NAMING CEREMONY AMONG FRAFRAS & AKUAPEMS
Naming ceremonies are conducted in Ghana for newborn babies to usher them into the families they were born into. It gives them some form of identity and recognition in their family. Without a naming ceremony, a child cannot be recognised as a member of a family. Children who are named are seen as bastards by people.
Generally, when a child is born, after a week, the parents introduce it to the community, and community members celebrate with the family.
Generally, when a child is born, after a week, the parents introduce it to the community, and community members celebrate with the family.
From tribe to tribe, every Ghanaian home has a unique way of organising the ceremony to name their newborns.
The ceremony is organised with relatives and close friends attending. The ceremony affords the parents an opportunity to show the baby off for the first time, and the baby is seen outside the home.
In the past, custom did not allow parents to bring out their newborn babies until they are a week old and ready to be named. Reasons assigned to this include witchcraft, spell, and other bad practices that could be attached to the child.
The 8th day is when the child is named and in doing so, one family head who is highly respected and with no evil deeds is the one who is allowed to put libation to seek the favour of God and the ancestors over the child.
Depending on the tribe the child belongs to, it is given a second name aside from that of the day names. The second names are usually given to them to honour maybe a respected person in the family, a dead relative who has contributed immensely to the family ore even a sister, brother and even an uncle to the child.
The act to name the child after another comes with the hope that they may bear the good qualities of that individual. Culture is said to be the way of life of a group of people. Children in the Frafra setting are given names as an element of their culture.
The frafras organize their naming ceremonies for their female children on the fourth day after birth whereas boys are given names on the third day after birth.
Some fascinating names of this tribe are Abaama- Dog’s mother, Atampugre- Rubbish Dump, Atiamah- Tree’s Mother, Adukoma- Pot’s mother and Atangama- Rock’s mother.
The Frafra are a subset of Gurunsi people living in northern Ghana. The preferred name for the group is Fare-Fare but the adopted name Frafra is corruption from colonial times of the greeting "Ya fara-fara?" which means "How is your suffering [work]?"
For the Akuapems, after a baby is born, he or she is kept indoors for eight days.
The eighth day is the day of the naming ceremony, din to.
The first name the child receives is the kra din (krah-deen’) or "soul name", and is determined by the day of the week that the child was born.
This is attributed to Nyame and Nyamewaa. These are Great God and the Great Goddess respectively, Whom Together constitute the Supreme Being in Akan culture, placed eleven of Their Children over the seven days of the week (https://www.odwirafo.com/Dinto.pdf).
The naming ceremony begins and ends before sunrise. The father of the child is the one with the sole responsibility of naming the child, thus the family comes together in the early morning at the father's house.
It is also the responsibility of the elders to invoke the presence of the Supreme Being and p0our libation to Asaase Afua (Earth Mother/Goddess also called Asaase Yaa) the Abosom (Divinities, Forces of Nature) and the Nananom Nsamanfo.
According to Odwirafo.com, ''There are two cups ritually utilized during the ceremony. One cup contains water and the other nsa (strong drink). The Elder dips his index finger into the water and places it on the mouth of the infant saying, "When you say it is water, it is water." He dips his index finger into the nsa and places it on the mouth of the infant saying, "When you say it is nsa, it is nsa." This is repeated three times. This is done to instill within the infant a consciousness of morality--the necessity of always living in harmony with the truth for all of her/his life.''
The ceremony is organised with relatives and close friends attending. The ceremony affords the parents an opportunity to show the baby off for the first time, and the baby is seen outside the home.
In the past, custom did not allow parents to bring out their newborn babies until they are a week old and ready to be named. Reasons assigned to this include witchcraft, spell, and other bad practices that could be attached to the child.
The 8th day is when the child is named and in doing so, one family head who is highly respected and with no evil deeds is the one who is allowed to put libation to seek the favour of God and the ancestors over the child.
Depending on the tribe the child belongs to, it is given a second name aside from that of the day names. The second names are usually given to them to honour maybe a respected person in the family, a dead relative who has contributed immensely to the family ore even a sister, brother and even an uncle to the child.
The act to name the child after another comes with the hope that they may bear the good qualities of that individual. Culture is said to be the way of life of a group of people. Children in the Frafra setting are given names as an element of their culture.
The frafras organize their naming ceremonies for their female children on the fourth day after birth whereas boys are given names on the third day after birth.
Some fascinating names of this tribe are Abaama- Dog’s mother, Atampugre- Rubbish Dump, Atiamah- Tree’s Mother, Adukoma- Pot’s mother and Atangama- Rock’s mother.
The Frafra are a subset of Gurunsi people living in northern Ghana. The preferred name for the group is Fare-Fare but the adopted name Frafra is corruption from colonial times of the greeting "Ya fara-fara?" which means "How is your suffering [work]?"
For the Akuapems, after a baby is born, he or she is kept indoors for eight days.
The eighth day is the day of the naming ceremony, din to.
The first name the child receives is the kra din (krah-deen’) or "soul name", and is determined by the day of the week that the child was born.
This is attributed to Nyame and Nyamewaa. These are Great God and the Great Goddess respectively, Whom Together constitute the Supreme Being in Akan culture, placed eleven of Their Children over the seven days of the week (https://www.odwirafo.com/Dinto.pdf).
The naming ceremony begins and ends before sunrise. The father of the child is the one with the sole responsibility of naming the child, thus the family comes together in the early morning at the father's house.
It is also the responsibility of the elders to invoke the presence of the Supreme Being and p0our libation to Asaase Afua (Earth Mother/Goddess also called Asaase Yaa) the Abosom (Divinities, Forces of Nature) and the Nananom Nsamanfo.
According to Odwirafo.com, ''There are two cups ritually utilized during the ceremony. One cup contains water and the other nsa (strong drink). The Elder dips his index finger into the water and places it on the mouth of the infant saying, "When you say it is water, it is water." He dips his index finger into the nsa and places it on the mouth of the infant saying, "When you say it is nsa, it is nsa." This is repeated three times. This is done to instill within the infant a consciousness of morality--the necessity of always living in harmony with the truth for all of her/his life.''
By: DCS 20740
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