Are there any Kenyans with actual Kenyan first names?

for some reason it seems like the runners almost all have biblical/anglo names (i know i've seen some exceptions, just can't think of them at the moment), but most of the famous politicians have more indigenous sounding names. the last awful, bloody election was between a guy named raila and a guy named mwai. the first prime minister was named jomo. i bet there are more politicians named paul and peter than mwai and jomo, but these are the ones who make most of the news.

come to think of it, a dude named Ben Kimondiu was a surprise winner of the Chicago Marathon one year. i read that his real first name was something more indigenous, but his management made his name Ben for stateside racing purposes.

Most people in Kenya are very religious, thus the religious names. And since they were an English colony, you get the English version of those Biblical names.

I lived in Kenya for a while, and while a few people had more ethnic first names, I doubt I could name more than 10 from the entire time I was there.

Really, it shouldn't be that surprising. Looking at Mexico, you see Spanish versions of Biblical names being very popular. Same deal.

Ethiopia is an entirely different beast than Kenya. They have had Christian influences for 2000+ years, and thus bore much less of the disseminating brunt than Kenya by the British Empire.

kipchoge keino

naftali temu

Actually, Naftali is a Biblical name-- he was one of Jacob's sons. It's Hebrew for "struggle."

I'm pretty sure Kipchoge is Kenyan, though, since it's also a common last name.

joe mcblow wrote:

for some reason it seems like the runners almost all have biblical/anglo names (i know i've seen some exceptions, just can't think of them at the moment), but most of the famous politicians have more indigenous sounding names. the last awful, bloody election was between a guy named raila and a guy named mwai. the first prime minister was named jomo. i bet there are more politicians named paul and peter than mwai and jomo, but these are the ones who make most of the news.

That's true.

You seem to know a bit more than the down the street.

I've had this discussion with some Kenyan runner friends on MANY occasions. The Kalenjin naming practices (the Kalenjin tribe makes up the majority of top runners) work roughly like this.

1st name -- Anglo/Biblical name. Not used by Kenyans when dealing with other Kenyans.

2nd name -- Deals w/the circumstances of their birth, with a prefix attached. Men tend to have the prefix "Kip" while women have the prefix "Chep" or "Jep". Example: Kiptoo is a boys name that means born when visitors are around, while Jeptoo is a female equivalent to that. While in Kenya or around other Kenyans, this is their "First name" or the name that they typically go by.

3rd name -- Most often comes from the father. For boys, you simply take the prefix away from the father's second name. So, If your dad's 2nd name is Kiplagat, your 3rd name will be Lagat. For girls, they often just take the father's third name without any change.

Summary: David Kipkosgei Lagat would go by David when dealing with Americans, but Kipkosgei around people of his own tribe.

Granted things can vary, but this is the best of my understanding after many many many runs discussing this. Or, my buddies could just be screwing with me and this could all be off.

A Kenyan by any other name wrote:

Conversely, isn't it weird that right down the road in Ethiopia practically all their runners have Ethiopian first names? I know their history is different - much different. Just was wondering about this stuff.

Well, one was colonized by the English (Kenya), while Ethiopia was the only African nation never to be colonized. So that's how religion originally entered Kenya and why Christianity is so prominent today.

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Ethiopian surnames are actually just their fathers first name. So Kenenisa Bekele is actually son of Bekele. Furthermore, in Ethiopia they would normally just refer to him as "Kenenisa", rather than an equivalent of Mr Bekele.

You mean Steve Kiptoquanua isn't really from Little Rock, Arkansas?!

Uhuru Kenyata wrote:

Most people in Kenya are very religious, thus the Ethiopia is an entirely different beast than Kenya. They have had Christian influences for 2000+ years, and thus bore much less of the disseminating brunt than Kenya by the British Empire.

1. +2k years of Christianity? ~1700...but who is counting

2. The British were never in Ethiopia. The Italians were (there are still ~1k Italians living in Asmara)

Ah, that explains Mario Wolde. Thanks.

Kenyan girls and our girlfriends' mums like calling us by our first names too.They say that is respect ans sexy too.Most of us Kenyans like being call anything, be either your first name, second or third, we don't care much. But i like my mama calling me by my middle name.You know one thing i like about Kenya is that, when you want to be baptize you have to be given a Christian name, that is a rule and i guess a tradition. Normally first name should be Christian then middle name true Kenyan name then third is your fathers middle name.But i will call my son by my last name like "Bernard" did it...i like that, sound sexy too

stalbans wrote:

A Kenyan by any other name wrote:

Conversely, isn't it weird that right down the road in Ethiopia practically all their runners have Ethiopian first names? I know their history is different - much different. Just was wondering about this stuff.

Well, one was colonized by the English (Kenya), while Ethiopia was the only African nation never to be colonized. So that's how religion originally entered Kenya and why Christianity is so prominent today.

You are absolutely correct.

Yeah, I found it a bit confusing and sometimes funny to deal with names in Kenya...

Me- Who's coming with us?

Kenyan- Kibet.

Me- Who's that?

Kenyan- You met him yesterday.

Me- Oh, Paul?

Kenyan- Yes, Kibet.

Me- Paul Lagat?

Kenyan- Yes, Paul Kibet Lagat.