When we first came to Mali nearly three
decades ago, everyone wanted us to take Malian names. We ended up
with Yacouba for Jim, which is the local equivalent of his real name
(Jim = James = Jacob = Yacouba), and Djeneba for me (kinda sounds
like Jennifer, right?).
So shortly into each semester, I
challenge my English students at Go Global Mali to take English
names. Turnabout is fair play, right? They have been quite
good-natured about it, and I confess I have enjoyed “dubbing”
them with some of my favorite names.
First, I recommend they do what Jim did
– use a cognate if it exists. Equivalents often do in the case of
religious names. So Moussa becomes Moses, Issiaka becomes Isaac,
Daouda is David, Saran is Sara, and so on. My students don't always
want to use these, however, so Adama chose to become Alexander. Can
you guess the English equivalents of the following: Harouna, Nuhun,
Yaya, and Issa? (Post your responses in the comments or on Facebook,
and no spoilers allowed if you have ever lived in West Africa!)
Next, I suggest they try to choose a
name which begins with the same letter as their real name – it
helps us all remember, and it seems logical. However, there are
always those who want to name themselves after a popular TV or movie
character. So there is a Jack (Jack Bauer, 24), a Linc
(someone from Prison Break, a show I have never watched –
would someone please tell me if he's a good guy or a bad guy?!?) and
Palmer (Pres. David Palmer, also from 24).
For those who opt to take names using
their first initial, I supply a list of choices. And to be honest,
this is the most fun part for me because I sneak in the names of
family and friends and even my favorite TV characters. So this
semester, Kadiatou, whose local nickname is Kady, chose Kate. I think
she was thinking of Kate Middleton, which is cool so we call her
Princess sometimes, but it also makes me think of my Aunt Kate.
M is a common first letter here, with
all the Mohameds and Mamadous and Mahamanes, etc., so I always have
to give a fairly large selection of M names for guys, and I was
delighted when one chose Marshall (after my cousin of the same name),
another chose Moe (our niece Rosanne's husband), and – my real coup
– someone chose Malcolm, as in Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly.
One student's name is Cheick, and it
was challenging to find names for him. I listed both “Sh”
(because Cheick is pronounced with a sh sound) and “Ch” options.
I wanted him to choose Charles, because that was my father's name,
but I was also rooting for Sheldon (another cousin), Shawn (Psych),
and the one he eventually chose, Chauncey (a very good friend from
Wilkens Ave. Mennonite Church).
And by the way, my student, Djeneba –
the same as my Malian name – picked Jenny. :-)
