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Names in Africa reflect the diverse nature of this huge continent, so the Arab countries of the north and Muslim families elsewhere follow the Muslim traditions of naming, while many of the countries which were colonised by European states continue to use many names derived from the colonising country and its language such as English, French and Portuguese. In other cases, more traditional or tribal systems of naming are used.
In fact, given this variety of naming traditions, many Africans have more than one first or last name. Take, for instance, the most famous African of them all, the man known to the world as Nelson Mandela. The first name given him by his father was Rolihlahla which in Xhosa literally means ‘pulling the branch of a tree’ and colloquially means ‘troublemaker’. He did not take the first name Nelson until, at the age of seven, he went to school and, on the first day there, his teacher gave him this English name. When he was nine and joined his adoptive family, they called him by the pet name Tatomkhulu which means ‘grandfather’ because they said, when he was very serious, he looked like an old man. At the age of 16, he was given the circumcision name Dalibhunga meaning ‘Founder of the Bungha’ (the traditional ruling body of the Transkei). While Mandela is known as his family name, he is often addressed as Madiba, his clan name, as a sign of respect.
Some names in African countries refer to the nature of the pregnancy. References to pregnancy include Anindo (a male name used by the Luo of Kenya) which means ‘mother slept a lot during preganacy’, Arogo (another male name used by the Luo ofKenya) which means ‘mother nagged a lot during pregnancy’, and U-Zenzo (a male name used by the Ndebele of Southern Africa) which means ‘things happened in the womb’
Much more common though are names referring to the timing or circumstances of the birth of the baby, such as the day of the week, the season of the year, the number in the family, the relationship with other children or between twins, and the economic or emotional situation of the family.
Consider the following male Yoruba names used in Nigeria: Abegunde (‘born during holiday’), Abejide (‘born during winter’), Abiade (‘born of royal parents’), Abidugun (‘born before the war’), Abimbola (‘born rich’), Abiodun (‘born at the time of a festival’), Abiola (‘born in honour’), Abiona (‘born during a journey’), Abioye (‘born during coronation’) and Amadi (‘seemed destined to die at birth’). Similarly we have Khamisi (‘born on Thursday’), Mwanajuma (‘born on Friday’), Mosi (‘first born child’) and Haoniyao (‘born at the time of a quarrel’) – Swahili names in South Africa – and Esi (‘born on Sunday’), Kunto (‘third child’) and Nsonowa (‘seventh born child’) – Akan names in Ghana. In Ghana, the founding President was Kwame Nkrumah, the first name meaning ‘ born on Saturday’ and the second name meaning ‘the ninth born’ (incidentally he was not born with this name, but took it later in life, and he was not in fact born on a Saturday).
Other examples are: the male name Otieno which means ‘born at night’ in Kenya; Abeeku (‘born on Wednesday’), a Fante name from Ghana; Wasswa (‘first of twins’), a Lugandan name in Uganda; the male name Bandele which means ‘born away from home’ in Nigeria; and Mainza (‘born during the rain season’), Chilala (‘born after the expected time’), and Mutinta (‘child of a different gender born after two or more of the same gender’), all names from the Tonga language used in southern Zambia. In the same vein, there is Andile meaning ‘the family is growing’ in the Xhosa language of South Africa. The description can be quite precise, as in these names from Nigeria: Taiwo meaning ‘the first of twins’ (the name in full is actually ‘To aiye wo’ which literally means to ‘taste the world’), Kehinde meaning ‘the second of twins’ (the name literally means ‘came later’), Idowu (male) meaning ‘born after twins’ and Idogbe (male) meaning ‘the second born after twins’, Ojo (male) and Aina (female) both meaning ‘difficult birth’, and Ige (female) meaning ‘born feet first’.
Similarly specific names from Uganda include Kabiito (‘born while foreigners are visiting’), Kamuhanda (‘born on the way to the hospital’), Karwana (‘born during wartime’), Mwaka (‘born on New Year’s Eve’) and Sempala (‘born during prosperous times’). Similarly, in Nigeria, we have Yetunde, Yewande, and Iyabo meaning ‘the “mother” has come back’ (this usually means a female child was born after an elderly woman in the family recently died), Babatunde meaning ‘the “father” has come back’ (this usually means a male child was born after an elderly man in the family recently died), and Tokunbo meaning that the parents of the child were overseas (out of Nigeria) when the child was born.
