African Baby Naming Ceremonies
Contributed
by: African Fathers Innitiative
Link:
http://www.africanfathers.org/page.php?p_id=366
Choosing
an African name
Choosing
the name of a baby is highly important. In Africa this is perhaps
more so as it is believed that the actual choice of name can
influence the the life of both the child and the family. An over
ambitious name could have significant repercussions whereas a simple
name will not carry such high expectations. Names reflecting the day
of birth and the environment or circumstances surrounding the birth
are common.
Names
in African cultures are pointers to their users' hopes, dreams and
aspirations; they may reflect their users' geographical environments,
their fears, their religious beliefs, and their philosophy of life
and death. Children's names may even provide insights into important
cultural or socio-political events at the time of their birth. The
circumstances surrounding a child's birth may be considered when a
name is being chosen.
In ancient African cultures, names
held a mesmerizing mystique, which has carried over to many
contemporary baby-naming celebrations.
The
origins of African baby names
Africa
is a massive continent. There are many languages and these divide
into hundreds of regional dialects. There are hundreds of different
Ethnic groups and these can encompass a range of beliefs including
those adhering to Christianity, Muslim or tribal religions. The
name's can derive from foreign languages such as Arabic, English,
French, Dutch or Portuguese. African names also obviously derive from
African native languages including Hausa, Zulu, Yoruba, Swahili,
Shona and Kongo.
Factors
such as the day of the week of the birth, the time of day (dawn,
morning, dusk, afternoon, evening, night), the season of the year,
the order of birth, the location a person is born, the specific
circumstances relating to the child and to the childs family, the
attitude of the parents as well as the gender of the child all play
significant roles in the overall naming process and in the actual
name given.
If
one's parents suffer or suffered from child or infant mortality, one
is likely to have a funny, survival or death-prevention name believed
to be capable of preventing and/or eliminating totally such deaths
since it has the power of preventing parents in the underworld from
causing the death of such children. Names in African societies may
even be important indicator(s) of the bearers behavior and as
pointers to the name-bearers' past, present, and future
accomplishments.
Personal
names in Sub-Saharan Africa are therefore not mere labels showing
which person (parti!cularly, which father) is responsible for a
childs birth. There is also a close identity between the name and the
name bearer such that the name links to the name-givers overall
experiences.
Following are examples of baby-naming
ceremonies in four African countries.
Nigeria
The custom for young Edo couples is
to ask the grandfather or great-grandfather to send a name.
According to Dr. Nowa
Omoigui, an American cardiologist whose ancestry is the Edo
nationality of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Edos perform the
traditional naming ceremony on the seventh day after a baby's birth.
Family elders and friends gather to pray for long life, health and
prosperity, amid oracular consultations. Then the elders present the
family name to the baby's father.
It is customary that all
those present place a gift or any amount of money in a bowl, then
state the name they want to give the child. After each guest gives a
name, the chorus responds: "Ogha gue dia. Ise,"
meaning "May he or she live long, Amen." Food and drinks
follow.
Later in the evening, the
main "naming" ceremony takes place. Prayers are accompanied
by the consumption of exotic ingredients by family members and
guests. These include alligator pepper (to energize the child's
speech); honey, sugar, and bitter kola nuts, which symbolize the
duality of life's sweet and sour experiences; native chalk and salt,
to symbolize happiness; water, because it has no enemy; and palm oil,
seen as an emollient to life's problems.
During the ceremony, the
eldest female member of the family repeatedly asks the mother what
she calls the child. To the first six questions, the mother replies
with an unthinkable name, which the women reject amid traditional
songs and music. When the question is asked for the seventh time, the
father of the child whispers the actual name to his wife, who then
announces it publicly.
In his article, "Edo
Naming Ceremony," Dr. Omoigui lists examples of Edo
names:
Onaiwu: This child will not die
again.
Osamamianmianmwen: God did not forget me.
Ighiwiyisi: I
shall not get lost in a foreign land.
Nowamagbe: He who is not
harmed by members of his family cannot be harmed by outsiders.
Iyare:
Safe journey.
Kenya
According to Godffrey Olali's
article: "Traditional Child Naming" published in the Daily
Nation's national audio site in Kenya, some clans hold the baby
naming ceremony on the third day after birth, while others have it on
the eighth. The Kamba community have the Mwithakya,
birth attendant, help choose the baby's name, which is either
selected from a hereditary name pool (dead family members or
friends), or from a circumstantial pool, relating to the child's
birth.
There are different boy
and girl names for a premature child, others for babies born after
the mom's due date, still others for a child born "en route"
to the birth attendant's home. Then there are names referring to
natural conditions at birth. For example, Wambua is a name
given to a boy born on a rainy day. A girl's version of that name
would be Symbua.
In the text, "African
Religions and Philosophy," J.S. Mbiti states that the Luo
tribes seek a name for a newborn while a baby is crying, during which
time different names of the living and/or dead are mentioned. If the
child stops crying when a particular name is called out, family
members and attendants assume that the spirits calling for that name
have been appeased, and the baby receives that name.
