History is written in names

Names say so much about a country or society’s history, geography, tradition and culture. Names in Africa reflect the diverse nature of this beautiful gigantic continent. Most Africans name children according to the times or circumstances when a child is born. Significance of names could be dependent on the day of the week, the season of the year, the number of siblings in a family, and the economic or emotional situation of the family, or country. Some names in Africa refer to the nature of a mother’s pregnancy. For example, ‘Anindo’ is a male name used by the Luo of Kenya that means, ‘mother slept a lot during pregnancy’, or ‘Arogo’ another male name used from the same tribe that means ‘mother nagged a lot during pregnancy’. Days of the week In Ghana, the founding President was Kwame Nkrumah, his first name means ‘born on Saturday’ and the second name means ‘the ninth born’. Similarly ‘Khamisi’ means ‘born on Thursday’, ‘Mwanajuma’ means ‘born on Friday.’ Time of the day Other examples of names related to the time of the day include, the male name ‘Otieno’ which means ‘born at night’. Also based on the circumstances of birth, children are named; for example; ‘Kamuhanda’ is a Ugandan name that is given to a child ‘born on the way to the hospital’. Seasons ‘Wanjala’ is a Luya name in Kenya meaning famine. ‘Wambua’ from the same country means born during the rainy season and Okoth is a Ugandan name meaning ‘born during the rains’ while the Kenyan names, Jimiyu and Luhya mean ‘born during the dry season’. More so, other African names reflect the joyful reaction that parents have when a child is born. Several examples of joy names include; Abayomi meaning ‘born to bring me joy’, Abagebe meaning ‘we begged to have this one to lift up’ and in Ghana, the female name Afryea means ‘born into happiness’. The United States President Barack Obama was named after his father who came from Kenya and, in Swahili Barack means ‘blessed’. Additionally, Kenyatta was also a Kenyan president whose name means ‘musician’. Sadness expressed From Uganda we have the Luganda name Gwandoya that means ‘met with misery’, from Zambia the Tonga tribe name Milando means ‘trouble’. In the Fulani tribe of Mali the name Guedado means ‘wanted by nobody!’ In Benin the female name Itohan means ‘to feel sorrowful’. In Nigeria, the male name Dunsimi means ‘don’t die before me’. Religious names There are several names which reflect the religious beliefs of parents. Swahili names used in Kenya and Tanzania such as the male names; ‘Abdullah’ meaning servant of God’ and ‘Abdu’ means worshipper of God. In Rwanda names like ‘Niyonkuru’ mean ‘God is great’ and ‘Iradukunda’ means ‘God loves us’. Fooling death It is quite common for parents who have lost a child to name a subsequent child after the deceased in order to honour the earlier child’s memory. Sometimes parents give their children terrible and odd names. An example is Umutimbwe that means ‘dog’ –a name given to ordinary and very handsome Rwandan boys alike in a bid to fool death. It implies that a boy called Umutimbwe had an older sibling who died so, by naming him that way, they ‘let’ death surmise that they hate the child and since death is ugly, it is believed that it will only take away loved ones. In Rwanda, a family that has lost the first or second born will name the following child, Nzabamwita meaning, ‘I will name him afterward’ or Nzamwita akuza meaning, ‘I will name him when he is old.’ Behind every African name, there’s a story. Therefore, every time you come across Mr. Frog or Bat do not laugh or make fun of them; first get to know the reason behind the name. martin.bishop18@yahoo.com