A Guide to West African Cultural Etiquette
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West African and, to a large extent, African cultures assign deeper meanings and cultural substance when ascribing names. This is evident in the ceremonies, rites, and traditions that are upheld during the naming of a child.
Over the years, the West African tradition of naming a child has intricately evolved due to colonization, urbanization, and globalization. In pre-colonial times, names were assigned based on a collection of reasons such as circumstances surrounding the child’s birth, day of birth, hopes and aspirations of the family, as well as ancestral and religious connections.
Ethnic and language differences play an important role in naming a child. It goes without saying that West African naming traditions are as dynamic as the cultures within it. For instance, within some tribes in Ghana, children are named after the day of the week they were born, which has an even more profound and spiritual connotation. A female child born on a Friday would be named Afia. The spelling may differ according to tribes; the Ga and Ewe tribes would name the newborn Afi, Fantes would name her Afua/Efua, and so on yet the meanings transcend beyond the day of birth. In the Akan tribe, the name Afia is also associated with fertility. This practice among the Akans connotes a deep connection to the “nnanso” system of timekeeping.
The arrival of new life is a cause for celebration and communal merrymaking, bringing together families both nuclear and extended. Naming ceremonies, like names, have also evolved with the introduction of non-traditionally African religions. There has been a shift from naming children with indigenous African names to Western and Arab-centric names.
West African naming ceremonies, also known as “outdooring,” introduce the community to the newest member of a family and are usually held seven to eight days after a child’s birth. Certain rituals, such as dropping water and local gin or sugar in the mouth of the child indicating the hope the child would be an honest person, take place during the event.
In Senegal, the Wolof traditional naming ceremony, Ngenteh, is performed seven days after the birth of a child with guests feasting on lakh – a Senegalese dessert of millet and yogurt. The newborn’s name is bestowed by an elder in the community, and the child’s hair is shaved.
As a way of building strong relationships with the African diaspora and encouraging reconnections with their African heritage, the tradition of West African naming ceremonies extends to the descendants of the enslaved. Villages in Ghana, Benin, Togo, Senegal, and other countries in the sub-continent have, through the years, organized immersive re-naming ceremonies complete with celebrations by the community to bridge the gap between the African diaspora and the continent. The naming ceremonies are not only open to people of African descent. Other races can and have participated in naming ceremonies and received African names.
Bearing a West African name is a journey through time, culture, and identity. From the unique naming practices within tribes across West Africa to the conscious efforts to foster a love of African heritage that binds communities together. As West Africa charts its path through the ever-evolving changes and nuances of the modern world, the DNA of identity carried by truly African names remains an important part of its cultural heritage, history, and future.