Nigerian Names: What's in a Name?

Posted by Felix Okoli on June 21, 2011 at 06:09:23:

Are you Nigerian? I guess the first thing that can identify you as one is your name. Every one of us should have a Nigeria name. A name that identifies us to our nation, culture, tribe or even religion. People bear certain names for certain reasons. In different cultures or ethnic groups, names are given to the new member of the family while he is still young and the child grows up with it. A name can be given to someone as a result of a good or bad misfortune. Most Nigerian Christians give names to their children as a way of praising God for instance an Igbo woman who has been childless for years now gives birth to a child or male child and calls him "Chukwuemeka" which means "God has done the most or done well" or a Yoruba woman gives birth and her child is called Oluwafunmi which means "God has given me".
Nigerians give different names to their new born for different reasons. Apart from just praising God, some who believe in re-incarnation may also name their child the same name as their ancestor that has returned as the child. A child may also be named depending on what day of the week it is in their culture for instance Nwafor in Igbo which means a child that was born on Afor day.

Do you have a Nigerian name? What is its meaning and why do you think you were given that name? Do you like your name? Have you changed your Nigerian name just because you think it's not globally appealing? Tell us why?

Here are a couple of other common Nigerian names I want to list:
Emeka
Ifeanyi
Joke
Oluwaseun
Yetunde
Bagudu
Ahmed
Suleiman
Ekong
Etim
Ekaete
Essien