What to say at a naming ceremony

What the ceremony is doing

A naming ceremony gives a child their names in front of the people who will hold them to those names. In Yoruba tradition it is usually the seventh, eighth or ninth day; among Igbo families the timing varies by community. The names are not labels — they are statements about circumstance, lineage, gratitude and hope.

A Yoruba child often receives several: an orúkọ àmútọ̀runwá reflecting the manner of their birth, an orúkọ given by the family, an oríkì to praise them by, and names from grandparents and relatives, each carrying its own wish.

If you are asked to speak

You are not being asked for a speech. You are being asked to add your wish to the pile of wishes the child is being given. Short is correct.

Say who you are to the family, say the child's name aloud — properly — and give one specific blessing rather than a general one. 'May she never lack' is fine. 'May she always have someone to open the door for her, the way her mother has for everyone' is better, because it comes from your own knowledge of the family.

Then stop. Thirty to sixty seconds is generous at a ceremony where a dozen people will speak.

Saying the names correctly

Practise the names before the day, out loud, with whoever chose them. Yoruba and Igbo are both tonal, so the marks are meaning: getting them wrong changes the word rather than softening it.

If you are unsure, ask. Nobody is offended by being asked how to say a child's name properly. Everyone notices when you did not ask.

Registers

Christian families will usually expect scriptural cadence and an invocation. Muslim families will expect du'a form, with Insha'Allah and Ameen. In a traditional or mixed setting, the blessing register — libation cadence, proverbs, 'may the road…', Àṣẹ — carries the depth without naming a deity.

Match the family's register rather than your own. This is their day and their child's name.

Common questions