| Kwabena | |
| Gender: | Male |
| Meaning: | born on a Tuesday |
| Region: | Empire of Ashanti |
| Origin: | Akan people |
| Related Names: | Kobina |
Kwabena is an Akan masculine given name among the Akan people (i.e. Ashanti, Akuapem, Akyem, Fante) in Ghana that means "born on a Tuesday" in Akan language, following their day naming system. People born on particular days are supposed to exhibit the characteristics or attributes and philosophy, associated with the days.[1] [2] Kwabena has the appellation Ogyam or Ebo meaning friendliness.[3] Thus, males named Kwabena are supposed to be friendly.[4]
In the Akan culture, day names are known to be derived from deities.[5] Kwabena originated from Koyabeneda and the Lord of Life's Land Day. Males named Kwabena are known to be brave and considered as manly "obarima". They tend to be very smart, nurturing and achieve a balance between strength and compassion "ogyam"(brave).
Day names in Ghana vary in spelling among the various Akan subgroups. The name is spelt Kwabena by the Akuapem and Ashanti subgroups while the Fante subgroup spell it as Kobina, Ebo and Kwamena.
In the Akan culture and other local cultures in Ghana, day names come in pairs for males and females. The variant of the name used for a female child born on Tuesday is Abena.
Most Ghanaian children have their cultural day names in combination with their English or Christian names. Some notable people with such names are: