Names in southern Africa are both creative and revealing

Across Africa names can have a story behind them. Yewande, for instance, is a Yoruba name meaning “mother has paid me a visit”, given when an older female relative dies just before a girl is born. Kiptanui may hint at a difficult birth for mothers who speak one of the Kalenjin group of languages in Kenya.

Names illuminate power and oppression. Under apartheid in South Africa many black people took on English names, some under pressure from bosses too lazy to pronounce their real ones; others to avoid standing out in a system designed to strip black people of their history, dignity and identity. In his memoir, “Born A Crime”, Trevor Noah, a comedian, says that since African names were used at home, English ones often received little thought.

Do names shape character? Zimbabweans wryly noted that one Reward Marufu, a late brother-in-law of Robert Mugabe, did well out of his relative’s corrupt regime. But Mr Kalua says he is Trouble by name, not by nature. “Great sense of humour, friendly, patient, kind, loving. Nothing like trouble at all!”

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