and he shall be called...

Naming ceremonies are on of the more prominent occasions in the Ghanaian community. I tell my friends you can find out a lot about a person just by hearing his name: his family's religion, ethnic group, possibly his day of birth and his family's origin. Eg. Kofi Gabriel Adedevor - infers that buddy was born on Friday, his family gave him a Christian name and his father's family may be traced to the Ewes in the Volta region.

I got to cover a few naming ceremonies over the summer and this is one of them.


The baby's grandfather (from the dad's side) shares a word about the family, and in this case shares that there are only boys in his family; he has a twin and two sons and thus relinquishes baby naming privileges to the other grandfather(mom's side) as the baby's mother has only sisters in her family.


The grandfather, whom the baby is named after, emotionally shares the meaning of his name Oheneba...and how proud he is to have a grandson.


The parents looking on while the family 'elders' share family history, challenges and triumphs.


The head of the Pentecost church, the family's church, calls the child by his name for the first time...Oheneba.


The father, smitten by the emotional bug, also expresses his joy and the pride of having his first born son.



Family together with the bride's parents and sisters, in matching cloth. Usually white is the favored color for naming ceremonies, in this case the family patterns are adorned with baby blue too.



After a long day, close to six hours of congratulations, having guests dine with you and wish you well, Oheneba is finally visibly tired....my sentiments exactly! He's a trooper, I wish him all the best and when giving the chance, look forward to documenting his successes.