Everything on planet Earth is called something or identified by something unique. This unique form of identification is what we now know to be a name. Can you imagine life without a name? I bet living would be so boring and forming bonds would be impossible because we would not know how to identify ourselves. Even giving code names is still under the periphery of names. So, lucky you that you have got a name 😁.
Names aren't just a means of identification especially to us Africans rather names are prophetic as they carry a meaningful undertone. Africans, especially Nigerians pride themselves in naming their children with the dialect of their mother tongue because to them it is weightier and it is believed that the meaning of the names follow the child till death.
For instance, when a woman gives birth to a child and the baby dies and she births another baby after some time, the parents immediately give the child a name which they believe would keep the child alive.
Or another instance were children are giving god-like names of their traditional deity thinking it would attract luck to the child or for some that name their children a full sentence of prayer point 😆. Truth is African names are unique and fun.
Let's get to my own names
Disclaimer: Try not to laugh too hard or bite your tongue, for I will not be held responsible
😁
Did I mention that it is also a norm for a child to be given more than two names in Nigeria? You heard that right, some children have as many as seven names and I am proudly one of them.
My given names are......drum roll 🥁
Adiahaobong
Idongesit
Adaeze
Ogechi
Comfort
Rebecca
Sunday.....phew that was a lot right?
Ok break down time
I hail from two states, what you call a cross breed😁. My dad is from Akwa-ibom state while my mum is from Abia state. Both sides gave me their dialect names.
Adiahaobong means first daughter of a king or high lord in Ibibio dialect while Idongesit means Comfort or Comforter....nice right 😊. These names are from my dad's dialect.
Then Adaeze also means first daughter of a king while Ogechi means God's time is the best. These names are from my mum's dialect.
The name Rebecca is of Hebrew origin, picked from the Bible. It has many meanings two of which I like and they are Captivating and peace maker. These definitely speaks of my persona and I like it.
Comfort is the English version of Idongesit and it simply means to care or offer comfort. Sunday is my surname, given to my dad because he was born on a Sunday. That's another Nigerian thing. Parents give names of the days of the week to their kids too.
As you all can see and bear witness, my names are powerful. It speaks of one born royal with a captivating persona and beauty and also a peacemaker.
If you survived reading out my names without biting your tongue cheers to you, @luchyl and @olujay, did you try it 😆. For those who can't pronounce my native names, I simply tell them to call me Becky which is coined from Rebecca and it is also how I coined my hive username Beckyroyal, simple yet beautiful.
Thank you all for your time in reading my blog..shalom
Images used are mine.
