In a Land of Homemade Names, Tiffany Doesn’t Cut It

[Caano Geel]

Bulawayo Journal, and the ny-times, By MICHAEL WINES and Published: October 1, 2007. Gavin du Venage from Sedgefield, South Africa, and a researcher from Zimbabwe contributed, Photographs by Joao Silva for The New York Times

 

Godknows Nare, a Zimbabwean videographer, with his son, Ufense, in Diepsloot, South Africa. Godknows says people think he is joking when he tells them his first name, given him at age 1 when his parents feared he might die.

 

 

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe — Thirty-two years ago in western Zimbabwe, a baby boy named Tlapi was born so sick that his parents feared he would die. They took him to sangomas, or traditional healers, and to Western-style doctors, but nothing worked. It seemed that God, not man, would decide his fate.

 

So when he was 1 year old, Tlapi’s parents changed his name to reflect that. “Some people think I’m lying when I tell them my name,” said Godknows Nare, who survived to become a freelance photographer. “They think I am teasing them. But I’m not.”

 

Not at all. In Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, another Godknows was a waiter at a popular outdoor cafe. So was a man named Enough, about whom more will be said later. Across southern Africa, in fact, one can find any number of Lovemores, Tellmores, Trymores and Learnmores, along with lots of people named Justice, Honour, Trust, Gift, Energy, Knowledge and even a Zambian athlete named Jupiter.

 

Some Westerners chuckle. Perhaps they are oblivious — Oblivious is another Zimbabwean name, actually — to the fact that they once idolized a cowboy star named Hopalong or that many baby girls are given the name of a jewelry store to carry through life.

 

Indeed, Godknows, Enough and company are a continuation of an African tradition arguably more logical than the one that churns out Justins and Tiffanys in America. In southern Africa, a child’s name is chosen to convey a specific meaning, and not, as is common in the West, the latest fashion.

 

Smile, a truck driver in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, shows a facial expression fitting of his name.

 

Increasingly, however, those traditional names are bestowed not in Ndebele, Sotho or some other local language, but in English, the world’s lingua franca. English names arrived with colonial rule, were further imposed by missionaries and, for some, became fashionable with the spread of Western culture.

 

But for Godknows, Enough and others, the result can be confusion — and sometimes, hilarity — even among fellow Africans.

 

“Quite a few people tell me I am cursed,” said Hatred Zenenga, an editor at Zimbabwe’s government-controlled newspaper, The Herald. “They say my name is un-Christian. They tell me that I should change it to Lovewell, or some other Christian name. And others are just surprised — ‘How did you get that name?’”

 

Hatred got his name the way millions of other children here have — as a means of recording an event, a circumstance or even the weather conditions that accompanied their births.

 

“For instance, if it was windy, the name may be Wind. If it was rainy, it may be Rain,” said Matole Motshekga, the founder of the Kara Heritage Institute, based in Pretoria. “If there are problems in the family, they will use the appropriate name. So you cannot just name someone out of the blue. It has to relate to something.”

 

Thus a Zimbabwean baby born to parents who had spent years trying to start a family might be named Tendai, which expresses thankfulness, and a child born in a time of troubles may be named Tambudzai, which literally means no rest.

 

Or, just as likely these days, a baby will be named Givethanks or Norest. If a Sotho-speaking girl becomes pregnant before marriage, her unhappy parents may name the baby Question or Answer — an answer to the question of why their daughter was behaving so strangely before the pregnancy became known.

 

Hatred has its own story. Mr. Zenenga is one of seven children born to hard-working parents who were determined to educate their brood. The family’s rising status made the father’s illiterate brothers jealous. So except for the first child, who died as an infant, all the children were named to address the jealousy and other emotions that raged among the adults: Norest, Hatred, Praise, Confess, Raised-on and Abide.

 

For Mr. Zenenga’s parents, the names were an inside joke, a fillip in the continuing family feud. “My father’s relatives didn’t speak English,” he said. “So he said, ‘We’re going to name our children in English so they won’t understand what we are saying to them.’”

 

Some scholars, including Dr. Motshekga, frown on the trend toward Anglicized names. “It’s an entrenchment of a loss of identity,” he said, “a joke. You say ‘I’m Wind,’ and they really make fun of the person.”

 

The Financial Gazette in Harare loosed an assault on the trend toward English names in a 2004 essay. “Oh, please! Why burden our children so unnecessarily just for the sake of feeding our misguided ego?” a columnist complained. “Quite frankly, these names amount to a form of child abuse.”

