Reasons some Nigerians bear weird, unusual names

Mohammed, Falomo, Osaro, Singer, Igbasan and Orokoya

Naming in Nigeria is mainly determined by circumstances of birth as well as religious and ethnic backgrounds of the parents, writes GBENGA ADENIJI

“My name is Government Osaro.” People in the room chuckled as the 37-year-old introduced himself.

No, Osaro is not a comedian. What got everyone laughing was his name. ‘Government’ is one of the unusual names parents give their children.

In Nigeria, circumstances surrounding the child’s birth, religion of the parents including their background and liking for certain names often determine the christening of such a child.

No child is christened for sheer fun because names are believed to carry special symbols and significance which some believe often determine the child’s fate later in life.

In the South-South region of the country, it is commonplace to see individuals bearing names such as Aeroplane, Hospital, Envelope, Money, Engineer, Government, Heineken and Manager.

These may sound funny or odd to people especially those not from that part of the country. But to the bearers and their kith, the names are not funny neither are they odd. These names are often rooted in history.

Osaro told SUNDAY PUNCH that his father told him he named him Government because he (the father) won a councillorship election the day he was born.

Osaro, who is from Aneto Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State, said his first encounter with people often elicits embarrassment and surprise.

He said, “My father, the late Nelson Olakamitia Osaro, told me that he won a councillorship election during General Olusegun Obasanjo’s military regime in 1977. He said while he was jubilating, news came that my mother had given birth to me.

“He was overjoyed and decided to christen me Government because he believed his government had arrived. My father represented the Bori County Council as a councillor.’’

Osaro said while in the secondary school, he had many friends because his classmates were eager to identify with him.

‘‘I also get some favours from people who wonder why I bear Government. I am used to the amazement people show immediately I introduce myself. The name was also a sort of attraction for ladies. It was one of the things that attracted my wife to me when we were courting. She wanted to know the man called Government, ’’ he stated.

In a similar vein, Chairman of the Niger-Delta Nationalities Forum is called Manager Seigha. He told our correspondent that such names are popular in the region.

He said, ‘‘As an Ijaw man, names like Aeroplane, Hospital and Engineer are not new to us. In Ijaw land, names signify historical things, events and people. Parents can name their child Aeroplane if the child is born on a day the villagers see an aeroplane for the first time. A child can also be named Hospital if he is the first child of his parents to be born in a hospital.”

Seigha stated that his parents named him Manager after a white man.

Manager said, ‘‘The white man was a clerk in charge of payment of damages to the victims of degradation caused by oil spillage. He was very fond of me when I was born. The man’s real name was not Manager but to the villagers, he was a manager since he was the one representing the firm. His fondness of me when I was born, impressed my parents and they wasted no time in naming me after him during my christening ceremony.

“Also, there is Manijer in Ijaw land which is used to identify a great dancer who stylishly rounds off the performance of his group during a competition. He is regarded as the best dancer in any performing group. Any Ijaw man who bears Manijer has a history attached to that name like other names from the South-South.” President Goodluck Jonathan is also an Ijaw man.

There is also Singer Singer. But before you start asking for his performance fee or music genre, be informed that Singer is neither a musician nor has anything to do with the entertainment industry. Singer is a local government employee.

He told SUNDAY PUNCH that many people always ask him if he is a singer because of his name.

Singer said, ‘‘I am not a singer and my father too was not. My father did not tell me why he named me Singer he only said his father bore the name. I think the genesis of the name was when my grandfather had an encounter with a white man bearing the name. My first name is Singer likewise my family name. But I always insert Azubuike as my middle name. ‘’

Singer, who hails from Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, was acting Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state.

He also said people always give him attention once they hear his name, adding ‘‘many people like the name and want to relate with me but I think it is more of curiousity to know why I bear such a name.’’

Just like the South-South, names given in the South-West are also symbolic. In Yoruba land, names such as Babatunde, Babajide and Babawale suggest that the child’s father or grandfather had died prior to the delivery. It is often assumed that the deceased has ‘returned’ in the mould of the new-born.

One such people is Mr. Babatunde Awofisan, an underwriting officer with one of the leading insurance firms in the country. He told our correspondent that his deceased grandfather was believed to have returned to the world through him.

He said, “I was born some years after the death of my grandfather. It was believed that he returned with my birth, hence the name Babatunde; meaning Baba (Father) has returned. So, I am seen as the dead grandfather who returned.”

