Zimbabwean Names Are Still Haunted By the Ghosts of Colonialism

In African cultures, the names given to children play an important role because they are often laden with meaning. Recent research on naming practices in Zimbabwe reveals that English names are still prevalent, a legacy of colonialism, although there is a growing trend towards embracing traditional names, writes Tendai Mangena for The Conversation Africa.

These names offer an opportunity to understand the potential of drawing from traditional African knowledge while also using English. Literary works, such as Yvonne Vera's novel "Butterfly Burning," exemplify how indigenous names in languages like Ndebele were replaced with abstract English names, erasing meaningful indigenous identities.

The use of biblical English names and Africanised biblical names is also popular in Zimbabwe. This is a result of the spread of Christianity through missionaries during colonialism. "Africanised biblical" names are related to Christian biblical names, adapted to "fit" indigenous language rules of grammar. Since the translated Bible remains an "English book", Africanised biblical names do not become indigenous names, rather they remain biblical English names. For instance the Shona name Ruka is adopted from the biblical name Luke. Ruka is simply a Shona version of Luke.

In these uses of English names with and without indigenous equivalents, the long-term effects of the language of colonisation are made visible.