Ishit!

Nope! nope!! That's not a curse word, that's a name; someone's last name, and passes for a first name sometimes too. It actually means "someone who desires to rule." Powerful name when you think of the meaning.

I'm Nigerian, so I'm used to names that embody strength and fan egos, even if the name bearer is feeble and tiny. I love that about Nigerians, I think African names in general. I sincerely believe that African names are the source of the African pride. If you're not aware, Africans are stereotyped to be proud, not necessarily boastful, but proud of self, culture, history (forget any talks of slavery or colonization, just the history that talks about your powerful grandfather) we think highly of ourselves. Perhaps the stereotype is placed on us because of the glaring evidence of shame that plagues the continent: our wars, poverty, corruption..., all issues that defy pride. Despite that, I am of the mindset that Africans are indeed proud in this sense, and that it is this pride, that continually sustains us and will one day liberate us if it pushes us to action.

In any case, so what's in a name these days? The same thing. We continue to name our children like we did in centuries past. For some, meaning, power, support, strength, respect, fun, religion, praise, history... for others, absolutely nothing, and so we continue, perhaps formulating new versions. Even those who have always formulated stupid names, like "Jarie", a meaningless name stemming for a concoction of the parents' names James and Marie, continue to do so.

So what's changed? well, a bit. The colonization of the world by the English language has made it so that Ishit doesn't stand for strength anymore, it stands for "I shit!"
A name that can plagued a child in an English world. There are familiar western names that also attract persecution, Margot, Gay, and there's a good reason these names have massively declined in usage, so why then will immigrants not "re coin" the names they give their children.
No, I'm not asking you to drop your culture or language.

Look, here's a Yoruba word:
wa
it means come; here's another word
mabo
it means...come.

here's a Yoruba name:
Abimbola primarily shortened as Bimbo
Abisola primarily shortened as Bisola
both meaning to be born into wealth I think.

if your child will likely suffer from being called "Bimbo" an airhead, why wouldn't you name your child Bisola? or coin another unique name for your child meaning the same thing? If you are migrating to or living in the U.S. or England, or Australia...or any English western nation, then make sure you understand that your children will likely be teased for the names you proudly bestow upon them. They are not in India or Nigeria, they're in a different place, where Ishit's emails will be blocked from my inbox because it is vulgar, where Abimbola will either be known as a troublemaker as she delivers deserving blows to those who tease her, or have a low self esteem because she is teased when her name is pronounced.

Another branch of the naming issue...so, I know in Nigeria, I know more about the Yoruba, a lot of names are religious, glorifying God. In the Yoruba language, these names come out beautiful. Opeolu (thanks to God) Olugbenga (God has raised/delivered me), but because we now speak English we have decided to coin some English names as we do Yoruba names, so you hear names like "Hallelujah". Hallelujah, means ~let us praise God. A wonderful name esteeming God at every mention. In the English language though, it can be somewhat tedious to bear such a name. Not because one is ashamed of God. Absolutely not, but because it is a daily word, at least in a Christian religious household. Now let's translate the same word to Yoruba, it sounds like Mosope, I praise God; or Kasope, let's praise God. My Yoruba is okay at best, so I cannot coin enough names, but let parents think of this as an opportunity to create a unique and beautiful name for children.

It is simple, I remember as children, making fun of the African dictator, Idi Amin, because the first three letters in his name meant "butt" in Yoruba, but he was some foreign entity we would never get to tease.
Children tease and they can be very destructive in their teasing. So let us be careful, especially when we know that our children live in places foreign to the language in which their names will originate from, to make sure we do not place them into the hands of people who will batter their peace because of what they are called.

If you're wondering what sparked this blog, yeah, I came across a person that goes by a name I find very hilarious last week. I am ashamed to say that I could not help but laugh out loud. I really tried, but even as an adult I couldn't help myself. I wondered how this person felt, if he/she noticed and identified my source of repressed but sure laughter. I wondered how much worse it would be for such a child in, say the U.S., as a child. There was an article on the BBC a while back on names that caused children varieties of troubles, but I can't seem to find the link. I will post it as soon as I do