SAY IT LOUD / WHAT’S IN A NAME

One of the great traditions and retentions of African culture is the naming ceremony where family and close friends gather on the 7th day following the birth of a baby to celebrate, pray for and give family elders opportunity to name this new life. People of all cultures practice this tradition in some way or another.

Expectant parents might choose a name to loving refer to the baby throughout the pregnancy. Mothers might decide to name a child in honor of a favorite relative, friend or heroic figure. Some parents will choose to commemorate remarkable events that surrounded the birth such as an unusually fierce thunder “Storm.” Others may search one of the many baby books to choose a name. A mother will choose a name with special meaning, such or Adam which means, “Created by God”, or Eve, which means “life.” Some mothers select names those conger images of nobility and prosperity such as “Alexandra” or “Charles Henry George Albert”. A parent embracing popular culture may name a girl “Morgan” or some other name traditionally attributed to a boy. Parents cross cultural boarders to select names such as “Gia”, Italian; “Deiter” German, “Jabari”, Swahili; “Raheem”, Arabic or “Fauna” which is Greek.

Names convey meaning, marking a child for life. An individual receives an identification to which he or she must either try live up to like “Sojourner” or sadly, a name they can never live down like “Judas”. The trend in the African -American community to name a child something unique or exotic because it sounds cute runs amok when the name is unpronounceable, incorrectly spelled phonically, or worst, when a name correctly spelled but uniquely pronounced is embarrassingly suggestive of bovine fertilizer or a donkey’s hind quarter. Names bespeak character and such naming further exposes children to needless teasing and mockery thus laying the groundwork for an emotionally damaged individual. Children growing into adulthood with uncharacteristic names are often subjected to a kind of subliminal discrimination. Educators, based on their private perceptions or previous experiences may unfairly label students. Employers have been known to screen-out applicants based on names that they believe do not fit their corporate image.

Parents, who are tasked with the responsibility to ensure the wellbeing of their children, must step outside themselves to give consideration and critical thought to the connotations of those one, two or three words that identify their children.

Does it matter how your child’s name will be received outside of his or her immediate community? As one mother gifted with a son named Andrew Michael explained, “I wanted to be sure he could get a job.”

              - By Grandmother aka, Sista’ Mean

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