Discover how children in Ghana—especially among the Ashanti (Akan), Fante, and Ga—are named based on the day of the week they’re born. Find out what your Ghanaian name would be!
The Akan people of Ghana and the Ivory Coast commonly name their children based on two key factors: the day of the week they were born and their birth order within the family. Each day is associated with specific names for boys and girls, believed to reflect the child's character or destiny.
This naming tradition, rooted in Akan culture, has spread widely across West Africa due to the historical influence of the Akan people. Variations of day-naming practices can be found among the Fon people of Benin (formerly Dahomey), the Ewe of Togo, the Ga of southern Ghana, and other neighboring ethnic groups. The custom also traveled across the Atlantic with the African diaspora, where it still lives on in communities in the Caribbean and the Americas, often blending with local naming traditions.
In Jamaica, remnants of the Akan day-naming tradition can still be seen in historical records. Enslaved Africans and their descendants often bore names linked to the day of the week they were born. Examples include:
Monday – Cudjoe
Tuesday – Cubbenah
Wednesday – Quaco
Thursday – Quao
Friday – Cuffee
Saturday – Quamin
Sunday – Quashee
These names were not only preserved in the Caribbean but also found their way into the United States during the 19th century. For example, the character "Friday" in Robinson Crusoe may reflect this naming system, suggesting a conceptual link to African naming traditions.
These names are Anglicized versions of original Akan names, which vary by region and dialect. Among the Ashanti (Asante), male names often begin with "Kwa-" or "Ko-", while female names typically use an "A-" prefix and end with "-a" or "-wa". The Fante, another Akan subgroup, use different prefixes: "Kwe-" for males and "E-" for females.
Phonetic variations also exist. For instance, the Akan word dwo (Monday) is pronounced similarly to the English name "Joe." Interestingly, there appear to be two distinct naming forms for children born on Tuesday, possibly due to dialectal or cultural differences within the Akan-speaking communities.
These preserved naming patterns offer a powerful link between the African continent and its diaspora, reflecting deep cultural continuity despite the disruptions of slavery and colonization.
Most Ghanaians have at least one name derived from the traditional day-naming system, reflecting both the day of birth and, at times, birth order or other personal characteristics. This naming tradition is deeply embedded in Ghanaian culture and extends across various ethnic groups.
A well-known example is Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, whose name reflects both his Saturday birth (Kwame) and his position as the ninth-born child (Nkrumah). Similarly, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Atta Annan was named Kofi for being born on a Friday, and Atta, a name given to twins.
In the official orthography of Twi, a dialect of the Akan language, the Ashanti (Asante) versions of these names—as spoken in Kumasi—are written with tonal markers:
á = high tone
a̍ = mid tone
à = low tone
Tonal markers (diacritics) are not always used in everyday writing, and the symbol a̩ indicates vowel harmony, which can usually be ignored by learners.
These names also vary slightly across Akan subgroups and are subject to different transliteration systems. For example, Ashanti and Fante may use different prefixes or spellings, while other ethnic groups across Ghana adapt the system into their own languages.
Despite regional differences, this naming tradition remains a powerful cultural identifier and a living link to Ghana’s rich linguistic and ancestral heritage.