Acknowledgments ……….xiii

Introduction: Born Again ……….1

Part 1: So Loved the World: Embracing African Names………..6

What’s My Name? Reintroducing African Names to the World ………..7

Born Again……….8

Lost and Found ……….10

What Is in a Name? Themes Common to African Naming………………12

Come After Me: How I Chose the Names ……….16

Your Will Be Done: What to Consider as You Choose a Name…………20

By Their Fruits, You Will Know Them: Contextualizing Africa………..26

Part 2: Let My People Go: Authentic African Names ………….30
(Listed Alphabetically by Theme)

Ability, Skill, and Talent……….30

Absence and Departure ……….32

Abundance and Prosperity ……….33

Adoration and Admiration ……….36

Advice and Counsel ……….37

Africa and Africans……….38

Age, Elders, and Experience ……….39

Air, Breath, and Wind ……….40

Alertness and Observation……….41

Ancestors and Angels ……….43

Anger ……….44

Animals and Creatures ……….44

Appropriateness……….51

Aroma……….51

Arrival and Presence ……….52

Art and Creativity……….54

Aunts and Uncles……….55

Authenticity ……….56

Beauty and Appearance……….57

Beginnings and Endings……….62

Belonging and Possession ……….63

Birth Circumstance ……….66

Birth Order……….66

Blessings ……….69

Body Parts……….70

Brothers and Sisters……….71

Calm……….73

Celebration……….75

Celestial ……….76

Change, Growth, and Maturity ……….81

Character and Reputation ……….83

Charm and Charisma……….84

Children and Youth ……….84

Clarity and Confusion……….86

Cleanliness and Purity ……….86

Colors……….88

Comfort ……….88

Courage and Bravery ……….90

Daughters and Sons ……….92

Death and Dying……….93

Deception, Betrayal, and Thievery……….95

Deeds and Actions……….96

Dependency and Reliability……….97

Determination and Will ……….98

Difference and Distinction……….99

Dignity and Integrity ……….99

Discipline ……….100

Earth, Land, and World ……….101

Ease ……….103

Education ……….104

Effort ……….105

Enemies and Foes ……….106

Energy, Enthusiasm, and Vigor ……….107

Equality and Equity……….108

Eternity and Immortality……….109

Europe and Europeans……….109

Evil and Wrongdoing ……….110

Exhaustion and Fatigue ……….110

Expectation……….111

Faith, Belief, and Spirituality……….111

Fame and Celebrity……….114

Familiarity ……….115

Family and Kinship ……….116

Fathers and Fatherhood ……….118

Fire, Heat, and Warmth……….120

Flowers and Plants ……….122

Food, Hunger, and Thirst ……….123

Force, Aggression, and Destruction ……….125

Forgiveness ……….126

Freedom and Liberation ……….127

Friendship and Camaraderie ……….128

Future, Fate, and Destiny ……….130

Generosity and Hospitality ……….131

Gentleness ……….132

Geography ……….133

Giving and Receiving……….133

God……….135

Goodness……….141

Grace and Graciousness……….143

Gratitude ……….143

Greatness and Prominence……….145

Harvest and Farming ……….147

Hatred and Dislike ……….147

Health and Wellness……….148

Heart ……….150

Help, Support, and Care……….151

Heroism……….153

History, Heredity, and Tradition……….154

Home and Lodging ……….155

Hope ……….157

Humanity, People, and Community……….158

Humility and Modesty……….159

Jealousy, Envy, and Greed ……….160

Jewels, Metals, and Minerals ……….161

Joy and Happiness……….162

Justice……….167

Kindness and Niceness ……….167

Leadership ……….168

Life ……….171

Light and Illumination……….174

Love, Intimacy, and Affection ……….175

Loyalty and Commitment ……….179

Luck and Fortune……….181

Magic and Witchcraft ……….183

Marriage and Weddings ……….183

Men and Manhood……….185

Mercy and Compassion ……….186

Messages, Signs, and Omens ……….187

Miracles ……….189

Money, Wealth, Poverty, and Debt……….189

Mothers and Motherhood ……….191

Music, Song, and Dance ……….193

Names and Naming ……….195

Nationhood……….196

Nature……….198

Necessity ……….200

Newness ……….200

Noise ……….201

Numbers……….201

Obedience……….202

Order and Process……….203

Passion and Desire……….204

Patience……….205

Peace and Harmony ……….206

Perfection ……….208

Perseverance and Persistence ……….209

Planning and Preparation……….210

Pleasure, Amusement, and Smiles ……….211

Power……….213

Praise……….215

Prayer……….216

Pride, Confidence, and Vanity ……….216

Prophecy……….218

Protection and Defense ……….218

Purpose……….221

Questions and Answers……….221

Quiet and Stillness……….222

Rain, Thunder, and Lightning ……….224

Reciprocity ……….225

Regret, Guilt, and Shame……….226

Remembering and Forgetting ……….226

Resolution and Reconciliation ……….228

Respect, Honor, and Glory ……….229

Responsibility and Self-Sufficiency……….231

Reward ……….232

Righteousness……….233

Royalty and Nobility……….234

Sacrifice……….237

Sadness and Sorrow ……….238

Salvation and Redemption……….240

Satisfaction and Contentment……….241

Searching……….243

Secrets and Concealment……….244

Servitude ……….245

Size and Proportion……….246

Slavery and Oppression……….248

Sleep and Idleness ……….248

Softness……….249

Solitude, Separation, and Loneliness……….249

Speed……….252

Strength ……….252

Struggle and Resistance……….256

Success and Achievement……….257

Surprise, Mystery, and Wonder ……….258

Survival ……….260

Sweetness ……….260

Talking and Listening……….261

Thought and Reflection ……….264

Time ……….265

Days ……….266

Months……….270

Seasons ……….271

Time of Day ……….272

Travel and Journeys……….273

Trouble and Adversity ……….277

Trust ……….280

Truth and Honesty……….281

Twins……….282

Unique, Special, and Sacred……….283

Unity, Agreement, and Cooperation……….284

Value, Worth, and Quality……….286

Victory ……….288

War, Fighting, and Quarrels ……….290

Water……….295

Weapons ……….297

Wholeness and Completion ……….299

Wisdom, Knowledge, and Intelligence ……….301

Women and Womanhood……….304

Words and Writing ……….305

Work and Productivity……….307

Worry and Anxiety ……….308

Part 3: It Is Written: Pronunciation Guide and Phonetics……….312

Part 4: Naming Ceremonies and Traditions ……….318

Appendices

Appendix A: Map of the African Continent……….323

Appendix B:

200-Year Naming Calendar—Find an African Name Instantly……….324

Endnotes ……….328

Bibliography……….329

About the Author ……….333