Name Epiphany

Since arriving in Nigeria for the first time, I’d been completely confused about the system of naming here. I couldn’t tell someone’s first name from their last name because sometimes they put them in one order and sometimes another and all names sound like first names. I finally reached a greater understanding last night during an in-depth conversation at a friends’ home. When a woman marries a man, she takes not only his last name as hers, but his first name as well. Then, when they have children, the children are given either the father’s first name OR his last name as their surname. THEN, as they grow, they can choose whether they want to keep that or switch. This means that siblings don’t necessarily have the same last name. No wonder I had always been so confused! The lineage can’t be traced by names!