Why do African Peoples still use foreign names? And next steps.
I once visited a business and was attended by a Cameroonian lady. During conversation I asked her name, and she said “Jane”. I then asked about her real name…her African name. She smiled and said she does not have one. I was confounded, and this initiated a friendly dialogue between us about the practice of Africans adopting foreign names.
It has become habitual for the Global African People to have and give their children foreign names. Even if they are born and raised in Africa. What is the origin of this practice? And how can we change it?
For Africans it stems from colonization and religious imperialism. For African descendants it is the slave trade in which enslaved Africans were forced to relinquish their original African ethnic groups and adopt a European name.
Religious groups like Christianity encouraged Africans to adopt a biblical name to fully convert. but this was just cultural imperialism masked in religious evangelism. Using two biblical examples: Saul became Paul and Simon became Peter after an inner spiritual change. Their names changed but within the SAME broader ethnic group. Africans see this, miss the point, and change names to a different race. Additionally, African names often even have a direct reference to the Creator in their meaning. So objectively why change it?
Among African Americans, despite achieving freedom for decades very few have bothered to reclaim their ethnic identity and change their names, or at least give their children an African name. Today both groups have become so comfortable with this practice that most will argue till thy kingdom come why they should keep it.
People will give many reasons, but their roots are mostly the same: generational habit, assimilation for social/professional ascension, and deification of all things foreign. You are African… why are you running from an African name? Do you see Europeans or Westerners giving themselves African names? Here are recommended next steps:
-For African descendants: Individuals, families, and marital couples can adopt an African ethnic group, choose a last name, then change names. Or to start small adopt an African first or middle name. When people have children, give them an African name from an adopted African ethnic group. I believe all African descendants on earth should have an African name.
-For Africans and African in the diaspora: No explanations needed. You are African, so just give yourselves and your children African names. The practice of foreign middle names, unless necessary through marriage, should end. You can even choose a “softer” middle name from your ethnic group or one from another African ethnic group.
The message here is for the global African peoples to start reclaiming their ethnic identity through the name, and thus start correcting the erroneous practices that originated from historical cultural disruptions and intrusions by foreign parties.
Names are words, and words have power. Remember in the beginning was the Word, and the Word is the Creator who has a Name that releases Creative Powers. Thus, the ethnic name on earth for human beings is the starting point of personal beingness and power. When your parents call you by your real African name, do you not inwardly feel a mysterious power resounding in it? It is time to reclaim it.
And I practice what I preach! For I was born with an English middle name, but I recently reclaimed my ethnic sovereignty by changing it to an Igbo one. But this is reserved for another post.
~Dr. Ikenna A. Ezealah, Ph.D., MBA
Builder of the African Future
Nation Upbuilding 