Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet
Uttered by Juliet to display
his unflinching love for the legendary Romeo in the Shakespearean classical Romeo and Juliet, this phrase seems to
hold no waters in matters outside romance where names sometimes pack more
weight than their face value.
The list of leading lights in
Kenyan politics reads like a script from the sixties, thanks to scions of
former power men holding powerful positions with largely their surnames to
thank.
However, this is not only in
Kenya alone but has also been replicated in countries like the United States
where two George Bushes ascended to the presidency. It has been done by the
Sukarnoputris in Indonesia, the Gandhis in India, the Bhuttos in Pakistan and
the Aquinos and the Macapagals in Philippines.
But even in the traditional
African setting the question “whose son are you” was common since people were,
more often than not, judged according to their father’s reputation. Solomonic
wisdom dictates that “a good name is worth more than gold and silver”, or in
modern terms millions of dollars in the bank.
“Names are very important in
the African society because they are believed to appease ancestral spirits and
further the family tree,” explains George Mathu, a lecturer at the University
of Nairobi’s department of Athropology. “Their significance is so integral that
parents will avoid naming their children after people with bad perception in
society like thieves or murderers”.
To emphasize the importance
of names, naming a child was done in elaborate rituals with deep religious
significance. Newborns are named after ancestors, past heroes, time and place
of birth, animals, physical features and major events. Others are a reflection
of the prevailing emotions or conditions at the time of birth. Taabu, Raha,
Blessing, Zawadi, Talent, Innocent, Fortunate, Rehema and Baraka are good
examples.
Mr. Mathu says that a name is
so critical in the belief systems that it is thought it can determine the way
people behave and feel about themselves. This, Mr. Mathu says, explains why
there are so many Castrols, Mandelas, Kennedys, Julius and so few, if any,
Judas, Cains, Hitlers and Lucifers.
A funny name for instance,
the university don says, can make an individual a centre of attraction or
ridicule in which case it might affect their self esteem and personality.
Orie Rogo-Manduli, the
firebrand female politician and activist, says she was baptized Mary Snessor by
her parents in honour of a Scottish nun working in Calabar, Nigeria, rescuing
twins babies from ritual killings.
“My mother gave birth to me
while on a visit to check on my ailing father at Maseno Hospital in the company
of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga,” Orie explains. “I popped out unexpectedly and after
being washed Jaramogi took me to my father’s bedside where, although he very
ill, he whispered ‘Orie’”.
Later on the Trans Nzoia
County Senator aspirant found Mary Snessor such a mouthful and requested his
parents that she drops the two names.
“Although I admired the
Scottish lady and even visited her birthplace later on I believed my identity
was with maternal grandmother Orie whose genes I carry,” she says. “Besides,
people used to stop at Mary Snessor and Orie was somehow overshadowed, hence we
held a big family meeting where I officially became Orie Rogo and later added
Manduli which is late husband’s name”.
Known for hers strong
feminine ideals, Orie insists that ladies should not drop their maiden surnames
even after getting married since that is a sign of respect to their fathers.
She also adds that all the Ories in Luo land are related to her since that name
is unique to her family tree.
However occupation, religion
and personal philosophies are some of the most common reasons for changing
names.
Success in some careers like
performing arts and politics are sometimes hinged on a unique and larger than
life personality, of which a name plays a big role in creating. There are many
people who transformed their careers and fortunes in these fields by simply
changing their names.
Many people who watched
movies like The Firm, Jerry Maguire, Magnolia, The Last Samurai
and War of the Worlds might never
know that the main star Tom Cruise once answered to the name Thomas Mapother
III. Others are Marilyn Monroe, born Norma Jean Baker, Demi Moore, born
Demetria Gene Guynes, Chuck Norris, born Carlos Ray and Bruce Willis, born
Walter Willison.
Adolf Hitler’s father was
born Alois Schicklgruber and later adopted the name Hiedler after her single
mother remarried. When the future Fuhrer was entering Germany as a young job
seeker a migration officer found Hiedler a mouthful and simply wrote it as “Hitler”.
The name changes would prove
a turning point in his political career in future because it would have been
hard to imagine the millions of NAZIs in rallies across Berlin and Frankfurt
shouting “Heil Schicklgruber” instead of “Heil Hitler”.
Growing up in Kilembe Copper
Mines in Uganda Richard Nguluku Ndile couldn’t tire telling people about that
“wonderful’ place in Uganda upon his return to his native Kibwezi, hence
everybvody reffered to him as Kalembe.
Years later after he lost a
civic election just because his supporters could not recognize his name on the
ballot paper, the maverick politician swore an affidavit, dropping the first
two names and officially becoming Kalembe Ndile.
Besides politics and showbiz,
there are those who abandon their original names as a sign of protest against
political, racial, religious or cultural prejudices in the societies they live
in.
