The Ewes are very particular about sustaining their culture in many ways and when it comes to naming a child, there is one special thing to think about. Day names are given to every child who is born an Ewe hence this means that there is no Ewe child without a day name. Choosing the day names is automatic because the day on which a child is born will be the determining factor of which of the names he or she takes as a day name. The day names are specific to both males and females and so we will look at all of them very briefly.
Days of the week in Ewe
- Monday - Dzodagbe
- Tuesday - Bladagbe
- Wednesday - Kudagbe
- Thursday - Yawodagbe
- Friday - Fidagbe
- Saturday - Memlidagbe
- Sunday - Korsidagbe
Female day-born names
Monday - Adzo
Women born on Monday are known to be very strong and strict in conduct so many of the females born on Monday are not to be joked with in terms of disrespecting them or anything of such sort.
Tuesday - Abla
Wednesday - Aku
Thursday - Yawo
Friday - Afi
Saturday - Ami
Sunday - Kwasiwor
Male day-born names
Monday - Kwadzo
Tuesday - Kwabla
Wednesday - Kwaku
Thursday - Yao
Friday - Kofi
Saturday - Kwami
Sunday - Kwasi
Now, every of these day-born names given to both males and females have respective significant effects according to the belief of the people that characterize the carriers of the names. These characteristics are like some happenings or traits that have been observed for many years to be exhibited by the carriers of the names. As children are being enrolled in a school to begin their academic journey, their parents mostly make them add their day-born names to their names. So an Ewe child can have
1. a surname
2. a day name
3. an Ewe or English first name.
Some even have only a surname and a day name. The choices are on a large scale made by parents but as the children grow, some of them alter their names to what seems best to them.
What is the importance of the day-born names?
First of all identity is the first reason because the main aim of giving a name to a new-born child is to accord him or her some form of identification or identity. Aside the major reason being identity, even though these day-born names are automatic in the sense that a day a child is born will determine the name, the names also significantly impacts those they are given to. In some families like an extended family and at times the nuclear family, a child born on a Monday who is a male takes the day name 'Kwadzo' or 'kwadzovi'. The "vi" attached to the name 'Kwadzo' means small and it shows that there is an elderly male in the family who is a Kwadzo and by reason of adding 'vi' to the younger child's names, it is a way of making him to emulate the elderly Kwadzo in the family. It is a way to make the younger child be like the elder one who maybe is considered to be living right and being successful with good traits worthy or emulation.
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