Using an Igbo name for Baptism

Posted by Felix Okoli on Thursday December 12, 2013 at 14:26:15:

My beloved Ndigbo, it's time we start using our Igbo names for baptising our children because we do have some good Igbo names suitable too.

It's true that most Igbo people are Christians and for most of them, they are Catholics, Anglicans and Pentecostals.

When it comes to getting a baby child to become a member of the church, one of the things that is formally done is a Christian baptism.

One of the things parents of the child would have to provide before baptizing their child is a Christian name. Now, historically, since the white man brought Christianity into Eastern Nigeria, Ndigbo have been used to adopting recommended Christian names which the white men also brought. It's good to use the name of Saints and holy men when doing a baptism so that when the child grows up, he wouldd probably take to them as their models or patron saints.

However, times are changing and I've seen a growing number of Igbo people using Igbo names for their child's baptism. Most Ndigbo, due to their baptism actually have 2 names, the first one being the Igbo name and the second one being the Christianized name which is also referred to as English name in Nigeria.

I think the reason why white Fathers recommended Ndigbo to use an English or a Saint's name was also because most of the Igbo names we bore in those days when our fathers worshiped other gods were ungodly names. For instance, you may see someone bearing the name Onwuebuka, Onwukam or Nwalusi which are not really godly names. However, if someone was bearing an Igbo name like Chukwuebuka or Chukwuka, they are actually godly names and can equally be used for baptism rather than giving the child multiple names which they have to grow up with.

I see more change coming as more Igbo people get educated and begin to see that there are many Igbo names that can equally be used for Christianizing a child rather than giving them an English, Spanish or latin name which they hardly don't understand or is alien to our culture.

Truly, bearing a foreign baptism name like Felix, Francis or Dominic is sweet to the ears but wouldn't it be better if people just knew you as Ifeoma, Chukwuma or Oluchi?

Gone are the days when Ndigbo worship lesser gods or Alusi and hence give our children devilish names. Nowadays, the Christian spirit seems to be growing and it's time we also try to not to throw away everything which our culture and tradition is know for. We need to be proud of our Igbo names.