Yoruba name

Yoruba name

Yoruba names are primarily used by the Yoruba people and Yoruba language-speaking individuals in both Nigeria and the Nigerian diaspora.

Naming ceremonies

By custom, Yoruba children are named in a ceremony that takes place eight days after the birth of the children. The names of the children are traditionally taken from the father, but names can also come from those of other ranking members of the family, including the mother, grandparents or next of kin. Both the mother and father and other next of kin can give their own favorite names to the child or children.

Composition and importance of names

Yoruba names are often carefully considered during the week prior to the naming ceremony, as great care is placed upon selecting a name that would not reflect any sort of negativity or disrepute; in other words, selecting a name that previously belonged to a thief or criminal for a Yoruba child is not considered as a wise idea, as it (according to the Yoruba folklore) could result in the child growing up to become a thief or criminal.

Yoruba names are traditionally classified into two categories:

* Destiny Names ("brought from heaven" or derived from a religious background)
* Acquired Names ("given on earth" or granted by next of kin)

One of the most common acquired names among the Yoruba are Taiwo and Kehinde, which are given primarily to twins.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Yoruba language — Yorùbá èdèe Yorùbá Spoken in  Nigeria …   Wikipedia

  • Yoruba people — Yoruba Kwara State drummers Total population Over 30 million (est.)[1] Regions with significant populations …   Wikipedia

  • Yoruba (Sprache) — Yoruba Gesprochen in Nigeria, Benin, Togo Sprecher über 30 Millionen Linguistische Klassifikation Niger Kongo Sprachen Benue Kongo Sprachen Defoide Sprachen …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Yoruba: Götter, Kultbünde und Orakel —   Die Yoruba gelten als eines der kunstsinnigsten Völker der Erde. Außer in der Malerei haben sie über ein Jahrtausend in allen Kunstbereichen brillante Werke geschaffen. Und selbst in der modernen Kunst Afrikas spielen die Yoruba noch immer eine …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Yoruba music — The music of the Yoruba people of Nigeria is best known for an extremely advanced drumming tradition, especially using the dundun hourglass tension drums. Yoruba folk music became perhaps the most prominent kind of West African music in Afro… …   Wikipedia

  • Yoruba medicine — The Yoruba are one of the largest tribes in Africa, with 30 million individuals throughout the region of West Africa. Yorubic medicine is Orisha based medicine practiced by many other groups in Africa, the Caribbean and others, mostly due to the… …   Wikipedia

  • Yoruba Wikipedia — Infobox website name = Yoruba Wikipedia caption = url = http://yo.wikipedia.org/ commercial = No location = Miami, Florida type = Internet encyclopedia project language = Yoruba registration = Optional owner = Wikimedia Foundation author = Yoruba …   Wikipedia

  • Yoruba — [ jɒrʊbə] noun (plural same or Yorubas) 1》 a member of an African people of SW Nigeria and Benin. 2》 the Kwa language of the Yoruba. Origin the name in Yoruba …   English new terms dictionary

  • Name — For other uses, see Name (disambiguation). Ceremonies, such as baptism, can be used to give names. A name is a word or term used for identification. Names can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a …   Wikipedia

  • name — namer, n. /naym/, n., v., named, naming, adj. n. 1. a word or a combination of words by which a person, place, or thing, a body or class, or any object of thought is designated, called, or known. 2. mere designation, as distinguished from fact:… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”