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What’s in a name? Quite a lot as it happens. Too many Africans give their children European or other foreign names. Naming your child is of course your prerogative but as a trend I find it disturbing and another manifestation of latent self-hate.
Once upon a time in Kenya you had to give your child a so called ‘Christian name’ to get them baptised and admitted to school as the only schools back in the day were run by missionaries. Kenya has been independent for nearly fifty years. Yet nine out of ten Kenyans I meet have not just biblical names but other Anglo/Celtic names too. “Hello my name is Brian”, “Hello my name is Roger”, “Hello my name is Sheila”. Fifty years after independence. They all have African middle names but mostly choose not to use them.
My cousin named his son David. When I asked him why he said it was so his child could fit in better. They live in London. He also said he picked that name so people would be able to pronounce it. You meet a European in Africa, you learn to pronounce their name or you do the best you can. My father worked with a lot of Germans in Nigeria and I learnt to pronounce names like Günther, Wolfgang and Jörchel when I was a child. They didn’t adopt or give their children African names. I learnt to pronounce their names just as they learnt to pronounce mine.
Names say so much about a people, their history and the way they see the world, why aren’t we as Africans more proud of ours?
calabashing 
Interesting piece. I think things are changing. Well, I can’t speak for everywhere but I can say something from my experiences in Ghana. My parents were born in pre-independent Ghana of the 1940s and were given Christian names. My sister born in the early 70s also had a Christian name….my brother and I born after were both not given any English/Christian names. Among Ghanaian peers in our age group, this is quite an oddity since they all have English/Christian names. This reason I say things are changing is that I’ve worked in Ghanaian schools doing research for a number of years and among a lot of the children born in early 90s and ’00s particularly in the urban areas, the names are only Ghanaian. The instances where it is particularly not changing are when children are named after others. For example, my nephew born in 2009 has an English/Christian first name and we are very proud of that fact. This is simply because he was named after my late father.
It’s time for African’s to know their names speaks volume in whatever part of the World located. Names in Africa have meaning, you should be proud of your name if you want people around to respect you. I am proud to have a surname that is unique,.