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What’s in a Name?
A case for respecting ‘difficult’ to pronounce names
Ifelanwa is not that difficult to pronounce if you can appreciate the depth of what it means to me.
I can’t remember where I read this, but I remember finding it hilarious. It must have been a Nigerian of Igbo extraction who wrote something on his/her Twitter page that had gone viral. I can’t remember the story exactly but the general message and the name Arnold Schwarzenegger remains indelible in memory.
A Father/Son Dialogue
Let’s say this person of Igbo extraction called Ikedinaekpere had recently secured admission to study in a European country, and was considering changing his name, or adopting an alias to make it easier for foreigners to pronounce his name.
The Twitter post, which was a dialogue between Ikedinaekpere and his father went like this:
Ikedinaekpere: Dad, what do you think about Alex?
Dad: Which Alex?
Ikedinaekpere: No, I mean. What do you think about the name, ‘Alex?’
Dad: I don’t understand your question. What do you think about Adolphus? Alex is a name. What are you saying?
