Shona Sentential Names: A Brief Overview

Chapter IV - Some Shona Theophoric Sentential Anthroponyms

89 Chapter IV Some Shona Theophoric Sentential Anthroponyms Introduction It is generally accepted that Africans are a highly religious people. While not all of them are Christians, some have embraced Christianity as a faith and have syncretised this with their own indigenous African religions. The names that they give to their children and those that they even have for some places are termed theophoric names. The phrase ‘theophoric names’ is used to refer to names that embed the name of a god, both invoking and displaying the protection of that deity. Those who name will be appreciating the fact that their gods or Supreme Being will not only be protecting them but also showering them with an abundance of blessings. The tragedy with the Shona just like most colonised people everywhere was that most were forcibly converted to Christianity. Although most were not interested in converting to this new religion, they were really left with no option if they wanted to access education which in most cases was provided by missionaries (Zvogbo 1985: 26, Kadhani and Riddel 1981: 60). When one converted to this new religion, s/he was expected to change his or her name as an indication that s/he had died to the old life and resurrected in the new, just like Jesus Christ died and rose on the third day. It is important to note here that the change of name came about after baptism, a ritual that saw a person being immersed in water three times, or had water poured on his head three 90 times with each time being counted as each of the days that Jesus Christ was dead and only rose on the third day. After this act, the baptised person was expected to assume a new name. The name was not to be any name, but had to be a ‘Christian’ one or one of Eurocentric origin. No African name was accepted as Christian. They were all considered to be pagan and therefore not suitable enough for a ‘new’ being to use. Chitando (2001: 144) makes this clear when he states: In the encounter between western missionaries as propagators of the Christian gospel and African converts, the cultural significance of indigenous names inevitably surfaced. To a very large extent, traditional and culturebound names were rejected in favor of European, biblical, or “Christian” names. The major denominations that were culprits in this area were the Catholic churches, both Roman Catholic and Anglican. Even when they got to a place and set up a mission station, it was very rare that they would name the station after the local chief or headman as is the case of Berejena in Masvingo, Zimbabwe. This name is more of an exception rather than the norm because mission stations always got names of saints or martyrs, for example St Patricks and Silveira Mission. Silveira is named after Gonzalo da Silveira, the first European Christain martyr in Munhumutapa’s empire. The Dutch Reformed Church is one of the few together with the United Methodist Church that did not compel converts to use names of saints or religious movement leaders. Zimbabwe as a country has also witnessed the mushrooming of Pentecostal Churches. While these ones accept indigenous names, some of the members of these 91 denominations give their children names that are biblical such as Jedaiah, Shemaiah, and Shaddai (Chitando 2001: 150). Such names are however not as prevalent as those in Shona. Unlike the missionary names that most of the people were given during the colonial period, and whose meanings most did not know, the names that most Christians of today give to their children carry their prayers to their Supreme Being. It is these names that are called theophoric names. Joseph in Pfukwa (2007: 135) best sums up the issue of religious names and their function, stating: Ethnic and religious identities concern where we come from and where we are going – our entire existence, not just the moment to moment. It is these identities above that, for most people, give profound meaning to the ‘names’ we identify ourselves by, both as individuals and as groups. Although the words above focus on both ethnic and religious names, their significance lies in the fact that they point out the fact that names are pointers to the past as much as they are signposts into the future. The theophoric names that are discussed in this chapter are an...