Naming System
Additionally the Ewe use a system of giving the first name of a child as the day of the week that the child was born. This arises from a belief that the real name of a child can only be determined after the child has shown its character. However, as a child is a person, not an object, the child must be referred to by some name in the interim, so a name is provided based on the day of birth. A final name is given at a naming ceremony, seven days after the date of birth.
The Ewe naming system is as follows:
| Ŋkeke/Nkeke (Day) | Ŋtsu/Ntsu (Male) | Nyɔnu (Female) |
|---|---|---|
| Dzoɖagbe (Monday) | Kɔdzo, Kwadzo, Kojo, Kudjoe | Adzo, Ajo, Adjoe |
| Braɖagbe, Blaɖagbe (Tuesday) | Kɔmla, Kɔbla, Kwabla | Abra, Abla, Brã |
| Kuɖagbe (Wednesday) | Kɔku, Kwaku, Awuku | Aku, Akua |
| Yawoɖagbe (Thursday) | Yao, Kwawu, Kwao | Yawo, Yawa, Yaa, Awo |
| Fiɖagbe (Friday) | Kofi | Afua, Afi, Afiwa |
| Memleɖagbe, Memliɖagbe (Saturday) | Kɔmi, Kwami | Ami, Ama, Amé |
| Kɔsiɖagbe, Kwasiɖagbe (Sunday) | Kɔsi, Kwasi | Akɔsia, Akɔsua, Kwashiwɔ, Awusi |
Often, people are called by their birth date name most of the time, the given name being used only on formal documents. In such cases, children with the same birth name are delineated by suffixes: -gã meaning big, -vi meaning little. So for example, after the birth of another Kofi, the first child called Kofi becomes Kofigã, and the new child Kofi. A subsequent Kofi, would be Kofivi, or (Kofitse mostly among Wedome and Tɔngu Ewes. Sometimes this renaming happens twice, as the second Kofi may have originally been called Kofivi, while the eldest retained Kofi, thereby necessitating that they both be renamed on the birth of the third Kofi.
Read more about this topic: Ewe People
Famous quotes containing the words naming and/or system:
“The night is itself sleep
And what goes on in it, the naming of the wind,
Our notes to each other, always repeated, always the same.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“Such is the remorseless progression of human society, shedding lives and souls as it goes on its way. It is an ocean into which men sink who have been cast out by the law and consigned, with help most cruelly withheld, to moral death. The sea is the pitiless social darkness into which the penal system casts those it has condemned, an unfathomable waste of misery. The human soul, lost in those depths, may become a corpse. Who shall revive it?”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)