 

In some cases, maybe. Have-a-Look Dube is a well-known Zimbabwean soccer player. There are Zimbabwean children named Wedding, Funeral, Everloving, Passion and Anywhere, among others. A spirit medium who recently duped Zimbabwean officials into believing he had found diesel fuel flowing from a rock has the unfortunate name of Nomatter Tagarira. A Bulawayo truck driver is named Smile, and true to form, he is never without a broad smile on his face.

 

That said, none of the monikers were plucked from “1,001 Baby Names” or chosen to imitate a pop star. Consider Enough, the Harare cafe waiter. Asked how he got his name, he said simply: “My mother had 13 children. And I was the last one.”

 

Then there is the fellow from Dopotha, a village west of Bulawayo, who was born while his father was in Congo, fighting in that nation’s civil wars. When the father returned, the father concluded that the newborn almost certainly was not his, and he decided to make that clear.

 

The son’s name? Never Trust a Woman.

[Jacaylbaro]

Godknows .......

[Ibtisam]

looool HAHa this is well funny. I guess it makes better sense than naming them after cities and fruits.

 

I have a friend named Jupiter, oddly he is not even African. He is from Finland :confused:

 

 

Thanks CG that made me laugh.

[Legend of Zu]

Actually I persomally know a Zimbabean lady named Sensation and there are few others that i know whose names include " Hoppalong Cassidy, Gift, Primarose" They are legitimate names and to the least very interesting ones!

 

Salaamaat

[Paragon]

The son’s name? Never Trust a Woman.

Looool. Bloody hell. Just imagine trying to smooth-talk a woman and introducing yourself; 'hello sweet thing, how are we doing this fine day, eh?' (stretching your hand out to her) ' I am NeverTrustAWoman, whats yours?'

[Malika]

^^

 

I know a Forget,Blessing,Not Kind[apparently the parents lost couple of kids prior to her,in order to deter the evil eye they called their daughter not kind..

[Emperor]

^Not Kind may reseonably deter all evil eyes LOL

 

But why u seem to be so suprised at other African names, Somali names too have humour in them... Where was that other thread about the weird Somali names...

 

Someones name: Car ifiiri

[Paragon]

^^Loool, and it worked. I like the sense of direct communication with the evil the name embodies. 'Oh no ye evil one, Not Kind to take this one too!' And thus the evil heeded the advice and let it go.

[Caano Geel]

Originally posted by Paragon:

Bloody hell. Just imagine trying to smooth-talk a woman and introducing yourself; 'hello sweet thing, how are we doing this fine day, eh?' (stretching your hand out to her) ' I am NeverTrustAWoman, whats yours?'

With lines like that I think your name would be the last worry

 

Ghanima

glad to have raised a chuckle

 

 

Legend of Zu:

I Love the name sensation, it must make you smile every time you refer to her.

 

 

Dahia al Kahina,

names to turn away the evil eye are quite popular around the world, the chinese are famous for it. talking of names, i've just been reminded of the Philippines, see below.

[Caano Geel]

The Philippine name game By Sarah Toms BBC News, Manila, From Our Own Correspondent was broadcast on Saturday, 14 January, 2006 at 1130 GMT on BBC Radio 4.

 

Naming a child is often a difficult decision. For many Filipinos, individuality is an important factor, with many choosing unconventional first names. So when the BBC's Sarah Toms gave birth in the Philippines, could she come up with an original name?

 

In March, my daughter will be celebrating her second birthday in Manila.

 

Made in the Philippines and born in the Philippines, it seems only yesterday that I was trying to leave hospital with my newborn.

 

The nurses had quickly christened her "Miss Philippines" because of her long legs.

 

But then I discovered that until I came up with a real name and began her birth registration at the hospital, I would not be allowed to leave.

 

Exhaustion made any decision difficult and I started worrying I would be celebrating her first birthday in the hospital if I did not find a name soon.

 

'Ace' politician

 

Filipinos place serious importance on finding unique names for their children, most of them injected with a large dose of Philippine humour.

 

Here, there is nothing ironic about a senator called Joker Arroyo - it is his real name.

 

Joker Arroyo

 

Joker Arroyo, who is no relation to the Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, has a brother called Jack but there is no word on any other siblings called Queen or King.

 

Another politician however, is known as Ace. Congressman Robert Ace Barbers is always known by his middle name as his two other brothers and late father all share Robert as their first name.

