Name Calling

St. Boniface Catholic house, Winnipeg. 

Birth names are carved in stone or in birth certificates.  That is why Sean John Combs’ November 2017 announcement, that he has re-named himself ‘Brother Love’ made headlines.  Joke, P. Diddy said a few days later, but the world took him seriously initially, because he has a history of changing his names. 

Birth names are historical, to parents.  Culture and religion determine how kids are named.  It is also circumstantial.  Some kids were named after movie stars and other entertainment figures.  Others are named after favourite aunts and uncles.

Kids in Africa, China, India and wherever the British army and Jesus men landed, were given English names because the invaders could not speak indigenous languages.  They hid that fact by calling them uncivilised. 

Despite all that, very few people consider doing a Diddy to their names.  They might not be on good terms with their parents, but they never take that revenge route.  It happens in fiction, like the character Wilson in The Precious One, a novel by Marisa De Los Santos. 

Birth names are a source of pride for most people because they are open books about who they are.  Kids in Southern Africa are particularly privileged because strangers shower them with praise names (izibongo) once they introduce themselves.  Surnames have had praise names or sub-surnames since the beginning of time.

The praise names include the family’s ancestral land, parents’ and grandparents’ names and family bravery or achievements.  Children therefore grow up knowing that they belong to a bigger whole, an important whole.

Therefore, doing a Diddy to their names is a distant thought.

By:  Nonqaba waka Msimang.