Naming Ceremony

Last but not least, I have attended a naming ceremony for a newborn baby. This is basically an event that every child will go through where relatives of the newborn will come together a week (or 8 days) from birth and give the child names. Usually done at home, but in this case a church, a short ceremony is conducted and a small party held.

It is the right of many relatives to give a name, hence most children will end up with seven plus names. The particular one I went to was the son of a neighbour, and the boy was given the name:

Emmanuel Inioluwa Oluwaferanmi Oluwarotimi Oluwafolawamiri Opemipo Tioluwani Osoniyi
As you might notice, there are whole lot of (5) references to Oluwa (God) in his name, though don’t ask me for the rest of the translations! I wonder at what age a child will actually learn to remember and spell all these names.