Meanings and Pronunciations
By Nnedi Okorafor
Origianlly published on June 25, 2010 on the Penguin Books Blog
In my stories, there is much to a name.
In my first novel, Zahrah the Windseeker, I gave my main character the name “Zahrah” for many reasons. 1. The name is beautiful. 2. Zahrah is from the Northern part of her world and her world is based on Nigeria. The people in Northern Nigeria are Hausa (I am Igbo) and “Zahrah” is a Hausa name (Northern Nigeria is mainly Islamic). 3. I have a fondness for Northern Nigeria because my mother was born in the North (specifically in Jos, a city that used to be peaceful and is now sporadically problematic) and her first language was Hausa (English was her second and Igbo was her third). 4. Lastly, Zahrah means, “flower”. Zahrah the Windseeker is a coming-of-age story and Zahrah lives in a technologically advanced floral world. It was perfect.
There is a web of stories connected to just about every name I choose for my characters. In Who Fears Death, this is no different.To begin with, all the names are from a part of Africa. It’s the future, cultures mixed, names migrate.
The main character’s name, “Onyesonwu”, is an Igbo (Nigerian) name, which means “who fears death?” Her stepfather’s last name is “Ogundimu”, which is Yoruba (Nigerian). It’s a name I’ve always loved. Plus Ogun is the Yoruba god of iron and Onyesonwu stepfather is a blacksmith. Her mother’s name is “Najeeba”, which is of Arabic origin but in this case a Sudanese name. “Binta”, the name of one of Onyesowu’s best friends, is a name from Sierra Leone. It means “with God”.
Onyesonwu’s eventual significant other’s name is “Mwita”. It’s Kenyan and means, “the one who is calling.” The government of Onyesowu’s hometown is called “The Osugbo”. In Nigeria, Osugbo is a Yoruba name for a secret society of male and female elders. One of the women of authority in Onyesowu’s town is “The Ada”. Amongst the Igbo, “Ada” is a name given to the first-born daughter, it’s a name that carries great respect and responsibility. Aside from being culturally significant to the story, these meanings all play a part in the narrative.
All this said, these names can be tough to pronounce. Here are some phonetic pronunciations:
Onyesonwu:Ōwn-yā-SO (the “o” here is a nasal sound like the “o” in the French word “garcon”) - woo.
Mwita: Mmw-EE-tah
Note: in the beginning of the name, simply draw out the “m” and run the “w” sound into the end of it.
Luyu: LOO-yoo
Diti: DEE-tee
Goitsemedime:Khoat-say-mo-DEE-meh
Note:This is Diti’s last name. It’s from Botswana and it means “God knows”.
Binta: BIN-tah
Najeeba: Nah-GEE-bah
Osugbo:Ōs-OO-bō
Note: The “gb” sound is very difficult for most Westerners to pronounce (I’m slowly getting better at it), so we’ll leave that alone and make it a hard “b”.
Yeye: YĀ-yā
Note: This is the word used for a woman’s vagina. It was a little joke that I knew few would understand (and that was perfectly fine, for me). “Yeye” means “big mother” in Yoruba but it also means “useless” or “of no value” in Nigerian Pidgin English (I meant the second definition in a sarcastic way, of course).
In case you were wondering what my own name means:
Nnedimmameans “Mother is good,” (I was born looking like my father’s mother).
Nkemdilimeans “Let mine be mine”, (I am the 3rd child. My parents knew I would need the ability to take what was mine).
Okorafor is a name based on the 2nd Day of the four-day Igbo week, which is Afor Day.