Akan name
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The Akan people frequently name their children after the day of the week they were born and the order they born. These names have spread through West Africa, from Benin/Danhomey (Fon) and Togo (Ewe) to the Côte d'Ivoire (Baoulé), and throughout the African diaspora.
As examples, Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah, was so named for being born on a Saturday (Kwame) and being the ninth born (Nkrumah). Also, the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, was so named for being born on a Friday (Kofi) and being the fourth born (Annan).
In the official orthography of the Twi language, the Ashanti versions of these names as spoken in Kumasi are as follows. The diacritics on á a̍ à represent high, mid, and low tone (tone does not need to be marked on every vowel), while the diacritic on a̩ is used for vowel harmony and can be ignored. (Diacritics are frequently dropped in any case.) Variants of the names are used in other languages, or may represent different transliteration schemes. The variants mostly consist of different affixes (in Ashanti, kwa- or ko- for men and a- plus -a or -wa for women). For example, among the Fante, the prefixes are kwe- and e-, respectively. Akan d̩wo is pronounced something like English Joe, but there do appear to be two sets of names for those born on Tuesday.
| Day born | Male name | Female name | Variants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday (Dwoada) | Kwad̩wó̩ | Adwó̩à | Kodjó, Kojo, Jojo; Adjua, Adjoa |
| Tuesday (Benada) | Kwabe̩ná | Ábe̩naa | Komlá, Komlã, Kobby, Ebo, Kobina; Ablá, Ablã, Abena |
| Wednesday (Wukuada) | Kwa̩kú | A̩kúà̩ | Koku, Kweku, Kuuku; Akú, Ekua |
| Thursday (Yawoada) | Yaw | Yaá̩ | Yao, Yawo, Yao, Ekow; Ayawa, Baaba, Yaaba, Aba |
| Friday (Fiada) | Kofí | Afúa̩̍ | Koffi, Fiifi; Afí, Afía, Efia |
| Saturday (Memeneda) | Kwámè̩ | Ám̀ma | Ato, Kwamena, Kwami, Komi; Ame, Ama, Ameyo |
| Sunday (Kwasiada) | Kwa̩sí | A̩kósua̩ | Kwesi, Akwasi, Kosi; Akosi, Akosiwa, Así, Esi |
There are also special names for elder and younger twins. The second twin to be born is considered the elder, and they were mature enough to help their sibling out first.
| Twin | Male name | Female name | Variants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elder | Atá | Ataá | Atta |
| Younger | Atsú | ? | Akwetee (m) |
There are also names based on the order born, the order born after twins, and the order born after remarriage.
| Order | Male name | Female name | Variants | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First born | Berko | Piesie, Kande (f)? | ||
| Second born | Manu | |||
| Third born | Mensa | Mansa | Mensah (m); Mansah (f) | |
| Fourth born | Annan, Anane (m), | |||
| Fifth born | Anum | |||
| Sixth born | Nsia | |||
| Last born | Kaakyire | |||
| Born afer twins | Tawia | Kissa (f)? | ||
| First with a new husband |
Other Names
- Seventh Born - Ansong
- Eighth Born - Awotwie
- Ninth Born - Nkrumah
- Tenth Born - Badu
References
- J.E. Redden and N. Owusu (1963, 1995). Twi Basic Course. Foreign Service Institute (Hippocrene reprint). ISBN 0-7818-0394-2
- Florence Abena Dolphyne (1996). A comprehensive course in Twi (Asante) for the Non-Twi learner. Ghana Universities Press, Accra. ISBN 9664-3-0245-2
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