What Does Your Name Mean?

There is an adage in Setswana: Leina lebe seromo.  It is the idea that a person's name will mould and shape his or her life.

Due to this cultural belief, parents name their children extremely literally.  There are the nice ones you would expect, like Lesego, Masego (both meaning lucky), Lorato (love), and Neo, Mpho, Dineo, Dimpho ( all meaning gift/gifts).  Another common name is variations of __me: Wame, Bame, Sesame, all basically meaning "mine."  Sesame (pronounced say-SAH-may) literally means "something that is mine."

Here are some other Setswana names and meanings:

Mothusi - helper
Mothati - a strong person
Tebo - vision
Bokamoso - future
Thuto - education
Bontle - beautiful
Dikitso - information
Khumo - riches
Thuso - help

One of my favorite students is named Atlanang, meaning "hugs," which I've always found sweet.

A particularly funny name I heard came from a colleague.  She has a daughter and a baby boy.  Her daughter's name is Ao (pronounced ah-oh, but in one syllable, almost like "ow"), which isn't actually a word but rather a noise made when someone is shocked, surprised, or offended - "Ao! Rra, what kind of girl do you think I am?!" etc.  I can imagine my friend finding out she is pregnant and exclaiming, "Ao!" and then deciding to just name her kid that.  To top it off, her son's name is Bao, as if she was too tired by a second pregnancy to come up with a new name, so she just added a "B."

Names can even be taken to more literal extremes than the Ao/Bao incident.  Many children are named Mosimanegape or Mosetsanagape - long names which mean "boy again" and "girl again" respectively.  I've heard of someone being named Botlhoko (pain) and I assume his mother had a long, arduous birthing process.

My dear friend Lily's middle name is Kebatho, literally meaning "it's a person."  When Lily was born, her father was upset to have a girl instead of a boy.  Lily's mother, however, cherished her, and gave her the middle name Kebatho to remind her father and everyone that women are people, too.

In all my time in Botswana, my favorite name that I've heard is Serati, pronounced "say-RAH-tee."  It means "something that I love," which seems like a very precious and thoughtful meaning, and it is a unique name here in Botswana.  When I first heard it, I thought I had found my future daughter's own name, but I can only imagine how Americans would manage to mispronounce it.

All in all, names are generally given thoughtfully and with love here.  It's a lovely sentiment to name your child after what you hope his or her future will bring.

...Unfortunately, I don't think it would ever work in the States - can you imagine meeting someone named "Education"?!