Igbo Names: It Is Wrong For Ònye Ìgbò To Use European Names As First Names And Surnames

Igbo Names, Nnewi: With every new day, there is an increasing number of Ndi Ìgbò, who want to know more about their history, heritage, and the various aspects of our Odinala na omenala.  

This population of Ndi Ìgbò are waking up to the beauty of our cultures and traditions and are expressing their anger and distaste about the encroachment of foreign ideas, cultures, and religion on the Ìgbò worldview.

There are more and more awakened Ìgbò people who want nothing to do with European ideologies, religion, and thoughts. But one thing we have realized is that no matter how much many Ndi Ìgbò speak against colonialism and its effects today in ani Ìgbò, they still maintain and use the names of their oppressors. It is safe to say that about 90% of Ndi Ìgbò go by European names as their first names, and about 20% have replaced their indigenous surnames with European names.

During colonization, the Europeans infiltrated Africa with their Christian missionaries, who preached about Jesus being the way, and how our ways were evil and demonic. They somehow were able to convince our people that European names were better than African names. And soon we had shallow Africans take up the European names and immediately, our identity as Africans started to die. And after almost a century that the Europeans have left, we have Africans who have even gone ahead to drop their indigenous surnames and taken up European first names and surnames.

The invasion of ani Ìgbò by British colonizers & European missionaries forced many Ndi Ìgbò to take the names of their enslavers and oppressors. This abnormality would spread throughout Ìgbò land from the later decades of the 19th, through the 20th, to the 21st century.

In a desperate attempt to convert as many souls for their Jesus Christ, the missionaries convinced some Ndi Ìgbò that our cultures, traditions, spirituality, and even names, were evil. And that for us to become clean and holy, we need to drop our names and take up Christian names ­­­- European names. Our people who were initially converted, and so began the corruption of the minds of great people such as ndi Ìgbò, against their heritage and ancestry. And to date that cancer still eats deep into our fabric as a people.

So, after long exposure to brainwashing in Christianity, you will find Ndi Ìgbò going by Esther Mathew, Simon Jude, etc, with no trace of ancestry or heritage. We now have Ndi Ìgbò who says our names are cursed, and evil, while the European’s name is Godly and pure.

Now what kind of self-hate would you call that?

How can you as an Ìgbò person strip yourself of your heritage, identity, and name and take up that of a European as your surname, denying all the accomplishments of your ancestors – those who lived and died for you? Those whose blood run in your veins. Those whose lands you live on?

Even if you somehow are convinced that your ancestral name is cursed, and portends evil, can’t you choose another Ìgbò “holy name” to use? Why would you completely delete your identity? That is not right.

When you go to Europe, you don’t see them answering Ìgbò names as their first talk less of last names. You don’t see white people answering Chukwuka Okafor, Donald Umeh, Elizabeth Osuagwu, etc. You will only see them answering their Scott Davidson, Helen Johnson, etc. This is because they are Europeans, and their names are their identities.

The same thing with the Chinese, Indians, Arabs, and many other races. They stick to their names and identities, no matter their interaction with Europeans for hundreds of years. They do not drop their identity for once. Only the Black man does that – only the Ìgbò man does that.

Conclusion

Ndi Ìgbò have no reason to answer the names of their colonizers and oppressors. Many of us might want to argue and say the world is a global village now, but that is just plain myopia and low self-esteem. If the world was a global village, why are Europeans not answering Ìgbò names?

We owe it to our ancestors and to our next generation to reverse this disgraceful act of abandoning who we are for something else. We owe it to our children to retrace our steps and be 100% Ndi Ìgbò.

The process of changing your English surname Back to an Ìgbò one is one of the easiest things to do. Your old documents will still bear your old slave name, while your new documents will bear your new Ìgbò surname as a TRUE NWA AFO ÌGBÒ. If you don’t know how to go about it, you can ask questions. Any lawyer would guide you accordingly.

Ndi Ìgbò are a great people. Let us show that in our attitude, names, culture, achievements, and enterprise. Let no one tell you that your Ìgbò name is not good enough or evil. Let no enslave you any further.

There is power in our Ìgbò names. Embrace it umu nnem.

This Article Was Written By Chuka Nduneseokwu, Editor-In-Chief, Voice Of The Sun

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