Talented names…the names of Zimbabwe’s players in the Africa Cup of Nations are “amazing”

Washington, Prince, Prosper, Marvelous, Divine, Tending, and Good Knows are names that sound to many fans as nicknames or nicknames, but they are actually the first names of the players who represent the Warriors.

In Zimbabwe’s opening match Egypt On December 22, within the second group, the natural gaze was directed towards the big stars Mohamed Salah andA forgotten lifeHowever, a quick look at the opposing team’s list was enough to arouse interest, as there were full English names with specific meanings, unlike what international football audiences are used to.

These names are not only for football players, but represent a permanent part of the… Zimbabwean cultureIn the public sector in this country there are names like Hard Life, Big Boy, Never, Nomater, Dapt, Thinkwell and Guarante.

Even famous people did not stop this popularity, because names like Beauty Zwao, Witness Mangwende, and Professor Love-More Maduku started to be known in politics.

It is inside ZimbabweAccording to the Forbes Global Names Database, at least 56,000 people have the name Love-More and 47,000 have the name Beauty, in addition to thousands of names such as Memory, Shepherd, Jeff-More, Knowledge, Admire, Progress, and Tri-More.

To understand this phenomenon, we have to go back to the culture of people and the culture of the world. Zimbabwe has several ethnic groups. The Ashona make up about 80 percent of the population, while the Andebele represent about 14 percent. In addition to the Shona and Ndebele languages, English is the official language due to its British colonial heritage.

Traditionally, the Shona and Ndebele place a lot of importance on the meaning of a name, often choosing it to reflect the state of birth or a particular family – happiness, sadness, disobedience, gratitude – or a vague question about life.

At a funeral, for example, a child may be called Mwiaradze, meaning “comfort”, while the name Chidza means “light”.

When the name is legally registered, its meaning is translated from the local language into plain English that carries the same message, becoming part of the person’s legal identity.

The names of Zimbabwean players may be of international character, because they look strange and different from the traditional names that are published, but behind the funny behavior hides a deep story of the culture of people who see in the name a message, not a way to identify.

Therefore, when the viewer sees Marvelous Nakamba in the middle of the field, or Divine Lunga in the cage, or Tindge Hadebe leading the defense, he should know that it is not a joke, but a deep culture that turns the name into a mirror of real life.