LEBOGANG MOKOENA | Give your children names with meaning

I think it was just before the year 2010 when all young parents decided, maybe through Mxit chat rooms, “let us all name our children Junior”.

“Brilliant”, they must have thought, it was a fresh name and leaned heavily to what was happening around the world. It was the hip-hop craze, Chris Brown was a lovable artist, Mariah Carey used to sing outside the Christmas period and Krumping was a huge movement.  Almost two decades later, the Juniors of this world are leaving university and getting employed. I don’t know about you, but whenever I get an email from a Junior I can’t help but laugh and thank the almighty I dodged that bullet.  

I love our names, particularly what they mean and the accompanying stories of how people came to be called what they are called. My mother years ago told me the story of how she wanted my two siblings and I to have names that constructed a complete sentence: Bathabile Lebogang Neo. This means “we are happy for these gifts”.

I love it.

Each name has a wonderful meaning on its own, and when said together it conveys family-wide joy. We will skip the obligatory second English names, of course, as we were birthed during a time when our parents were convinced oppression was here to stay. A reminder of how some names are painful and convey deep meanings of what the parent was going through at the time. We have names such as Tsietsi, which means trouble, Dikeledi, which means tears, Matlakala, meaning rubbish, and Goitsimang, meaning who knows. 

Others tell of happiness. We have Qaqamba, meaning shine brightly, Mark, a name associated with strength, Nandipha, meaning enjoy, Thabo, meaning happiness, Melissa, meaning honey bee or abundance/renewal, Ziphozonke meaning all gifts, Kenneth meaning handsome and Mpendulo meaning answer.  

There are also names I find suspicious. I went to school with a December Maluleke who celebrated his birth month in September. The more astute of you would have calculated that from conception to birth, December to September is about 38 weeks. Naturally, we as loving friends christened him “Bookmark”. It would have been lovely to speak to the parents of former president Jacob Zuma to find out how they arrived at the name Gedleyihlekisa, which Google tells me means “one who smiles while causing you harm”.

To a certain degree, people do live up to what they are called. Whenever parents decide on a name for their baby it is one of the most special and crucial moments of theirs and that child’s life. The name might decide the child’s trajectory in life.  

With that in mind, there are some names that while they have a wonderful meaning, don’t suit babies or the time. I was recently in the company of a beautiful baby boy named Desmond. Nothing wrong with that name, of course. It is a wonderful name meaning gracious defender, but that’s the type of name that invites kids to be mean, and by the age of 10 that child will be called Bra Des. Believe me, I’ve done the research. 

Mzwakhe is also a name young parents should steer clear of. That’s inviting entitlement and setting up the child for awkward conversations in the future. Velemina should also not make it past 2025. That is not only unfair to the child, but also to their siblings. 

With that dear reader, I hope all you expectant parents pick wonderful names for your children. May their names convey intense joy and hope, may they evoke pleasant warmth and love, and I hope they live up to the names you give them. The future of our world depends on it.