Popular Ewe names according to a survey

A number of Ewe names are very popular with a lot of interesting stories and history behind that fame. To find out what exactly these popular Ewe names are, an exercise was conducted to receive responses from my audience on Facebook and I believe they didn't disappoint. Their responses were just on time and on target hence a good thing that you get to know about these names.

Ewe names are unique and carefully given to children to reflect the circumstances surrounding a child's birth, the belief of the parents and most importantly the impact of the names in the lives of the children in manifestation. In other words, the names are a vital component of the Ewe identity and diving deep into the meanings unravel nothing but a careful selection of these names. 

These reasons are among the many reasons why some Ewe names seem to be very popular necessitating the need to find out from the natives and I am happy to urge you to continue reading to understand the secrets behind the fame and uniqueness.

Attributes of God in Ewe and their meanings

Significance of Ewe names in society

• Portray a unique identity
• It is a means parents declare goodness into the life of their wards

Popular Ewe day-born names

It was hard trying to find which day-born names were the most popular because this is automatically determined by the day one is born. But then KOFI and AMA appear in most stories of the folks and this probably could be said to have made these two day-born names particularly popular in terms of how often they appear in publications, history, fiction and more.

• KWADZO/ KUDZO/KɔDZO - Name given to a Monday born who is a male.
• Adzo/ Adzowɔ/ Adzoyo - Given to a female born on Monday.
• Kwabla/ Kɔmla - Given to a male born on a Tuesday.
• Abla/ Ablewɔ/ Ablayo - Given to a female born on a Tuesday.
• Kwaku - Given to a Wednesday born who is a male.
• Aku/ Akuwɔ - Given to a female born on Wednesday.
• Yao/ Yaw/ Kɔwu - This name is a name given to someone born on a Thursday. It is a male-given name.
• Yawo/ Awo - A female-given name for someone born on Thursday.
• Kofi - A male was born on Friday.
• Afi/ Afiwɔ - A female was born on Friday.
• Kwami/ Kwame - A male was born on Saturday.
• Ami / Ama - A female was born on Saturday.
• Kwasi - A male was born on Sunday.
• Kwasiwɔ/ Awushi/ Esi - A female was born on Sunday.

On Saturday 28th December, 2024, I created a simple post on my Facebook page, as a survey to find out which Ewe names my audience think are very popular. The post was shared in some groups and various responses were recorded.

This was the question I posted

                            

The Top 20 Ewe names from the responses

Disclaimer: This result is not an official one but only an outcome of a simple survey on a social media page and therefore this might not represent the actual reality of which Ewe name is more popular.

1. Dodzi: To be steadfast and endure. A name like this could reflect a hard circumstance around a child's birth or even hardships parents had to endure to overcome certain situations. 
2. Dela: Saviour
3. Deladem: 'The Saviour saved me'
4. Esinam: 'He has heard me or preferably God has heard me.'
5. Emefa: There is peace within.
6. Elorm: 'E' is a third person pronoun and its equivalent in English is 'he and she'. This pronoun represents God and this is what it means; 'God loves me'.
7. Eli: He lives
8. Elinam: He or God lives for me. A name of hope that as long as the Maker lives, there is nothing to fear or to be anxious of.
9. Enyonam: 'He is good to me'.
10. Edem: 'He has redeemed me'.
11. Klenam: Means, shine for me. It is  declaration, proclamation or prayer into a child's life that he or she will shine bright as a star for the parents and the entire community.
12. Kekeli: Light
13. Makafui: 'I will praise Him'.
14. Mawuli: There is God.
15. Mawutor: God has responded.
16. Senam: 'Destiny has given me'.
17. Selasi: 'The Hearer has heard'.
18. Senyo: 'Destiny is good'.
19. Seyram: 'Destiny has blessed me'.
20. Sedem: 'Destiny has saved me'.

"Se" is translated to be 'destiny'. Now these result represents the views of some native folks and it is interesting to know.

Find out about more Ewe names in this blog.

Various reasons then are the factors that result in the choosing of some names more than the others and these are always with good intentions towards the bearers of the names. A story was once told of a child whose name was "Adukpo" which means "Heap of rubbish". The reason why the child was names as such was because many children were born before him but they died and the parents and the family believed that malevolent powers of the cosmic were responsible for the deaths of their previous children. They then decided to give a name that is derogatory or doesn't seem pleasant as a way of warding off those spirits from taking the life of the children. That was how the last child was spare. So, it is no mistake or by chance a particular name is chose but as a result of careful considerations and thinking and consultation from the deity of the people's belief to also ensure the name aligns with God's plan for the child as that is the only way the child has every blessing and favour to excel.