It's all in a name ... or is it?

One of the aspects of Nigerian life that I have noticed is peoples' names. A common practice is naming your child after the day of the week that they were born. The woman's name is in Hausa and the man's name is in English. Common names for women are Ladi and Jummi, which are Sunday and Friday. The men, obviously are called Sunday or Friday. Last names are not very common like Smith or Jones. Generally a last name is the father's or the husband's first name. So one of our ladies staff is named Ladi Sunday because her husband's name is Sunday. We have about 4 Ladis on staff and 3 Sundays on staff, so that's a good two months of Sundays. I haven't heard of any Saturdays so we couldn't form a three day weekend yet.

Another common form of girls' names are adjectives (for the lack of a better word). Names that are common at KA are Joy and Grace(not that uncommon in the States I realize), Comfort, Blessing, and Happy. (update: Goodness and Lucky are two other names I found)

Aren't you glad your name isn't Self-control Tuesday.