Kwame Explained
Kwame is an Akan masculine given name among the Akan people (such as the Ashanti and Fante) in Ghana which is given to a boy born on Saturday. Traditionally in Ghana, a child would receive their Akan day name during their Outdooring, eight days after birth.[1] [2]
According to Akan tradition, people born on particular days exhibit certain characteristics or attributes. Kwame has the appellation "Atoapoma" or "Oteanankannuro" meaning "combat ready".
The day naming tradition in Ghana extends to folk characters such as Anansi and deities. Traditional Akan religion states that God created himself on Saturday and is therefore also named "Kwame".[3]
Origin and meaning of Kwame
In the Akan culture, day names are derived from deities.[4] Kwame originated from Koyame and the Akan day name God.[5] The name Kwame means extremes in fortune, health and spirituality; versatile, idealistic and intuitive.[6] Males named Kwame are reputed to be talented and good problem solvers.
Male variants of Kwame
Variant spellings include Kwamé, Kouamé, Kwami, Kwamena, and Kwamina, according to the various Akan subgroups.[7] It is spelt Kwame by the Akuapem and Ashanti subgroups, while the Fante subgroup spell it as Kwamena or Kwamina.
Female version of Kwame
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 Saturday is Ama.
Notable people with the name
The most well-known bearer of the name was Kwame Nkrumah, President of Ghana and a founder of Pan-Africanism - mainly due to whom the name spread also to non-Ghanaians.
People with this name include:
- Kwamé (American rapper)
- Kwame (Australian rapper)
- Kwame Alexander, American author
- Kwame Ampadu, Irish footballer
- Kwame Anthony Appiah, a Ghanaian-British philosopher of semantics and racism
- Kwame Awuah (born 1995), Canadian soccer player
- Kwame Brown, American former basketball player
- Kwame R. Brown (born 1970), American politician
- Kwame Dawes, Ghanaian poet currently living in America, managing editor of the Prairie Schooner literary journal
- Kwame Evans Jr. (born 2004), American basketball player
- Kwame Harris (born 1982), former American football player
- Kwame Holman, American producer, correspondent, and congressional correspondent
- Kwame Kenyatta, an American politician
- Kwame Kilpatrick, former mayor of Detroit, Michigan
- Kwame Nkrumah (originally Francis Nwia Kofi Ngonloma), a Ghanaian politician (and for a time Life President) and one of the founders of Pan-Africanism
- Kwame Raoul, Illinois Attorney General
- Kwame Somburu (Paul Boutelle), an American socialist political activist
- Kwame Tucker, a Bermudian cricketer
- Kwame Vaughn (born 1990), American basketball player for Maccabi Haifa in the Israeli Basketball National League
- Kwamena Bartels, a Ghanaian politician and former government minister of the New Patriotic Party
- Kwamena Ahwoi, a Ghanaian politician who served as Minister for Local Government and Rural Development from 1990 to 2001 and Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1997
- Kwamina Ropapa Mensah, a Ghanaian footballer who plays for Nashville SC in the USL Championship
- Osei Kwame Panyin, eighteenth-century leader of the Ashanti Confederacy, in what is southern and central Ghana today
- Paul Kwame, Ghanaian footballer
Fictional character
- Kwame (Captain Planet), a fictional character in the animated television series Captain Planet and the Planeteers
- Kwame, a fictional character in British television series I May Destroy You.
Notes and References
- Web site: The Sociolinguistic of Akan Personal Names . 2021-04-06 . ResearchGate . en.
- Web site: Kamunya . Mercy . 2018-10-19. Akan names and their meanings . 2021-04-06 . Yen.com.gh - Ghana news . en.
- Arko-Achemfuor . Akwesi . Naming of children and meaning of names among the Akan of Ghana: defining identities . Southern African Journal for Folklore Studies . Oct 18, 2018 . 28 . 1 . 7 . 10.25159/1016-8427/4294 . 158371631 . 22 May 2021.
- Last Name. First Name. 2020. Title. 10.21303/978-617-7319-30-5. 242646110 .
- Web site: The Akan Day Names and Their Embedded Ancient Symbolism. 2021-04-06. Modern Ghana. en.
- Web site: Kwame. What Does My Name Mean? Find Out!. 2021-04-06. Seven Reflections. en.
- Web site: 2019-11-09. 'Day born names' in Dagbani, Ewe and Fante. 2021-04-06. GhanaWeb. en.