Explaining the rationale behind child-naming, a lecturer in the Department of Linguistics and African Languages, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Mrs. Adeola Faleye, said, “If the child is a girl, she can bear names such as Iyabode, Yejide, Yetunde and Yewande suggesting a ‘return’ of the deceased grandmother.”

Also, through a person’s name, one can deduce what part they are from in Nigeria, situation of their birth and the religious leaning of their parents.

In Yoruba land, names like Akingbohungbe, Sodeinde, Onanuga, Oduneye Sobowale and others are believed to be exclusive to Ondo and Ogun states. An accountant, Mr. Olusegun Sobowale, belongs to this category. He told SUNDAY PUNCH that his surname often reveals the part of the country he is from.

He stated, “There is no way I can hide where I am from. My surname always gives me away. The name is peculiar to people from Ogun State. When one hears of Sho, or So, it is Ogun State that comes to mind. I cannot claim to be an indigene of any other state in Nigeria.”

There have been cases when some adults changed their given names on the conviction that such nomenclature was not befitting.

One of such people is a popular gospel singer and National President, Gospel Musicians Association of Nigeria, Timi Orokoya, otherwise called Telemi.

Before the name change, the singer bore Osukoya. According to him, there was a deity called Osu worshipped by his forefathers. The name of the deity was affixed to his ancestors’ name.

He told SUNDAY PUNCH said the name did not reflect his Christian leanings.

The 56-year-old musician said, “Osukoya implies that a Yoruba deity worshipped by my forebears is the saviour of our family but Orokoya literally means the word of God rescues. ‘Oro’ in the Yoruba language means word. I changed my name to Orokoya for divine intervention and the intervention actually came. The names people bear could be an impediment to one’s progress but some are not conscious of this.”

A pastor, Sola Sangotunji (meaning that a Yoruba god of thunder has resurrected), however said he refused to change his name.

Sangotunji said, “Names in Nigeria are carefully given. My family used to worship Sango. When I experienced a tough period in my life, I had to pray against the power behind the name. Some people change their names when they discover they impede their progress while others do not.

“I was not convinced to change my name but I battled the power behind it. In the Bible, Jabez’s mother named him so because his birth was painful. Jabez prayed to restore his glory and did not necessarily change his name,” he stated.

Also, there are some Yoruba names with the prefix, Oluwa which means God. Oluwatomisin (God is great enough to worship) Oluwafunmike (God gives me this one to pamper), Oluwafemi (God loves me) among others. Mrs. Oluwafunmilayo Igbasan is an example. Her name, Oluwafunmilayo, literally means God has given me joy.

Her name is, however, preceded by a story. Igbasan told our correspondent that according to her father, she was named so because she was born after the death of the family’s first child who died a day to its christening ceremony.

“My father told me that he was happy that I came to give him joy after the sadness caused by the death of the first child. He thus named me Oluwafunmilayo,” she said.

Also in Yoruba land, it is not uncommon to see people bearing Pamilerin (Make me laugh), Tokunbo (a child born abroad or a child who was born when the father was abroad), Goriola (mount wealth), and a host of others.

Miss Oluwapamilerin Falomo, a student of one of the country’s federal universities, told our correspondent that her name was informed by the circumstances of her birth. According to Falomo, her mother had her after a long-term pregnancy.

She said, “A normal pregnancy is supposed to be for nine months but my mother carried me for extra three months. When she finally had me after a lot of efforts, she concluded that God had made her laugh at last. Hence my name, Oluwapamilerin.”

Commenting on naming in Yoruba land, a culture advocate and former lecturer in the Department of Nigerian Languages, University of Ibadan, Prof. Akinwunmi Ishola, explained that the invasion of western culture and religion had eroded traditional Yoruba names.

He said there was a time parents from the Yoruba race strictly adhered to the proverb that the household a child was born into played a vital role in the naming of such a child.

The don said, ‘‘It is no longer the case now because of the influence of western culture and religion on our traditional beliefs. We now pay lip service to our culture because foreign traditions have lured us. In the past, parents can name a child after Oya to show their reverence for the goddess of wind. But nowadays, it is not so. My parents named me Akinwunmi. The name expresses their desire for a great fighter like they saw during their time. Akin connotes a great warrior while Wunmi indicates a desire.’’

In the Igbo culture, there are many names prefixed with Chi which the late novelist, Chinua Achebe, has abundantly explained in his novel, Things Fall Apart.

Achebe stated that each individual has a chi synonymous to a “divine spirit” indicating that “wherever something stands, something else will stand beside it.”

Also, a lecturer in the Department of English, OAU, Chijioke Uwasomba, said Igbo names are products of philosophical attitudes.