 

One composite name that has become popular is Luzviminda, taken from the three main regions of the Philippines: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. One writer said it is like being called "Engscowani" for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

 

In this devoutly Roman Catholic country it is not surprising that many have taken on religious names, but with a Philippine twist.

 

Take the mayor of Makati, the financial district in Manila. His name is Jejomar, composed of the first few letters of Jesus, Joseph and Mary. Catholicism started here with the arrival of the Spanish in 1521 and the colonisation of the Philippines.

 

Beyond food and architecture, religion is one of the lasting influences of Spanish rule. And that is at the root of the desire to have a unique first name. Many Filipinos who converted to Catholicism took on surnames with religious references, such as Santos or De la Cruz, for good luck. But this resulted in many people having the same last names.

 

To solve the problem, the Spanish decided to restrict the surnames of Filipinos to a number of acceptable ones. But with a rapidly growing population, it seems there are not enough last names to go round.

 

Originality

 

Security experts say that with so many surnames being the same it can take ages to do background checks. A first name with a bit of individuality can help avoid confusion and cases of mistaken identity. Filipinos encounter their own problems with the country's notoriously poor records system.

 

Getting a bank loan or passport can be a nightmare if someone with the same name is wanted for a crime. With the country ranked as one of the most corrupt in Asia, thousands of Filipinos are forced to walk around with certificates from the National Bureau of Investigation to prove they are not wanted criminals. So a first name with a bit of individuality can help avoid confusion and cases of mistaken identity.

 

Because of that I know a Peachy, a Preciosa and even a Bogi. I also know a Boy and a Girlie, names that often come from being the lone son or daughter in a large family. I even have a female friend called Ken and no one thinks it is odd.

 

Still, I was taken aback when a famous and middle-aged newspaper columnist asked me to call him Babe.

 

Cultural misunderstanding

 

Some of the names are real and some are nicknames, but it is hard to tell them apart.

 

That brings me to the doorbell names: it is not uncommon to call your little one Bing, Bong, Bong Bong and even Ping and Ting.

 

Another category is the rock 'n' roll name. How would you feel being christened Led Zeppelin, Mick Jagger or Nirvana?

 

One journalist friend told me of an interview he had with a Hitler Manila.

 

Mr Manila, who does not share the Nazi ideology, told him that he was always remembered for his name but it sometimes caused problems.

 

One time, when he was shooting pool with some visiting Germans, the atmosphere became tense after he wrote his name on the blackboard to reserve the next game. Order was not restored until he pulled out his driving licence to prove his name really was Hitler.

 

Still, that experience did not stop him from carrying on the family tradition. His sons are named Himmler and Hess after two of Hitler's closest associates.

 

Deliberation

 

Another friend told me of a couple who named their five daughters Candy, Caramel, Cookie, Peanut and Popcorn.

 

Scott Harrison, an American businessman here, says he has heard of a woman who gave birth to twin girls on either side of midnight, naming them Sunday and Monday. Nothing unusual in that - my daughter's kindergarten teacher is called Wednesday.

 

So what did I name my daughter? After much deliberation and temptation to join the Philippine name game, I settled for an old French favourite, Elise.

 

Elise is not a strange name by any means, but in the Philippines it is as unusual as you can get.

[Malika]

Originally posted by Caano Geel:

quote:Originally posted by Paragon:

Bloody hell. Just imagine trying to smooth-talk a woman and introducing yourself; 'hello sweet thing, how are we doing this fine day, eh?' (stretching your hand out to her) ' I am NeverTrustAWoman, whats yours?'

With lines like that I think your name would be last worry

^^^ The brother needs help!..HaHa

[-Nomadique-]

Originally posted by Caano Geel:

Still, that experience did not stop him from carrying on the family tradition. His sons are named Himmler and Hess after two of Hitler's closest associates.

What the heck? Now that's just lame.

 

Sensation however sounds fabulous.

[-Lily-]

I Love the name sensation

Canoo I like it too, but on second thought, it must be a difficult name to live up to, to be sensational at all times.

 

Some of these names are child abuse, they should be registered as such.

[Paragon]

Originally posted by Dahia al Kahina:

The brother needs help!..HaHa

No he doesn't.

[Caano Geel]

Originally posted by -Lily-:

Canoo

I like it too, but on second thought, it must be a difficult name to live up to, to be sensational at all times.

I'm sure you wouldn't need to be trying lily

 

-Nomadique-,

I once met an indian guy called Khrushchev -his father was a communist-, but you've got to give it to these peoples, they do have a certain 'us against the world quality'