{"id":20507,"date":"2022-04-13T20:14:41","date_gmt":"2022-04-13T20:14:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2"},"modified":"2022-04-13T20:33:51","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T20:33:51","slug":"why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2","title":{"rendered":"Why I Wrote: \u201cZambian Traditional Names\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. <\/strong><\/span>I was eating breakfast one Sunday morning in 1980 at my home in Handsworth Court maisonettes of the University of Zambia in Lusaka. I was reading the Sunday Times of Zambia when I noticed in the news stories of Zambians who had very peculiar names. My wife and I laughed as we read names of a Judge whose name was \u201cSpainet\u201d another individual was \u201cWitness\u201d. I reminded my wife that one of my cousins had the name \u201cBecause\u201d. I also remembered many kinship relatives in the village whose Tumbuka traditional names were even more peculiar such as \u201cMkhuta Nyanga\u201d or \u201cNyifwa yanunkha\u201d (death is smelling). It was at that time when I resolved to investigate and research the meanings of Zambian traditional names.<\/p>\n

I conducted a study in the Eastern and Southern Provinces of Zambia to investigate the meaning of Zambian traditional names. A total of 323 respondents or people from a total of 26 villages were asked to describe baby-naming customs, identify traditional names and explain the meanings of the names, the circumstances of naming and whether the name is used to name females, males babies or both.<\/p>\n

All the information has been compiled and published into 142-page book that describes the naming customs of newly born babies and an identification of names from the Tumbuka, Chewa, Ngoni, Nsenga people of Eastern Zambia, and the Tonga of Southern Zambia. There was a total of 571 traditional names from Eastern Zambia and 312 traditional Tonga names from Southern Zambia.<\/p>\n

The study found that in the Eastern Province of Zambia, these were the top ten most popular traditional Names. 1. Masiye (male) \u2013 Orphan 2. Suzgho (Male and Female) \u2013 trouble, problems<\/p>\n

3. Komani (Male) \u2013 see the book for definition<\/p>\n

4. Mabvuto (Male) \u2013 troubles, hardships<\/p>\n

5. Misozi (Female) \u2013 tears of joy<\/p>\n

6. Zondiwe (Female) \u2013 see book for definition<\/p>\n

7. Mavunika (Male and Female) \u2013 breach baby<\/p>\n

8. Chimika (Male and Female) \u2013 to stop, to halt<\/p>\n

9. Ganizani (Male) \u2013 think<\/p>\n

10. Jumbani Male and Female) \u2013 to endanger or complicate The study found that among the Tonga in the Southern Province of Zambia, these were the top ten most popular traditional Names.<\/p>\n

1. Nchimunya (Male and Female) \u2013 third or more of consecutive daughters or sons.<\/p>\n

2. Mutinta (Male and Female) \u2013 born after two girls<\/p>\n

3. Michelo (Male and Female) \u2013 roots or herbs<\/p>\n

4. Cheelo (Male and Female) \u2013 see book for definition<\/p>\n

5. Lweendo (Male and Female) \u2013 born during a journey<\/p>\n

6. Miyanda (Male and female) \u2013 roots or herbs<\/p>\n

7. Mainza (Male and Female) \u2013 born during the rainy season<\/p>\n

8. Muchaala (Male and female) \u2013 to remain behind<\/p>\n

9. Milimo (Male and Female) \u2013 work<\/p>\n

10. Chimuka (Male and Female) \u2013 late, baby born beyond due month<\/p>\n

I conducted the study from 1980 to 2000. I made a research field trip to Choma and the Gwembe Valley in September 1988 and three trips to Eastern Zambia between 1980 and 1985. This was the time the author was conducting research at the Institute of African Studies of the University of Zambia. During the 1993 field trip to the Eastern Province of Zambia the author was lecturer or Assistant Professor at Bridgewater College in the United Sates.<\/p>\n

The initial aim of the research was that the book would be put in the maternity ward of the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka and maternity clinics all over Zambia. This was so that families of women who had just given birth would be able to have a book from which they could choose Zambian traditional names to give to their newly born baby if they chose to do so. Since the book was published in 2006, I have had numerous email requests from Zambians and others who would like to give their newly born baby a Zambian traditional name.<\/p>\n

My book: \u201cZambian Traditional Names: The Meaning of Tumbuka, Chewa, Nsenga, Ngoni, and Tonga Names\u201d is now available at all Book World Bookstores all over Zambia.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. I was eating breakfast one Sunday morning in 1980 at my home in Handsworth Court maisonettes of the University of Zambia in Lusaka. I was reading the Sunday Times of Zambia when I noticed in the news stories of Zambians who had very peculiar names. My wife and I laughed as we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":20506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6,8,16],"tags":[234,235,233],"class_list":["post-20507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-zambia","tag-zambia"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy I Wrote: \u201cZambian Traditional Names\u201d - Zambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I was eating breakfast one Sunday morning in 1980 at my home in Handsworth Court maisonettes of the University of Zambia ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why I Wrote: \u201cZambian Traditional Names\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I was eating breakfast one Sunday morning in 1980 at my home in Handsworth Court maisonettes of the University of Zambia ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-13T20:14:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-13T20:33:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2022\/04\/img-62573381016d2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"490\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"648\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Why I Wrote: \u201cZambian Traditional Names\u201d\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-13T20:14:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-13T20:33:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2\"},\"wordCount\":638,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2022\/04\/img-62573381016d2.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Zambia\",\"Zambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\",\"homepage-english\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2\",\"name\":\"Why I Wrote: \u201cZambian Traditional Names\u201d - Zambia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2022\/04\/img-62573381016d2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-13T20:14:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-13T20:33:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"I was eating breakfast one Sunday morning in 1980 at my home in Handsworth Court maisonettes of the University of Zambia ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2022\/04\/img-62573381016d2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2022\/04\/img-62573381016d2.jpg\",\"width\":490,\"height\":648,\"caption\":\"Why I Wrote: \u201cZambian Traditional Names\u201d\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why I Wrote: \u201cZambian Traditional Names\u201d\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/\",\"name\":\"Zambia\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why I Wrote: \u201cZambian Traditional Names\u201d - Zambia","description":"I was eating breakfast one Sunday morning in 1980 at my home in Handsworth Court maisonettes of the University of Zambia ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why I Wrote: \u201cZambian Traditional Names\u201d","og_description":"I was eating breakfast one Sunday morning in 1980 at my home in Handsworth Court maisonettes of the University of Zambia ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2","og_site_name":"Zambia","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2022-04-13T20:14:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-04-13T20:33:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":490,"height":648,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2022\/04\/img-62573381016d2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Why I Wrote: \u201cZambian Traditional Names\u201d","datePublished":"2022-04-13T20:14:41+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-13T20:33:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2"},"wordCount":638,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2022\/04\/img-62573381016d2.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Zambia","Zambia"],"articleSection":["all news","files","homepage-english","twitter"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2","name":"Why I Wrote: \u201cZambian Traditional Names\u201d - Zambia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2022\/04\/img-62573381016d2.jpg","datePublished":"2022-04-13T20:14:41+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-13T20:33:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"I was eating breakfast one Sunday morning in 1980 at my home in Handsworth Court maisonettes of the University of Zambia ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2022\/04\/img-62573381016d2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2022\/04\/img-62573381016d2.jpg","width":490,"height":648,"caption":"Why I Wrote: \u201cZambian Traditional Names\u201d"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/why-i-wrote-zambian-traditional-names-2#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why I Wrote: \u201cZambian Traditional Names\u201d"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/","name":"Zambia","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}