21 Aug 2013

What do the words Chemist, Given, New, July, and Remember have in common? A tough question perhaps, but, before you scratch your head hot, one of the imaginable answers is that they are all names of people of Kalanga origin.

It is not uncommon for Batswana to give their children English names, particularly religious ones such as Adam, Joseph or Peter, but if this writer’s general observation is anything to go by, Bakalanga are leading in this regard. And all too often their choice of names is not only stunning, but it is also a shift away from the biblical ones.

The common joke that Kalanga people are well known for their English names suffices, but that the social media once claimed that Bakalanga had been so inspired by the advent of cellphones that they had started naming their children such names as Inbox, Callback, and Airtime, is mind boggling, to say the very least.

An old man called Chemist Jackalas of the Jackalas 1 royalty tries to shed some light into why Bakalaga are in love with the Queen’s language. 

Born in 1935, Chemist argues that: “When I was a new born I was a very sickly child and thus I was taken to an English doctor named Morgan, who attended to me,” he shares.

During his admission, the doctor would put the sickly kid on all kinds of drugs and ultimately he nicknamed him Chemist, and the name has stuck to this day, 78 years after.

In the very same village, there is also a lady who is named New Scotch. Though we never got around finding out how she got her striking name, it is not surpring for one who originates from the area.  Pastor Jackson Mdhluli, also from Jackalas Number 1, who happens to also be blessed with an English name, says that the reason for these English names is because of development or urbanization.“I don’t believe there is a real reason behind it, we are just inspired by civilization,” he opines.

Since Shona people in neighbouring Zimbabwe are also guilty of giving unique and spectacular English names to their young ones such as Struggle, Witness, Blessing, Addmore, and Lovemore, among others, this has influenced them to do the same? “No, that is not the case,” argues Pastor Mdhsluli. Another elder from Moroka village, Mr Robert Tshule feels that religion has also played a role. 

His name, he says was given to him after baptism in the Roman Catholic Church. “Even my children were given English names in the church after they were baptized. Sarah, Boniface, Raphael, Reuben, John; those are their names,” the proud father says. 

Some would argue that this trend of having unique English names by Bakalanga is what makes them unique. Where else would you find someone named New Scotch or Chemist Jackalas in the country? It would seem most of these names have a story to tell, though mostly told in the Queen’s language. ENDS