What's in A Name: How African Names Get Lost in Translation

Unlike the subtext of Shakespeare's famous quote, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet," which suggests that names aren't as important as the person or object bearing it, that an object or person if divorced from its name, would remain the same, a name is as important as its bearer for many Africans.

While Shakespeare's quote has some logic, it doesn't accurately account for the many cultural, sentimental, and spiritual meanings embedded in names. The quote doesn't account for the familial or communal histories and lores that made the existence of such names possible, that made them necessary. In a world where marginalized history often gets overlooked, Africans have often found themselves stripped of the proper context or privilege of fully existing in their given names.

Either through assimilation or institutional errors, well-known Africans often find their names botched, misspelled, or mispronounced. Below, we break down some of these names, what they should be, and how some of them have reclaimed or embraced their names.

Gout Gout (Originally Guot Guot)

After breaking several track records, including one set by Olympic Champion Peter Norman, 16-year-old teenagerGout Gout's name, pronounced as "Gwot Gwot," became a center of attention for its misspelling and mispronunciation. According to Bona Gout, Gout's father, "His name is Guot, it's supposed to be G-U-O-T. When I see people call him Gout Gout, I'm not really happy for him. I know that Gout Gout is the name of a disease. I don't want my son to be called a disease name … It's not acceptable," he said. Gout's name, originally spelled 'Guot,' was changed to Gout after a spelling mistake as the family fled Sudan. "For me, I don't mind. Whatever they want to call him, let them call him. But for myself, I know his name is Guot."

Giannis Antetokounmpo (Originally Giannis Adetokunbo)

NBA Champion Giannis Antetokunmpo is arguably one of the greatest basketball players in recent history. While his many accomplishments can't be changed, his name is tied to a history of change. Giannis' family moved to Greece from Nigeria and, in the process of getting their passport, realized that they had to change their names on the passport. The Antetokunmpo surname, as Giannis explained, came from the Greek way of spelling, which required that his family's name be spelled with their alphabet and pronounced the Greek way. "But the Nigerian way, the way I knew my name growing up was Adetokounbo," he said while explaining this piece of his life.

John Obi Mikel, then Mikel John Obi (Originally John Michael Nchekwube Obinna)

For a long time, no one knew Mikel John Obi's real name. Mikel's name came from a documentation error when a registrar misspelled the name that went on his jersey. He recalls, "We had this tournament with the U-17 national team, and they spelled my name wrong. I saw it on the jersey and was like: 'What is that? It's not my name.'"

But he decided to play under that name because there was hardly any time before the game kicked off, and the correction couldn't be made. When he finished playing the game, he was asked if he would like the error corrected, which he declined. "I told them to leave it that way."

Thandie Newton (Originally Thandiwe Newton)

The first misspelling happened in the credits of her first film, John Duigan's Flirting. Thandiwe Newton, of Zimbabwean heritage, was starring alongside Nicole Kidman and found herself stuck with a successful career and an anglicized name, Thandie, for over 30 years. In 2021, however, Newton decided to publicly reclaim the narrative and go by her original name, Thandiwe. As she told British Vogue in 2021, "That's my name. It's always been my name. I'm taking back what's mine."

Chidera Ejuke (Originally Chidera Ejike)

Renowned Nigerian footballer Chidera Ejuke has an interesting story behind his name. It originated from a mistake made during the processing of his international passport. However, he has mentioned that he is not particularly concerned about it. "My passport came out like that when I was with the Nigeria U17 team in 2013. Because of our short time and how difficult it is to correct it, I decided to leave it like that," he said. Despite making a name for himself as Ejuke, he insists on being named correctly. "The actual spelling is Ejike, not Ejuke. That's my father's name. My name is Chidera, so if you want to call me as a Nigerian, then call me Ejike, but Ejuke is fine as well," he shared.

​Shaboozey (Originally Collins Obinna Chibueze)

You may have heard of Shaboozey through his contributions and features on Beyonce's Cowboy Carter album or his chart-topping country single "A Bar Song (Tipsy)," the Nigerian-American artist had a fantastic year. Aside from his stellar music, one of the more interesting facts about him is his name. His stage name, Shaboozey, actually came from a misspelling of his surname, Chibueze, by his football coach. "Hearing your name (mispronounced) during attendance was always a thing; you felt like you had to make it easier for everyone else to understand," the Grammy-nominated artist told Billboard in an interview.

Ernest Cole (Originally Ernest Levi Tsoloane Kole)

Originally named Ernest Levi Tsoloane Kole, the renowned photographer changed his last name from Ernest Kole to Ernest Cole, thereby reclassifying as a Coloured to circumvent apartheid's race classification board and get more privileges to move freely and capture the grim realities of Black South Africans during apartheid. This name change allowed him to travel to New York, where his work exposing the atrocities of the apartheid was first widely distributed in photographs.