In many African countries, the choice of personal names reflects the joyful reaction of the parents have in bringing forth a child. This seems to be especially the case in Nigeria where, among many examples, we have : Abayomi (‘born to bring me joy’), Abagebe (‘we begged to have this one to lift up’), Abeni (‘we asked for her, and behold, we got her’), Abeo (‘her birth brings happiness’), Hanna (‘happiness’), Amachi (‘who knows what God has brought us through this child’), Kayode (‘he brought joy’), Monifa (‘I am lucky’), Olabishi (‘joy is multiplied’), Titilayo (‘eternal happiness’) or just Modupe (‘thank you’). Further examples are found in the Tonga language used in southern Zambia: Chipo (‘gift’), Luyando (‘love’), Choolwe (‘lucky’), and Chabota (‘this is good’). In Ghana, the female name Afryea means ‘born into happiness’. In Benin, the female name Izegbe means ‘the long awaited child’. In Southern Africa, the female Ndebele name U-Thokozile means ‘we are happy to have a child’.
The rising United States African-American politician Barack Obama was named after his father who came from Kenya and, in Swahili, Barack means ‘blessed’. For the same reason, a friend of mine from Zimbabwe has the delightful name of Gift Chimanikire. When I was in Botswana, I met a man called Ipeleng which means ‘rejoice’ in the Setswana lanugage.
By contrast, from Uganda we have the Luganda name Gwandoya meaning ‘met with misery’, from Zambia we have the Tonga name Milando meaning ‘trouble’, from Mali we have the Fulani name Guedado meaning ‘wanted by nobody’ and from Benin we have the female name Itohan meaning ‘to feel sorrowful’. In Nigeria, the male name Dunsimi means ‘don’t die before me’.
Other African names reflect characteristics that parents associate with their child. Sometimes these are very specific such as Chiku (a female Swahili name in Kenya), Masopakyindi ( a male Nyakyusa name in Tanzania), and Masani (a female Buganda name in Uganda). In Nigeria, Yejide means ‘image of the mother’ and Dada means ‘curly hair’ (both feminine names in Yoruba), while Akins (male) means ‘brave’ and Hazika (female) means ‘intelligent one’. In Rwanda, Sentwali (male) means ‘courageous’, while Muteteli (female) means ‘dainty’. In Tanzania, Chiumbo means ‘small’ (a male name in Mwera). In Kenya, Zuberi means ‘strong’ (a male name in Swahili) while, in South Africa, Njongo means ‘purpose’ (a male name in Xhosa) and Zethembe means ‘trust yourself’ (a male name in Zulu). In Zambia, Loshomo means ‘trust’ in the Tonga language.
My friend Gift Chimanikire of Zimbabwe called the youngest of his daughters Tsitsi which locally means ‘kindness’. In South Africa, I was served by a waiter called Talent and a waitress called Precious while, in Swaziland, I was served by a waitress called Sweetness.
Then there are names which reflect the religious nature of the parents, such as various Swahili names used in Kenya andTanzania: male names like Abdalla (‘servant of God’), Abdu (‘worshipper of God’), Abdul (‘servant of the lord’) and Andwele (‘God brought me’) and female names like Tulinagwe (‘God is with us’) and Tumpe (‘let us thank God’). In Benin, the male name Osazema means ‘the Lord has chosen this child for me’ and the female name Ehizokie – for parents hoping for a boy but proud to have a daughter – means ‘the Lord has chosen the king’. In Nigeria, the male name Chike means ‘the power of God’, while the female name Isoke means ‘a satisfying gift from God’. In this Ewe tribe of Ghana, names can be a sentence such as ‘I know that my redeemer liveth’. Other religous references mean ‘God is good’ and ‘God is alive.’
Finally, there are many vocabulary words which are used as names, such as boys’ names Sefu (‘sword’ in Swahili) and Tau (‘lion’ in Tswana, a language of Botswana) and girls’ names Marjani (‘coral’ in Swahili) and Ife (‘love’ in Yoruba). Other examples from Nigeria are Agu (male) meaning ‘leopard’ and Oriji (male) meaning ‘sturdy tree’. The Ewe tribe of Ghana being very religious has Prosper, Joy, Peace, Love, Faith and Rejoice.