“The African independence
generation was very conscious of their African roost and they were determined
cultural subjugation and imperialism,” explains former Subukia Member of
Parliament Koigi wa Wamwere. “Therefore most of them went out of their way to
demonstrate this quest by dropping, legally or otherwise, all their European
names”.
In Kenya founding father Jomo
Kenyatta, among those leaders who changed their names to reflect on their
pan-African convictions. Others across the continent who did the same were
Mobutu Sese Seko wa Zabanga, Kamuzu Banda and Thabo Mbeki.
Born Kamau wa Ngengi,
baptized John Peter which he later changed to Johnstone, the late president
took Jomo which means “burning spear” in Kikuyu and Kenyatta which referred to
the beaded belt which he often wore.
Although born Koigi wa
Wamwere, the Chama Cha Mwananchi leader says he was baptized with a Christian
name that he is not comfortable mentioning because he never considered it his
name in the first place.
“I dropped that name because
I considered it a constant reminder of the colonial subjugation and past,” he
told DN2. “For those reasons and the fact I would like it to remain buried in
the vaults of forgotten history I don’t like mentioning or saying what it was”.
While Africans don’t need to
have foreign names in order to be Christians, Koigi says, the fact that we
adore European names is an indicator that although we got political
independence we are still culturally colonized.
The veteran politician’s
sentiments are echoed by Mukurueini Constituency legislature and Assistant
Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Kabando wa Kabando.
Due to what he calls “vexation
by the blatant segregation against my cultural heritage by the colonial
education system” the parliamentarian dropped his birth names Godfrey Kariuki
Mwangi for the double barreled Kabando wa Kabando.
“When I was schooling many
high schools were sponsored by the major churches like the Catholic and the
Presbyterian,” he explains. “There was a rule that you have to be baptized with
an English name for you to be admitted in one of these schools hence I adopted
the name Godfrey from the worry that I might pass and miss a chance”.
Kabando chose Godfrey not
because it was the name of his father’s best friend.
But even after taking up
Godfrey, he referred to himself as GKM Kabando when he joined form one at
Ololoserian High School in Kajiado County since he never believed the first
three names were his names. For these reasons many of his classmates referred
to him as Kabando.
“That was a rebellion against
unfair conventions at an early age because these colonial prejudices are
compelling Africans to do what our former colonial masters don’t do,” Kabando
explains. “The Wazungus don’t change
their names when they come to Africa but they want us to change ours”.
While saying that he is
passionately opposed to camouflaging identities through foreign names Kabando
believes that using local names is an honour to the African philosophy and
anthropology which was the guiding principle in naming children for hundreds of
years.
“The adoration of foreign
names especially among the youth is a perpetration of inferiority complex
because it reflects their worship of western values,” he explains. “Martin
Luther King Junior talked about people being proud of who they are regardless
of their race and religion but here we are punishing our children with strange
names or expecting them to speak English with a native accent”.
But getting his names changed
completely was never an easy task for he had to contend with legal bottlenecks
at the registrar of persons. But after launching more than 32 unsuccessful
applications he finally got his way in 2003 after the NARC government came to
power.
“After the 2002 elections I
literary camped at the registrar of persons for many days until he finally
heard my case, albeit halfheartedly,” the politician says. “The only other political
figure who was able to completely change their names completely in Kenyan
history was Johnston Kamau Ngengi, popularly known as Jomo Kenyatta”.
When he vied for the
Chairmanship of Student Organization of Nairobi University (SONU) the Kabando wa
Kabando stood him in good stead since many could not easily place his ethnic
identity in the heavily polarized student community.
“My name helped me defray
tribal card when I campaigned and won SONU chairmanship in 1992 since I
couldn’t be associated with any ethnic or political party grouping,” Kabando
recalls. “But it also became a setback for me when I vied in 1997 because some
Mukurweini voters thought I was an alien”.
In A Grain of Wheat Ngugi wa Thiong’o, formerly known as James Ngugi
Thiong’o, explains his surprise upon encountering an African economics lecturer
at Makerere University without an English name called Mwai Kibaki.
Although he was baptized as
Emilio Stanley by Italian missionaries, President Mwai Kibaki has always been
known for all intents and purposes with his two African names.
Born of pan-Africanist
fathers who had a penchant for African names the two leading presidential
contenders Raila Amollo Odinga and Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta don’t have any English
names. Others like Kalonzo Musyoka and Musalia Mudavadi lays a lot of emphasis
on their African names while Peter Kenneth is the only referred by two European
names.
Known to the world as Malcolm
X, the African American civil rights activist dropped his surname and adopted
the “X” after joining Nation of Islam (NOI) to signify the unknown tribe name
of his ancestor who was transported from Africa in a slave ship. It was a
tradition of slave masters to give slaves their surnames as a sign of ownership
X later changed his entire
identity to El Hajj Malik El Shabaaz although he still remained Malcolm X to
his followers. Muhammad Ali, a Malcom X’s protégé, also dropped his birth name
Cassius Clay after joining NOI to protest racial prejudice by white America
against black people.
