Maasai Naming Ceremony
Similar to the Luo, a newborn in Maasai culture isn’t given a name immediately after birth – rather there is a naming ceremony that comes between four to six months and sometimes the child can remain ‘nameless’ for as late as three years. Thus, in the interim, the child acquires a temporary name which is called the Embolet. Common names given to the child during this time include Enkoshoke-ai (my womb) and Enkutuk-ai (my mouth).
From the time of birth leading up to the naming ceremony, both mother and child seclude themselves from the clan. In this time, they are both to let their hair grow in preparation for the ceremony.
Then comes the Enkipukonoto Eaji, the naming ceremony. The word is a Maa word that translates to ‘coming out of the seclusion period’. The ceremony begins with prayer. As it normally takes place in the child’s parents’ homestead, the clan gather outside the settlement to pray to Enkai (God) for the mother and the child. Both mother and child stand at the center of the gathering. Thereafter, the clan members return into the homestead for the main ceremony to begin.
The main ceremony involves an elderly woman who will shave both the mother and child’s heads. This ritual consists of more than just a razor to scalp but also involves a healthy cow’s hide, an elder’s stool and a gourd filled with watery milk.
The father of the child chooses the child's name after he has consulted his age group and elders of the clan. This importance of this consultation is to ensure the child receives a name that did not belong to a former thief, murderer or social misfit. Thus, in Maa culture, the name given to a newborn must not be seen to bring bad luck or association with undesired elements; it must reflect favour and blessings. This symbol of the start of new life is accompanied by a great feast of traditional food and honey beer.
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Mbeere Naming Ceremony
Songs were used to finalize Giriama naming ceremonies and they also marked the beginning of the birth process for the Mbeere community. When a mother was in labour, other women would come to her side to help her through the process. They would chant poetry in unison to soothe the mother and get her into a calm state of mind. This was also a way of the women sharing in her pain and letting her know that she was not alone.
Once the child was born, cutting of the umbilical cord would be accompanied with ululation from the women present. It was taboo for the men to be present during childbirth, especially the father. These ululations would alert the father that his child had been delivered. Four ululations would be given for a boy and five for a girl.
Ariririririri!
Our child is here!
A song would ensue thanking the ancestors for safe passage of the child and congratulating the mother for a job well done. Similar to the Giriama, Mbeere children were named after their grandparents. This system of naming is important in continuity of the clan’s life and to identify members of one clan to each other. The midwife, who was usually an elder woman in the homestead, would be the one to give the child its name. However, there were exceptions to this rule.
If a woman had suffered successive miscarriages or loss of several infants, the newborn would not be named after a person but an object of little importance such as Mati (leaves) or even Iriga (nameless). This was a result of the parents worrying that this child would not survive either and therefore did not want to form too close an attachment to them.
Encounters with wild animals could also prompt some names. The name Nyaga was given to a child whose parents had encountered an ostrich during pregnancy. Other such names included Njue (rhino), Ireri (baboon), and Njagi (zebra).
Once the name was selected, singing would be taken up once more to praise the youngest member of the community and let the mother know that she would not be alone in raising this child. When need arose, these women would rally behind her and support her.
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