mrBadak.com

The next time when you drop by in Tanzania, don’t be surprised if you encounter strange and unbelievable names.

How unbelieveable? Well like Mr Godknows, who was named so because he was born so sick, nobody, even the doctors and traditional healers are sure if he is able to survive, so only “God knows”.

Other known names are Lovemores, Tellmores, Justice, Honour, Trust and Gift.

Before you conclude that are their parents are crazy, you should know that in Southern Africa a child’s name is chosen to convey a specific meaning or events at those times, however instead of the local language being used, they are now turning to the English language instead.

Even the weather conditions that accompanied births can also be used as their names. So you will also find people with names like Windy or Rainy.

Other names and their reasoning :

• Question or Answer — an answer to the question of why their daughter was behaving so strangely before the pregnancy became known. The girl became pregnant before she got married.
• Siblings with the names Norest, Hatred, Praise, Confess, Raised-on and Abide. The reason? Their relatives were jealous of their father’s rising status. So all the children were named to address the jealousy and other emotions that raged among the relatives.
• Consider Enough - he is the youngest of 13 children. His parents agreed that 13 children is “considered enough”. I wonder if the middle child was named - “Not Enough”? First one must’ve been “Just Started”.

Okay here comes the punchline -

Then there is the fellow from Dopotha, a village west of Bulawayo, who was born while his father was in Congo, fighting in that nation’s civil wars. When the father returned, the father concluded that the newborn almost certainly was not his, and he decided to make that clear.

The son’s name? Never Trust a Woman.

Check out my other posts on names :

Hello. My name is Mulau bin Burit
I am Winner, here’s my brother, Loser.

Referenced on International Herald Tribune - In a land of homemade names, Tiffany doesn’t cut it.