Tag: Akan culture
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Traditional Akan Twi Names: Day Names, Birth Order and Twin Names Explained
Among the Akan people of Ghana, a name is rarely an arbitrary choice. It can tell you the day a person was born, where they fall in the family order, whether they arrived as a twin, and the circumstances that surrounded their birth. Packed into a few syllables, an Akan name can carry more information…
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The Twi Months of the Year: Traditional Names, Meanings and the Akan Seasonal Calendar
A calendar does more than tell us when a new month begins. It can also preserve a people’s observations of nature, agriculture, weather and community life. Among Akan-speaking communities of Ghana, the traditional names of the twelve months show exactly how this works. Names such as Ɔpɛpɔn, Ɔgyefoɔ, Ɔbɛnem, Oforisuo and Ayɛwohomumɔ are not simply…
