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Mezmerized · (#13 (**permalink**))

Shemsi en Tehuti wrote:

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I have been thinking about changing my name for years, but as you mentioned, I have been concerned how my mother might feel. The second thing is I want a different name, but how to choose one poses a huge problem. I don't know where I come from in Africa, so I am not going to randomly choose a language and then a name from the vast number of cultures. When people hear my full name, they most certainly think of a rich white man, specifically because I have a first, middle, last name, and a suffix (Sr., Jr., III, IV, etc.).

Anyhow, I don't know much about you Kunjufu, so perhaps you didn't have the same concerns I am dealing with now.

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Its funny that i keep hearing this a lot of the time from some Diaspora. But my point is this: Evensome ofus who were left behind do NOT know where we came from. Take me for example,my family name is from a clan thats in present day Kenya, yet i ended up in Central Africa.....however, its also a common name with people from what it is now Zambia and CAR....so even us back in Africa we are confused as to where exactly we can pin point our names.

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I see this pattern a LOT of the time with many Africans. Most of them are not even aware it....my friend from Uganda has a surname that i know very well is from the Dinkas, yet she is not even anywhere near the border with S Sudan and is adament that its a name from her clan...although nobody can translate what her name means in their language....lol...this is very rare with African names because there is always a meaning to each name.

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My point is, why don't you just choose a name that you can connect with, and go with it? Africans have been migrating along from the North southward for God knows how long. If we were to be totally honest, most of us are not really where we were supposed to be.

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PS:why not just travel home....see for yourself and take it from there.

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