Ghanaian Names

As Erika and I have been meeting more and more Ghanaian friends, we were confused as to why everyone seemed to have the same few names. We met a ton of Kofi’s, Kwabena’s and a million Sam’s. It turns out that the day of the week you were born determines your name. So, for every gender, you can have one of about seven Ghanaian names.

Erika and I unfortunately had no idea what day of the week we were born. However, after some complicated sleuthing (my internet access was virtually nonexistent), I have a Ghanaian name! The hospital administrator’s younger brother was born on December 20, 1985, just a day before me, and he was born on a Friday. That means I was born on a Saturday and my Ghanaian is Ama. It’s going to take me a while to get used to it since for the last few weeks, my Ghanaian name has been the generic obroni (white person).

Here is a list of the Ghanaian names by day of the week, so that y’all can all have Ghanaian names!

*Information from Bradt's Ghana Travel Guide

Day of the Week	Male	Female
Sunday	Kwasi	Akosua, Asi, Ese
Monday	Kwadwo, Kojo	Adwoa, Ajao
Tuesday	Kwabena, Kobina	Abena, Araba
Wednesday	Kwaku	Akua
Thursday	Yao, Ekow	Yaa
Friday	Kofi	Afua, Afia, Efua
Saturday	Kwame, Kwamena	Ama

Comment and tell me what your Ghanaian name is!