EXAMINING YORUBA NAMES

Christening the child

The naming of a child is an important affair amongst the Yorubas, it is always attended with some ceremonies. These of course differ amongst the different tribes. Traditionally naming usually takes place on the 9th day of birth for male and eighth day for female, Muslim children of either sex are invariably named on the 8th day.
It is on the day of this ceremony that the is for the first time brought out of the home hence the term applied to the event –  ko omo jade (Bringing out the child). The mother of the baby is also expected to have not come out of the house until that day.
The ceremony is thus performed:
the members of the family and friends having assembled early in the morning of the day, the child and its mother being brought out  of the house, a jugular of water is tossed up to the roof (all Yoruba houses being low roofed then) and the baby is brought under the eaves to catch the spray, the baby yells, and the relative shout for joy. The child is now named by the parent and elderly members of the family, hence the festivities continues follow.
In some cases there is also the offering of sacrifice and consultation of the household oracle on the child’s behalf.

Yoruba Names
There are three sets of names a child can possibly have, although not every child can have the threeː one at least will be inapplicable.
The Amutorunwa i.e the name the child is born with.
The Abiso i.e the christening name.
The Oriki i.e the cognomen or attributive name.

Adejokeiyabadan’s blog