He said, ‘‘Igbo names largely reflect the cosmology of the Igbo people. The chi in Igbo culture is a personal god and by extension the Supreme Being. That is why chi prefixes names such as Chinedu (God directs); Chinazor (God saves); Chibuike (God is powerful); Chibunma (God is beauty) and Chielozonam (God should not forget me).’’

Uwasomba added that though young people now prefer foreign names to indigenous ones, the situation has not affected the richness of Igbo names.

According to him, some individuals change their Igbo names because they do not like what they suggest.

‘‘For instance, the name Osuji indicates that the bearer is made to be a devotee or dedicated to a god called Osu in Igbo land. The person with such a name may not like to continue bearing it especially when he is not comfortable with its meaning,” he stated.

There are also many names in Nigeria linked to festive seasons and days of the week. Names like Monday, Friday and Sunday are popular.

Similarly, the source of some family names in Nigeria can be traced to slave trade which took place in the 16th to 18th centuries. African slaves were moved from West Africa to South America, Europe and the Caribbean, and they were given the names of their masters or owners.

A lecturer in the Department of English, University of Lagos, Dr. Adetokunbo Pearse, said his great grandfather got the name Pearse in Sierra Leone shortly after the abolition of the slave trade.

He added that names such as Pearse, Willoughby, Williams and so on, which some Yoruba families bear in Nigeria, were the names given to their forefathers who were slaves.

Pearse said, “After the end of the slave trade, some slave merchants continued with the trade despite the British calling for its abolition. When the trading continued, the British sent some ships to the West African Coast and all the new slaves captured by the merchants and freed by the British were taken to Sierra Leone.

“It was there that the British christened the freed slaves and gave them Christian names like Pearse. In some cases, it was the slave masters that gave the names to them to show ownership and identification.”

Many names Nigeria also manifest contraction. They allow for easy pronunciation especially when they are too long. It is common to find Igbo names like Mgbeodichinma being abbreviated to Odichi, Chinma or Mgbeodi;   Kaosimasichukwu to Kaosi; Kamsiyoochukwu to Kamsi, among several others.

Some Yoruba names that are shortened include Oluwafunmilayo (Funmilayo or Funmi), Bolanle (Bola), Olasunkanmi (Sunkanmi) and so on.

Pearse said some names are altered to conform with western variants even though they are typically indigenous in content and form.

A public commentator and lecturer, Mr. Charles Dickson, said culture, religion and ethnic background also determine naming in the North.

Dickson, who is from Plateau State said, ‘‘In the North, a lot of importance is attached to naming. Thus, religion is a major factor that determines naming. Christian and Muslim parents in the North give their children names reflecting their religion. We believe that there is a connection between a name and the bearer.

“Also, we believe that whatever name a child bears determines what he or she will become in future. A child born in the North can also be named based on the job his father does. For instance, if the child’s father sells onions, the child can be christened Danalubosa to indicate the father is an onion seller.’’

Dickson added that names also reflect backgrounds and the day of the week they were born.

‘‘It is common to hear names such as Danladi (Sunday), Asabe or Dan Asabe (Saturday) and Danjuma (Friday). Some people also bear names of communities or places they came from in the North. Examples of this are names such as Tambuwal, Rimi, Shagari Kwankwaso and Shagari, that are also names of towns. The North is quite large and that is why we have indigenous names because of the many ethnic groups in the region, ’’ he said.

A trader, Mala Mohammat, who is an indigene of Maiduguri in Borno State, told our correspondent that his father named him Mala in remembrance of his grandfather who was a market leader.

Noting that names in his part of the North were largely driven by religious beliefs, he added that indigenous names could be given to babies if their parents wish to reflect their family backgrounds.

He said, ‘‘I was told that my grandfather was a popular market leader in my community. He also settled quarrels among the traders. The name Mala shows my grandfather’s position. My father said he decided to name me after his own father in order for him to always remember him. He also believed that I would exhibit the business traits which his father was known for.’’

Religion has also played a major role in child naming. It is now common to see parents give their children names such as Humility, Progress, Endurance and so on.

To Mr. Promise Chukwuemeka, his name conveys the religious beliefs of his parents. He said they told him that the promises God made to them were fulfilled upon his birth.

‘‘The Igbo version of Promise is Nkwachi. I love the name because it reminds my parents of the goodness of God. Besides, people who meet me cherish the name for its meaning, ’’ said Chukwuemeka who works as a compliant officer with a shopping mall located in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.