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Hello, Steemians!
The second week of the ProWritersHub Contest has begun and this time it is bigger and more fun — Go get your notepads ready if you have not done that already so you can start penning down those mind-blowing thoughts in your head.
Hold on, please!
Did you observe that while reading this post, it felt like a direct address to you? Do you want to know why? Grab a glass of water. You need something healthy for your body while I feed your brain.
When God created the earth as stated in the creation myth, he gave the first man, Adam, the right to give names to every creature and tree. From then on, naming and bearing a name became an inherent part of human society. Generally, a name is a word or phrase which refers to a specific person, class, thing, place or event. For grammarians like me, these words are simply classified as nouns or nominals. But this is not an English class so let's continue. Names serve as a means of identification, look at the words “Pro Writers”, “God”, “Adam”, and “English”. They refer to different things, right? When I addressed my readers as “Steemians” at the beginning of this post, you either felt like I was referring to you or a group of people — that is if you are not active on Steemit. If you are not a Steemians, please do well to identify with this group of great writers and content creators. (Winks)
The primary focus of this post will be on names for humans and how naming takes place in the Ibibio culture.
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Pexel
As mentioned before, every human is assigned a name for identification. This usually occurs before or after birth. In my case, my parents named me U-kpo-no-bong, pronounced as, ú-kpó-nò-bọọñ. When translated into English it means “God's honour”.
How are Names Formed in my Hometown?
An average Ibibio person is named based on the circumstances surrounding their birth, birth order, parents' preference and some situations that occurred in their lives. The role of naming a child is traditionally performed by the father but the mother, an elderly man in the family or a religious leader can step in if the father is absent. Let me discuss this extensively.
Factors that determine a person's name
Birth
At birth, a child is given a name. This name usually becomes the legal name the child bears. In the Ibibio culture, most of the names are unisex but some are exclusive for each gender.
Examples:
🔹Female
Idara – Rejoice
Mkpouto – Precious jewel
Mmekutmfon – I have seen grace
Eriyanga – Saviour
🔹Male names
Odudu – Strength, Vigor
Otuekong – Mighty Warrior
Udom – Right hands, this is a symbol of greatness.
Ewongo – Promise
🔹Unisex names
Ubong – Glory
Ukeme – Ability
Uwakmfon – Abundant grace
Edikan – Victory
Dara-Abasi – Praise God
Ekom– Praise
Uduakobong – God'swill
Edidiong – Blessing
Emem – Peace
Abasifreke – God has not gotten
Abasieyene – God's own
Birth Order
Each child has a name that signifies their birth order. In my case, my local name is Adiaha which means the first daughter. For others out could be Akpan which means the first son, unwa for the second daughter or Udo for the second son. The list goes on and on.
Relationship
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Pexel
People often address their children, friends, spouses and relatives with affectionate terms to show how much they have cherished them or their relationship with the person. Examples include Ekaette, Koko, Ima, Uko, Otu, Ikpa, Akparawa, Ndoko-iban, Uyai, Mmakara, Obongawan etc.
Also, names are sometimes shortened like Eddy for Edikan, UD for Uduak, Yhubby for Ubong, Yhukay for Ukeme or Ukpono and so forth.
Feats
Sobriquets are familiar names given to celebrate a person's feats. Popular examples include Owo Cantata, Eka esit mbom, Akpabio mba etc.
Life events
Situations can bring about a new name. Some common ones are mistakes, sicknesses, marriage, the birth of a child, physical features etc.
🔸Eka baby meaning mother of a newborn is commonly given to nursing mothers.
🔸Ette Marvelous, in this case, the man is referred to as “the father of Marvelous”.
🔸Uyai or mmakara, is a friendly term used to address anyone the speaker considers to be beautiful.
🔸Eded Eto Governor – this is a derogatory term for someone who has an overbite.
🔸Akanawan – means old woman or a lady that dresses tackily.
🔸 Nkirikut or ifọt – an address for people believed to possess dark magical powers. It could also be a vulgar word people use to tease their friends.
🔸 Awoñ kpa – drunkard
You must have observed that most names recognize the supremacy of God that's because the people of the Ibibio tribe are very religious. A high percentage are predominantly Christians, however, irrespective of what religion they practice, they still put the supernatural entities first before anything else. As a person raised in a home where the Christian faith is practised, my parents inculcated in me the need to love what is right and dislike what is wrong. As such, I admire names that have positive meanings as every name has spiritual connotations to its bearers. Derogatory names are a no-no for me. For this reason, when choosing a username for my steemit account, I opted for the shorter form of my name which is ukpono. I am a person of honour and honour locates me wherever I go.
You've got a free upvote from witness fuli.
Peace & Love!
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Wow,you have really listed a nice names here and I have learnt about many of them and the one I like so much is that idara.
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That's nice. It is a very beautiful name which means praise. You can give it to someone dear to you. 🙂
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Beautiful piece and educative post. I love that name "Ewongo" especially the way it sounds when pronounced. 😍 My hair stylist then in Uyo was called "Eka Ewongo".
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Ewongo is a very lovely name. Although, people are preferring it's English form which is Promise.
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Nice article from you.I am sure you took time to arrange the article into subheadings.I have really learnt a lot about meaning of names is your city.I once had a coursemate whose name is Idara.Thank God I have know the meaning of that particular name.
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I am glad that you learnt something new from this post. Thank you for the review.
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Pls check the other comment i made on your post as regards to image sources
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