Ugandan names
We’ve been particularly taken with the Ugandan names. Here they don’t seam to be confined to using existing names, but will use any word they fancy, often of a positive (or not so positive) attribute or the name of something they like. Some of our favourites so far are Confidence, Innocent, Immaculate, Marvelous, Precious, Generous, Fortunate, Trust, Promise, Memory, Sincere, Brillient (note the spelling mistake), Melon & Small. I had a patient who was aptly named Happy, who suffered with Bipolar, & was in fact a very happy man! Sophie teaches a poor child who has the pressure of being named Saviour, & another poor child who is doomed with the name Anxious. In amongst these names are lots of very British names, including Allan, Brian, Clive (who pronounces his name cleave), Trevor, Harold, Vera, Dennis, Maureen, Doreen, Gladys & Agnus. We were surprised to be told that both Robert & I have good Ugandan names. However, the Ugandan spelling of my name is bizarrely Phionah. And apparently there are no L’s & R’s in Rukiga, & so native speakers get confused between the two, which means Robert sometimes gets called Lobert!