Margot Michael Vincent Boyd Ezekiel…Samuel?
The naming system in Ethiopia is fun to figure out. Your given name at birth is in Amharic and it usually means something, like Liyuwork, “special gold.” Your second name is your father’s given name. Your third name is your grandfather’s given name, and so on and so forth, back as many generations as you can remember. So no one in the family has the same name (here I’m imagining all those pesky school forms and SATs and such becoming a REAL pain in the arse.) Women also do not change their names upon marriage, but instead put a “Mrs.” equivalent in front.In the Gojjam region, the names tend to indicate an action. This is the land of warrior clans, and most actions have to do with winning, i.e. “stomp on people” and “I am the strongest” etc., which can result in some funny names when lined up against their father’s name. However, the winner so far is a woman Amel (whose name means “hope” in Arabic and “temperament” in Amharic) knows. She was named “Meshgnashwork,” which means “Golden Vagina.” Her father’s name means “Renovated.”
posted by Margot @ 4:12 AM
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