What’s in a Name? Or a Nominha?

What’s in a Name? Or a Nominha?

So I’m approaching my one-year anniversary at site and there are still some people in Chan di Igreja who’s names I still don’t know. Usually I’m good with names, but they do names a little different here.

For one thing, people here are never called or addressed by their last names…even in formal situations. Students all call their teachers by their first name for example. (This non-use of last names may be due to the fact that they aren’t very helpful…in Cha di Igreja (400 people) I have encountered only about a dozen different last names and nearly the entire town is related…most people being no more distant than 2nd cousins.

Another interesting thing with names here is how they are derived. While parents may poi kulakier nom (give any name) to their kids that they wish…it is custom to construct the name from the letters of the father’s and mother’s names. For example, Arisvaldo and Irondina recently had a child and named her Arindinha. It makes things pretty interesting, and Cape Verdians are pretty inventive when it comes to naming their kids…unlike us…according to them. In fact, Cape Verdians often joke with me about the names of Americans. As far as they’re concerned, ours are all monosyllabic and usually boring. Steve, Mike, Bill, Kate…Plain Jane.

Over here however, names are always an adventure. In my village, there are people called Artelindro, Orisvaldo, Benvindo, Rafaelio, Anabelinda, Irondina, and Juelma. Many people have the same name. There are for instance, at least six Joao Pedros and more than a dozen women named Maria Jose in Chan di Igreja. Many people have names that, although different, sound very similar. I know girls in my town named Lanisia, Annalanisia, Licia, Alecia, Lenicia and Alenicia. Let me tell you…it gets confusing.

To make matters worse, nearly everyone here has a nominha (nickname) that they go by. Many have more than one. (This may be due to the fact that so many people have the same or very similar names.) Remember that in the States, nicknames are actually pretty rare. While we may call Richards by Dick, or Patricks by Pat, it’s not often that anyone acquires a “true” nickname like Scooter or Crash or Bunny. Cape Verdians however, have taken nicknames to a new level…an art form really.

Let’s take the example of my friend Cesar, who works at our little store here in Cha di Igeja. His nome completa (full name) is Julius Cesar Lopes. Almost nobody calls him that though, even his mom. He is known by everyone in town as Té. His really good friends all call him Cabra (Goat). It took me about 6 months to learn his name, even though I saw him and spoke to him almost every day. When I asked him he would say Té but others told me he was called Julius, or Cesar, or Té or Cabra, so I was never sure which was best or which was his.

Now, Té is a rather mundane nominha…it literally means “the letter T,” and there is no story behind how he got it…according to him, he just always had it. Further, many nicknames are in fact abbreviations of their longer ones. Jandira is Janda, Vladimir is Vla, Orisvaldo is Vald. There are certainly more interesting examples though. One guy here is called Inchadin. His real name (which I learned just this instant by sticking my head out my window and hollering down to ask someone in the street) is Altimiro. Inchadin literally means “a little bit swollen,” but don’t worry, it’s not a sexual innuendo…for that story you can go ask Banana where he got his nickname...he’ll be happy to tell you. Anyway, when I asked Inchadin how he got this nickname, he said it’s because he has always liked doing push-ups and pull-ups and was the first kid in his group of friends to get inchod (swollen…or “buff” in this context). Guys who’s names are Hector, Pilar, Antonio and Joao are called Zoff (means a showoff or braggart), Zao (no translation that I am aware of…it just sounds cool I guess), Dino (like dinosaour) and Sod (a shortening of the word pesod, which means “heavy.”) Like Zao, there are plenty of nominhas that don’t mean anything, but sound real cool. Jobla, Txiba, Txida, Bamba, Q, Bava (as Benivinda is known here in town), Celtz and Ces (pronounced
“cash”).

Famous names are also popular here. Since being in Cape Verde I have met Elton John, John Lennon, Brian Adams, Michael Bolton, George Michaels, and Michael Jordan. Interesting and unusual names too. A quick scroll through the contacts in my cell phone reveals Lalino, Lili, and Lonely. Some really beautiful names as well. Some of my favorites are Denizia, Gisela, Jandira, Sofia, Yasmin and Leila.

Anyway, possibly this is only marginally interesting to all of you, but I’m fascinated by names. Maybe not surprising coming from a guy named Caley with a sister called Marnie who’s named her children Piper and Darby. The point of all this is that over here, it’s just harder to learn people’s names, and in most cases, you’re going to have to learn at least two or three names for every person you meet.