Nigerians do not have weird names! I love my full name, EBIPATEI. It has a rich meaning.
My children will all have native names.

Of course am so in love with my full name!

We (Nigerians) have nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to our names.
It is that which holds our identity, personality and heritage. Most Nigerian parents have a story (or decent meaning)
behind each of their childrens names.

However some parents can go overboard, giving their kids names which they cannot relate to, which they end up changing
(or should I say 'funkifying'). We are not alone in this one as even foreign celebrities give their kids names which could be unbearable such as Jason Lee's(My Name is Earl) child bearing Pilot Inspecktor. And contrary to general belief, foreigners are always curious to learn of our traditional names as it is unique.

That being said, we should be proud of our traditional names but also be careful to consider our children that bear these names, to ensure that they grow up to embrace it, not reject it.

I have tried my possible best to read through everybody's contribution and i think its being awesome. We all have different opinions on this, depending on where you are standing(you know what i mean by this).
         Let me give you an instance, a very good buddy of mine on his wedding day had peeps from far and near.One of his school mate in the US a yankie chick came down with her son and when i got to meet them, i approached the cute 11 yrs old  boy and i asked after his name he replied "Trevor/Trevon "(cant remember the pronunciation)and when i asked what it mean, he quickly shouted out to the mum for the meaning and the mum replied "i dont know" and he said "my mum doesnt know the meaning, who cares" i tried look it up in my dictionary but i couldn't get any related meaning.
         Why then do we bother over our own names with meanings and heritage but to be frank some N9ja names dey worry sha,one of my guy no dey fit use OMR sheet based on say e name too long n u cant believe such a 1st name as "Godnodeysleep" im not exaggerating. itz a bit funny.

Godnodesleep 

All these names are a manisfestation of insecurity and uncertain future. Everybody wants to protect his child using name.

Believe me wen i say it.

If indeed sm1 names a child Jesu-Gbeshumi, d 1st nickname dt such a child 'll get is Eshu!

i love my niqerian name ., its who i am ., my culture my tradition
i dont really understand just beacause someones name sounds weird
or spelt werid to you doesnt mean it is .,
a name like that i would be proud ., its unique not somethinq to be made
fun of . id just use a nickname for those "outsiders"
those who don't understand

Nigerian names are not weird, they are simply African.

@y'all
is'nt it wonderful that we nigerians can make a full sentence just in our names?I personally think it's cool.For eg, the name Chidiebube means 'God is wonderful'.Is'nt it sweet? It is impossible to do such a thing in other languages.In this way,parents can express themselves,say how special their child is just by the name.Eg 'Nwakaego' means 'children are more precious than money'. By this name, u will understand the true value of the child.It is beautiful.

agabaI23:

Godnodesleep 

All these names are a manisfestation of insecurity and uncertain future. Everybody wants to protect his child using name.

lmao

Hi all,
this is quite a very funny thread, let me explain what i think, some of the people on this forum eithe dnt live in 9ja, and some do, when u dnt live in 9ja it might be a challenge when pther nationalities have to pronounce your name,
I have lived in diffrent countries, before i came to my present destination , i went for a job interview, which i got the offer // The lady that was interviewing me, (very vast and expereinced in her field i must say) and a canadian, asked me what my name was, i told her OLUWASEYI, but i had an english name , which sounds quite english, but i dnt use it only on my official cards e.t.c, and she was so excited because she handt heard such before and it was a panel interview so i had a polish also on the panel and they asked me what the meaning was and i told them, you wouldnt belive that un until now she calls me that name, even thou she doesnt pronouce it well, i got the job and i was the only balck and of course nija, but all the other nationalites (and there quite alot of them in that particular organisation) called me OL, , even thou when they try to start bitting their tougue and am like just call me Tr, (my english name ) but they still wanna know the meaning of my name,
So i think it depends on which side you are coming from, in 9ja its normal but outside the country its abit diffficult for them to pronouce and if u dnt hv an English name just shorten the name, there are many smart ways to do that,
I hope i made abit of sense thou

My pastor said he loved dedicating Nigerian babies. He said that even though the names go on forever and he sometimes find difficulty with the pronunciation he still tries because the names have meaning and he believes that when he is dedicating them and pronouncing those names, he's pronouncing all the things the name represent into the baby's life.

i've heard names likeGods power,god's vistory,jesus baby,swwet one etc n i couldn't stop laughing

agabaI23:

Godnodesleep 

All these names are a manisfestation of insecurity and uncertain future. Everybody wants to protect his child using name.

tayo_ast:

Believe me wen i say it.

If indeed sm1 names a child Jesu-Gbeshumi, d 1st nickname dt such a child 'll get is Eshu!

This thread is so funny. Our names are beautiful because they are meaningful but I also think that these days people are beginning to give names that sound well, funny.

Well my names are <Islamic> <Mother's Tribe> <Father's Tribe> <Another Father's Tribe name choice> <Surname>

But, I'm getting a name change to just <Name of choice> <Islamic Birth-name> <Surname>

lol, does poverty contributes to a child's name as a poster said there. i think is is more of ignorance as rgards the consequences of such names. afterall it is not every person that has not been to school that do not have a good name

If you study the meaning of names of several countries (except the UK), the are all weird. In the US you have names like stone,waters,rice,bill,cornwall,hill,mill,gate,house,winehouse,crest,falls,sky,woods and so on but nobody says anything about these blatantly obvious meaningless names because na oyibo name but if Nigerians start naming their kids garri,ekpa,tuwo,iyan and gbegiri, nairalanders will open over 12,000 threads on the issu
e. Talking about funny "nigerian" names, I once saw a woman call her son ORI DOLLAR. . .lol

It doesn't only occur in nigeria, also in SA you find most our names have meaning or the event that took place when you were born