited the country in 2015, one mother reportedly named her child Airforceone.
Churchill and Clinton are also quite popular in Luo-speaking areas of western Kenya.
Order of birth
In many African cultures, there is no need for someone to explain whether they are the eldest or youngest of their siblings. This is because their names can reveal that much. This is especially true of twins.
The Kalenjins in Kenya refer to the first born as Yator (first to open the way) and the last born Towett meaning last.
Day-born names
Even before parents select a western or religious name for their child, the baby already has a name.
Among some Ghanaian ethnic groups like the Akan, Ga, Ewe and Nzema, a name is automatically assigned based on the day the child is born.
Day and night
Among some groups in eastern and southern Africa, certain names are selected depending on the time of the day or season a child is born.
- Kibet means day and Kiplagat means night (Kalenjin in Kenya)
- Mumbua and Wambua means rainy season for boys and girls (Kamba in Kenya)
- Olweny means time of war (Luo)
- Yunwa means hunger or time of famine (Hausa)
While the Luos are very specific:
- Omondi (dawn)
- Okinyi (morning)
- Onyango (mid-morning)
- Ochieng’ (sunny midday)
- Otieno (night)
- Oduor (midnight)
Girls are given the same names but starting with an A instead of an O.
Meet the ancestors
Respected elders of the family may be dead but they continue to live on through their grandchildren.
Parents often name babies after senior members of the clan whether dead or alive.
But it is considered disrespectful to casually shout or call out the name of a senior family member that has been given to a child, so instead it is common to hear a child affectionately called Ouma (grandma) or Oupa (grandpa) in southern Africa.
Rude nicknames
Somalia has a unique system.
Most people have three names – the ones they were given, as well as that of their father and grandfather. But many also have nicknames, which are so common that they can find their way onto official ID cards. –BBC
COMMENTS