The Akan people, give their children names according to the day of the week on which they were born, as shown in the table below:
Some common Akan names and their meanings
Not all Akan names have clearly defined meanings. However, apart from names relating to the day on which one is born, there are also names that relate to the circumstances of one’s birth. These have meaning. The following are some of them.
| Piesie | first born child |
| Manu (M) | second born child |
| Maanu (F) | second born child |
| Mensa (M) | Third born child |
| Mansa (F) | Third born child |
| Anane | fourth born child |
| Num | fifth born child |
| Nsia | sixth born child |
| Nsonwaa | seventh born child |
| Nkroma | ninth born child |
| Badu | tenth born child |
| Duko | eleventh born child |
| Dunu | twelfth born child |
| Ata (M) | twin |
| Ataa (F) | twin |
| Tawia | child born after twins |
| Nyankomago | child born after Tawia |
| Adae | child born on Adae festival day |
| Nyamekyε | a gift from God; usually given to a first child, especially if the mother had almost given up hopes of having a child. |
| Nyameama | What God has given; usually given to a child who was prematurely born or who was very sickly as a baby. |
| Obimpε | somebody doesn’t want you; usually given to a child whose father refuses responsibility for the pregnancy, and therefore has no father. |
| Adiyea | you’ve suffered grief; a child who loses a parent during infancy. |
All these names are not considered ‘proper’ names. Every Akan child is given a ‘proper’ name on the eighth day of its birth or soon after that day. The name given will be the name of a respected relation usually from the father’s family.
Excepts of this article were taken from ‘A Comprehensive Course in Twi (Asante)‘ by Florence Abena Dolphyne.
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I think that there are appropriate twi spellings for these names eg. Sap)n not sarpong. 3dweso and not Ejisu. Akyeampon and not Acheampong/Akyeampong.
My suggestion is that you try and introduce a row or column where words are first spelt appropriately. Then you can have how the Europeans spelt it as it has come to stay and then etc. If I am learning Asanti twi, dw(o,e,i) not the same as j(o,e,i).
Aside that there are alphabets that are not part of the twi alphabets and this distinction if not drawn will compromise on the true language you seek to teach and it’s quality. Thank you
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