In African societies, infant morality is much higher than in the industrialised nations. It is quite common for parents who have lost a child to name a subsequent child after the deceased one in order to honour the earlier child’s memory. One example comes from the life of the South African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela. His first daughter Makaziwe died at the age of only nine months and therefore he and his (first) wife called their next daughter by the same name.
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and its diverse peoples represent a range of naming traditions. In the Yoruba culture of the south-west, the child is usually named on the 8th day of life (exactly a week after he/she was born), in a traditional naming ceremony. Many Yoruba names are compound words, in which the following elements frequently occur: ade (‘crown’), ayo (‘joy’), fe (‘to love’), ife (‘love’), ire (‘goodness’), oba (‘king’), omo (‘child’), ola (‘wealth’), olu and oluwa (‘God’), and ore (‘goodness’). Similarly, many Igbo names in the south-east are compound words, typically using elements such as Amaka, Mma and Nma (all meaning ‘beautiful’), Chi, Chukwu and Nna (all meaning ‘God’), Nne (‘mother’), and Nwa (‘child’). Hausa names of the north are usually Arabic because Islam has a large influence on naming conventions in Hausa. So, for example, there are many male names beginning with Abdul and followed by one of the attributes of God – such as AbdulRahman, Abdulsalam, Abdulmalik, Abdulaziz.
First names in Lesotho where the local language is Sesotho, as in many other parts of South Africa, are colourful and meaningful. A child gets its name because the parents are in a certain mood, or because the country is undergoing a certain transformation, or something of that kind. Children are rarely named randomly.
Most families pray for their first-born to be a boy and, when it is, the name reflects the family’s joy, and could be Thabo (‘happiness’), Katleho (‘success’), Khotsofalang (‘be satisfied’) or Teboho (‘gratitude’) or any of a host of other grateful names. If the first-born is a girl, however, the name will probably not be as happy: Masoabi (‘shame’), Likhang (‘arguments’), Remaketse (‘we’re surprised’) or another unsatisfied name. Sometimes the names of the children tell an unfolding story, such as Lebalang (‘forgetting’), Kekeletso (‘addition’), Refiloe (‘enough’), Remaketse (‘we’re surprised’) and Bakae (‘where are they?’ – for instance, a family with five children, all girls).
Other common names in Sesotho are Hlompho (‘respect’), Khotso (‘peace’), Lefu (‘death’), Sello (‘wailing’), Tau (‘lion’) and Thabang (‘be happy’) for a boy, Liketso (‘acts’), Moroa (‘khoi-khoi’), Palesa (‘flower’) for a girl, and Lebohang (‘give thanks’), Mpho (‘gift’), Rethabile (‘we’re happy’) and Tumelo (‘faith’) for a girl or boy.
One story I was told was by someone who went to Lesotho high school with a boy called Ntja (meaning ‘dog’). He wanted to know why parents would give their son such a name and was told that it was to fool Death. Ntja’s elder sibling almost certainly died so, by naming him in this way, they ‘let’ Death surmise that they hated the child. Since death is ugly, it is believed that it will only take away loved ones. Names intended to be undesirable to evil spirits are called apotropaic names.
In Benin, names are often structured around the the root words ‘efe’ meaning ‘wealth’, ‘osa’ meaning ‘God’, and ‘omo’ meaning ‘this one can make a child’. So, for example, the male name Efosa means ‘the wealth of God’ and is a particularly powerful name.
For many westerners, it is difficult to know whether a particular African name is masculine or feminine, but often there are clues that suggest the likely gender of a name. For instance, in Uganda one can sometimes tell the gender from the name. Among Baganda, a Bantu tribe comprising the majority of the population, names starting with ‘S(s)e’ like Sempala, are male, unless taken from a husband or father, as is done these days. Feminine names in this case are prefixed with ‘Na’ thus Nampala. Non-Bantu tribes like Acholi and Ateso have names starting with ‘O’ for male and ‘A’ for female children, so one has Okello and Akello respectively.
Links:
African first names click here
African personal names click here