What Afrikan Names May (or May Not) Tell Us About the State of Pan-Afrikanism

Abstract

Names are important to Afrikan=Black people of the continent and diaspora as, traditionally, one’s name is seen as playing a crucial role in the fulfillment (or lack thereof) of one’s life purpose. However, due to enslavement and neo-enslavement in the diaspora as well as colonialism and neo-colonialism on the continent, many Afrikan=Black people now give their children the names of their enslavers or colonial enemies. In this article, we utilize a comparative anthroponymic analysis making use of case studies from two institutions, namely, the Institute of African Studies (IAS)–University of Ghana at Legon and Abibitumi Kasa, with locations in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Accra, Ghana, in order to observe how some Afrikan=Black people adopt Eurasian names and/or reclaim Afrikan names, as well as the forms such names take. In our findings, we observe that in the case of names from Abibitumi Kasa, pulling largely from the diaspora, Afrikan=Black individuals tend to have names from all over the Afrikan world whereby the first name may be from one cultural-linguistic group while the surname is from another. There also may be a disparity whereby a preferred Afrikan=Black name may be different from one’s “legal” name, which may still be Eurasian. In the case of IAS, we find that names tend to be either from colonial enemies, a single Afrikan cultural-linguistic group, or a mixture of these two. In conclusion, we argue that these tendencies of the continent and the diaspora as represented by these two Afrikan=Black institutions may serve as a litmus test for understanding the current state of Pan-Afrikanism.

Names, Naming and the Code of Cultural Denial in a Contemporary Nigerian Society: An Afrocentric Perspective

“…They believe that African names and culture are inimical to modernization trends. This kind of orientation justifies the claim by Kambon and Yeboah (2019) that colonial concepts are still shaping African consciousness. These participants tended to have limited awareness of themselves and have been indoctrinated by ideas that worked against them (Woodson, 1933).…”

“…In the African universe, an ancestor can have a relationship with the living and can return to a family as a new infant. Hence, one could have reincarnation names like Bábátúndé (YO) “Father has returned,” Yétúndé (YO) “Mother has returned,” Térhíde (TV) “Father has returned,” Ngónder (TV) “Mother has resurrected,” Èkàété (EF) “Paternal grandmother,” Adah (BA) “grandfather” and Àkwàówó (IB) “Elderly person.” African names scholars (Abubakari, 2020; Boluwaduro, 2019; Gebre, 2010; Kambon & Yeboah, 2019; Lusekelo & Muro, 2018; Maduagwu, 2010; Oduyoye, 1982; Ubahakwe, 1981) have shown that names can also resonate cultural history, belief system and social circumstances. Therefore, a child becomes a living memoriam of sort.…”

Black Names, Immigrant Names: Navigating Race and Ethnicity Through Personal Names

“…African Americans have been widely studied in the United States in regard to naming practices (Brown & Lively, 2012; Figolo, 2005; Fryer & Levitt, 2004; Kambon & Yeboah, 2019), and even the name of the ethnic group has been problematized over the years (Martin, 1991). In the late 1980s, Jesse Jackson and others successfully rallied to be called African American instead of Black American, thus identifying with the continent of Africa and a cultural identity instead of a racial one similarly to Chinese-American, Italian-Americans, and Mexican American (Martin, 1991).…”

“…Personal names, which often times signify ethnic or religious identity, are useful sociocultural indicators which can encapsulate historical and social processes. Names can act positively as cultural capital in widely differing contexts (Fucilla, 1943; Kambon & Yeboah, 2019; Terrell et al, 1988; Turner, 1949/2002) and negatively to reinforce the status of the oppressed (Brown & Lively, 2012). In the U.S. context, distinctively African American names (“Black names”) and immigrant cultural names have been highly contested.…”

“…contexts (Fucilla, 1943;Kambon & Yeboah, 2019;Terrell et al, 1988;Turner, 1949Turner, /2002 and negatively to reinforce the status of the oppressed (Brown & Lively, 2012). In the U.S. context, distinctively African American names ("Black names") and immigrant cultural names have been highly contested.…”