Ghanaian names (or personal names in Ghana) consist of several given names and surnames based on the language of ethnic groups in Ghana: including

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 w ...

, Mole-Dagombas, Ga, Ewe and Nzema. Frequently, children are given a "day name" which corresponds to the day in the week when they were born. These day names have further meanings concerning the soul and character of the person. Middle names have considerably more variety and can refer to their birth order, twin status, or an ancestor's middle name. These names are also used among Ghanaians living abroad and among Africans living in the diaspora who wish to identify with their ancestral homeland. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the enslaved people from modern day Ghana in the Caribbean were referred to as

Coromantees Coromantee, Coromantins, Coromanti or Kormantine (derived from the name of the Ghanaian slave fort Fort Kormantine in the Ghanaian town of Kormantse, Central Ghana) is an English-language term for enslaved people from the Akan ethnic group, ta ...

. Most day names among the Mole-Dagombas are usually given to girls, and few are given to both sexes. Most

Ghanaians The Ghanaian people are a nation originating in the Gold Coast (region), Ghanaian Gold Coast. Ghanaians predominantly inhabit the Republic of Ghana and are the predominant cultural group and residents of Ghana, numbering 30 million people as of ...

have at least one name from this system, even if they also have an Arabic or western name. Notable figures with day names include Ghana's first president

Kwame Nkrumah Kwame Nkrumah (born 21 September 190927 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957. An in ...

and former

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Secretary General

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder ...

Examples of Ghanaian day names (mainly in the southern part)

Examples of Ghanaian day names (mainly in the northern part)

(See

Naming customs of the Dagomba people As with many ethnic groups in Ghana, names form part of the cultural fabric of the Mole-Dagombas. Naming practices stem from either religious (mainly Islamic names) or traditional origins. Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) i ...

References

* Johan Degen, *Kropp Dakubu M.E. (2000). ''Personal Names of the Dagombas''. p. 57. Michigan State University. * * *

Examples of Ghanaian day names (mainly in the southern part)

Examples of Ghanaian day names (mainly in the northern part)

References

See also