For the Nandis of
the Great Rift Valley, baby naming takes place in the mother's hut
while the men, who have been kept in the dark regarding the baby's
sex, wait outside. The mother and attending women call a spirit's
name to watch over the baby. The baby is supposed to sneeze to
indicate that the name has been accepted. Snuff "helps" the
sneezing amid the women's laughter! There are intervals interspersing
the women's laughter, which the men, waiting outside, can count as an
indication of whether the baby is a girl or a boy. In Nandi
traditions, the original name that a child receives is not used until
another substitute name, birth-related and selected by the mother, is
given a few days later.
Traditionally, a father
prepares beer uki and honey beer, slaughters a ram ilondu,
a he-goat mbui, and, in some cases, a bull.
After the birth, a mother
from the Maasai tribes will strap the baby to her back and
carry him to the thorn enclosure near the hut where he was born.
There, the waiting elders assign a name to the child, and a
celebration follows during which the jugular vein of a cow is pierced
to extract blood. The blood is then mixed with milk and drunk by
everyone at the party, including the warriors. Maasai tribes depend
completely on their cows and herds for their livelihood. They believe
that, when sky and land separated, God Enkai sent them their
cows. So it is only natural that the cows' milk and blood be included
in their daily celebrations, and baby naming is no exception.
Nubia
In the land embraced between Egypt
and Sudan, a midwife, friends and neighbors assist the mom-to-be
during childbirth, to help her ward off the curse of the evil
spirits.
According to Egypt
Magazine (society section, Summer 1996 edition), the attendants sing
songs while the laboring woman walks, leaning on her friends'
shoulders as they help support her weight. When the birth gets
closer, a cloth is placed on the woman's head during pains and she is
helped to her feet so that the baby does not touch the ground but
falls instead into a plate. After the baby is born, the cloth is
removed from the mother's head and cut in the middle to make an
opening for the baby's head. The cloth then becomes the baby's first
dress.
Seven days later, the
baby's family holds a party, offering dates and juice to the guests,
often to traditional dances and songs.
Egypt
From the time of the ancient
Egyptians, children were considered a blessing. Already they were
referred to as today's Arabic version of staff, amoud el aagazah,
meaning the staff of old age that parents can lean on when they, in
turn, need support.
Marie Parsons, an ardent
student of Egyptian archeology, ancient history and its religion,
speaks of the manner in which children were valued in ancient Egypt.
In her article, "Childbirth and Children in Ancient Egypt,"
she states: "Children had value in ancient Egypt. The Greeks,
who were accustomed to leaving infants exposed to the elements, were
stunned to observe that every baby born to Egyptian families was
cared for and raised."
"…As in all areas
of daily life, the gods of Egypt were connected to the birth process.
The creator-god Khnum gave health to the newborn after birth. Women
would place two small statues for the gods Bes and Taweret. The
dwarf-god Bes was supposed to vanquish any evil things hovering
around the mother and baby."
"…The Goddess
Taweret, often carrying a magic knife or the knot of Isis, was the
chief deity of women in pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding.
When it came to naming
their babies, again the Egyptians relied on the influence of their
gods. Says Ms. Parsons, "Most parents liked to place their
children under the sponsorship of some deity, so there were children
named Hori and others named Seti, and others named Ameni, that is,
dedicated to Horus, to Set, and to Amun. Names could signify the
god's pleasure, perhaps explaining why there were so many Amenhoteps,
Khnumhoteps and Ptahhoteps, which signifies that the god was in front
of, or the father of the child, as in the name Amenemhat."
After an infant's birth,
the parents would enter the name in the registers of the House of
Life.
In contemporary Egypt, a
naming ceremony, Sebooh, whose roots may possibly be traced to the
times of the Pharaohs, takes place on the seventh day of life.
Celebrated by Moslems and Christians alike, this tradition involves
the extended family members and friends. The baby is clothed in a
white robe and the name is sometimes chosen by assigning different
names to several candles, lighting them at the onset of the ceremony,
then naming the child after the candle which burns the longest.
The mom places the baby in
a large sieve, and gently shakes him, to help him become accustomed
to the vagaries of life. Then the infant is laid on a blanket on the
floor, with a knife placed along his chest to ward off evil spirits,
while the guests scatter grains, gold and gifts around him, all being
symbols of the plentiful abundance wished on the child. The mother
side-steps seven times over the baby's body, again to ward off evil
spirits, while incantations are chanted by the attendants for the
child to listen to what his mother says, and always obey her. A
procession of lights and incense follows. The mother carrying her
baby leads the procession, followed by the singing children and
guests, all bearing candles and incense to bless the house and its
occupants. Then comes the feast!
Why are traditions so universal, so
enduring across generations, with their unique ability to transcend
time and space?
Perhaps because they are the very
substance that weaves the thread, binding us into something larger
than ourselves, towards which all of humanity gravitates. They
symbolize our perpetual quest for continuity, for immortality, for
the "now and forever" that we aspire to, and that most
religions profess.
Although traditions center around the
mundane fare of food and gatherings, their core is the thimble-full
of things we do, to hint at the ocean that is human love.
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Want to add more information?
If you would like to tell us about the ceremony that is practiced
in your region or culture or tradition, write about it. We will take
a summary of it and add it to this website. We would love to read
about more ceremonies and traditions. Send information to
smi@sweetmotherinternational.org