Monday, August 22, 2011

Playing the Kenyan Name Game

I was meeting with two of Agape's pastors and a teacher from a local school, and they explained to me how Luo (the tribe local to the Kisumu area) children receive their last names.  I had noticed that many of the Agape boys had the same last name, but I had previously assumed that they were just common names (like Smith or Jones in the US).  What I found out was that the Luo give their children a last name based upon the events surrounding their birth.  The most common are the time of day:

Otieno - Born 7 PM - 12 AM
Oduor - Born 12 AM - 2 AM
Okiny - Born 2 AM - 8 AM
Onyango - Born 8 AM - 11 AM
Ochieng - Born 11 AM - 3 PM
Odhiambo - Born 3 PM - 7 PM

Here are some other events Luo use for naming purposes:

Okoth - Born during the rain or during rainy season
Oyoo - Born "on the way" . . . possibly on a trip or on the way somewhere
Ouma - Born face down
Okelo - Somebody brought a gift

Anyway, I thought this was pretty interesting!

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