Afia is an

Akan Akan may refer to: People and languages *Akan people, an ethnic group in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire *Akan language, a language spoken by the Akan people *Kwa languages, a language group which includes Akan * Central Tano languages, a language group ...

female given name among the Akan people (i.e. Ashanti, Akuapem,

Akyem The Akyem are an Akan people. The term Akyem (Akem, Akim or Aki) is used to describe a group of four states: Asante Akyem, Akyem Abuakwa, Akyem Kotoku and Akyem Bosome. These nations are located primarily in the eastern region in south Ghana. ...

, Fante) in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

that means "born on Friday" in Akan language, following their day naming system. People born on particular days are supposed to exhibit the characteristics, or attributes and philosophy, associated with the days. Afia has the appellation ''Baafi'', ''Nkosuo'', which means "wanderer" or "traveller".

Origin and meaning

In the

culture, day names are known to be derived from deities. Afia originates from Kwaofida, which means "Lord of life's home day". Those with this name are adventurers and indecisive, thus taking time to settle, and are highly motivated and competent.

Female variant of Afia

Day names in

have varying spellings, because of the various Akan subgroups. Each Akan subgroup has a similar or different spelling for the day name to other

subgroups. Afia is spelt thus by the Akuapem and Ashanti subgroups, while the Fante subgroup and spell it as Afua, Efia and Afi.

Male version of Afia

In the Akan culture and other local cultures in

, day names come in pairs for males and females. The variant of the name used for a male child born on Friday is Kofi, Fiifi and Fi.

Notable people called Afia

Most Ghanaian children have their cultural day names in combination with their English or Christian names. Some notable people with such names are: *

Afia Charles Afia Neliah Charles (born July 22, 1992) is a sprinter from Antigua and Barbuda who specializes in the 400 metre dash. Personal life Charles is from Greenbelt, Maryland, United States but her mother Ruperta, was born in Antigua and compete ...

(born 1992), sprinter representing Antigua and Barbuda *

Afia Masood Afia Masood (also Khan) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Meryl Fernandes. Afia appeared in five episodes between 29 December 2009 and 5 January 2010, and returned on 18 November 2010. This is Fernand ...

, fictional character in ''EastEnders'' *

Afia Nathaniel Afia Serena Nathaniel (born 1974) is an independent Pakistani filmmaker who works primarily as a writer, director, producer and editor. She is a graduate of the Film Division at the Columbia University School of the Arts (2006). Early life ...

(born before 1991), Pakistani filmmaker *

Afia Pokua Afia Pokua (known as Vim Lady) is a Ghanaian media personality and the Head of Programs at the Despite Media Group, operating Peace FM, Okay FM, Neat FM and Hello FM in Kumasi. Education Afia attended Labone Senior High School for her second ...

, Ghanaian media personality, known professionally as Vim Lady *

Afia Salam Afia Salam is a Pakistani journalist and a media development specialist by profession. She is known for being the first female cricket journalist in Pakistan. She has also remained a member of Pakistan's first batch of air traffic controllers a ...

, Pakistani journalist and media development specialist *

Afia Siddiqui Aafia Siddiqui ( ur, ; born 2 March 1972) is a Pakistani national who is serving an 86-year sentence at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, United States for attempted murder and other felonies. Siddiqui was born in Pa ...

(born 1972), Pakistani neuroscientist, convicted in a U.S. court of attempted murder and other offenses *

Afia Schwarzenegger Afia Schwarzenegger, also known as Valentina Nana Agyeiwaa (born 14 February 1982, Kumasi, Ghana) is a Ghanaian media personality. She was the host Okay FM's morning show ''Yewo krom'' and UTV Ghana's ''Kokooko'' show, being fired from those ou ...

(born 1982), Ghanaian media personality * Afia Amankwaah Tamakloe, Ghanaian television and radio personality, journalist, and health advocate * Moshik Afia (born 1974), Israeli singer

References

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