These articles are written by Members of AFSANI to share with you their views on various topics concerning Akan culture and spirituality. The topics will include those aspects of the culture and spirituality which had a great or the greatest impact in their everyday lifestyles (hair, attire, names, family, etc.). Therefore, there is no right or wrong answers to the questions or comments which you might have since these are very personal experiences and perspectives on the topics of their choice. We encourage you to visit this page often as it will change as members write their stories. Enjoy the page and leave us your comment.

Receiving a Soul Name
By Okomfo Yaa Baakan Asantewaa Henry

To date, one of the most meaningful moments on my spiritual journey was the night I received my soul's name. It happened with very little fanfare and no expectation of such an event on my part. In fact, my Akan name was given to me on the occasion of my first spiritual reading. So for a long time I thought that everyone who was not born into the culture received his/her name in this fashion. It was not until after spending more time around the Shrine House and the Abosom that I realized that the Gods deal with each person as individuals and give us exactly what we need, when we need it, and in the way we need. Thus names are given in various ways. These realizations led me to ponder the significance of naming.

The significance of naming has always been apparent to African people throughout the Diaspora. Even in the harshest of times we named our children with names we believed would give them something to reach for and aspire to (like Destiny, King, and Queenie); we named them for characteristics we wanted them to have or for the new feelings and conditions they brought to our lives (like Hope, Charity and Joy); we named our children after ancestors or gave them titles that Europeans would never bestow upon them (like Mister, Doctor and Sir). As African people we understood that a name had significance beyond just being something you respond to or the way people distinguish you from another person. That is why so many of us fought to maintain the names and titles we brought with us from Africa to the Diaspora.

In Akan culture, your name is firmly attached to your mission here on earth. It tells a story about you, the day on which you were born, your place in the family birth order, and the characteristics you embodied and the way you have come equipped to use them. Sometimes we are named after an ancestor or deity that brought us here. Those of us who received our Akan names years and even decades after our birth are in the blessed position of having names that were selected for us by our parents and the name that was presented to us from the Gods through divination.

Receiving a name is a very personal experience and people react to this experience in different ways. Some of us are very proud of the legacy represented by the names our parents gave us and feel no desire to substitute it with any other name. However, the spiritual name that comes through divination should be a welcome addition to the information and self-knowledge we already have. On the other hand, some of us cleave wholeheartedly to the name the Gods give us and make haste to replace the name we formally used. The title "slave name" is at times used to refer to the family name since the last name in many instances may be the name of the European slaveholder connected to that African family. In the middle of the road you find people who embrace both names and find a way to use both of them. People who have the inclination to use both names may introduce themselves to new friends and associates with the new name the Gods have given them, while still allowing old friends and family to address them with their family name.

This is where personal preference and choice become the deciding factors. Spiritual growth and development always includes an opportunity for choice on the part of the individual. I have never felt disdain for the name my parents gave me for I know their intention was to honor my spirit. They also gave me as my middle name, Blanche, my paternal grandmother's middle name. In so doing they were also honoring the ancestor for whom they named me. Therefore the desire to get rid of my family given name never struck me. Instead I had the desire to use my God-given name to further access that part of myself that gets called up every time someone refers to me as Yaa Asantewaa. All African names pull forward generations of information and legacy. I choose to tap into the legacy that honors the regal warrior woman that was Nana Yaa Asantewaa and the manifestation of that spirit that resides in me. The name Yaa Asantewaa also reminds me of my tendency to wage war and helps me to remember to further develop the other side of that spirit, which are peace and diplomacy.

For your information included below are the seven day names in Akan culture by gender. The day name becomes your first name and gives people their first glimpse into your personality. Their tends to be a great bit of comradery between people who share a day name.

If you are interested in identifying your Akan day name a calendar is available from AFSANI to help you determine your day of birth and the corresponding name. All the names I carry are gifts and bring a sense of joy, connectedness and responsibility to my life. The choice is mine to use them in a way that best serves my spiritual growth and development. May the way be clear for you as you continue to walk your own spiritual path.

Read other Member's Forum articles