This pancocojams post presents five name quizzes from my no longer active "Alafia Names" website. These quizzes from 2004 are presented thanks to the Wayback Machine* archiving function.
The content of this post is presented for etymological and cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Lucas Musewe for his technical help in developing and helping me maintain the "AlafiaNames" and my other no longer active website cocojams.com.
Thanks also to the Wayback Machine for archiving these Alafia Names pages and thanks to all of the online and off-line sources that I used to collect these name meanings.
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Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/02/two-pancocojams-african-language.html for another pancocojams post on Black cultural quizzes.
*From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayback_Machine "The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web and other information on the Internet created by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit organization, based in San Francisco, California, United States.
History
The Internet Archive launched the Wayback Machine in October 2001.[4][5] It was set up by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat, and is maintained with content from Alexa Internet.[citation needed] The service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time"...
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ABOUT ALAFIA NAMES
This page was retrieved by the Wayback Machine.
From https://web.archive.org/web/20040605182150/http://www.alafianames.com:80/
[2004]
"Welcome to AlafiaNames™!
AlafiaNames ™ is the place to find information and examples on first names and last names used by African Americans.
We also have quizzes to test your knowledge of these subjects!
Use the list on the left to begin your exploration of African American naming practices.
At AlafiaNames™ it's all about the names!
JaVon, Amir, Bebe, Lasana, Tyree
Latoya, Mookie, Chaka, Bey, Ola Mae
Kofi, Rufus, Weezie, Johnson, Aminah
Marquis, Keisha, Ali, Peaches, Otieno
Shayla, Aaliyah, Jones, DonTae, Dre,
Ayodele, Omari, Neicy, Jackson, Debbie
-snip-
Pancocojams Editor's note:
The names that were shown in a box on that Home page were randomly chosen given names, surnames, and nicknames. Most of these names have been used or are still used by Black Americans.
The names were written in different fonts and were given in either in the color red or the color green:
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NAME QUIZZES
Pancocojams Editor's Note: These quizzes were interactive on that AlafiaNames website. However, on this pancocojams blog, the answers to each quiz are given after the last quiz.
From https://web.archive.org/web/20050307051149/http://www.alafianames.com:80/wordquiz.htm
Quiz 001-Nicknames
Instructions: Check the best answer for each question or statement. Click "Submit" to find out your results.
1) "Dre" is usually an African American nickname for
a) David
b) Andre
c) Dread Locks
d) Dante
2) "Weezy" is usually an African American nickname for
a) William
b) Louis
c) Louise
d) Weasel
3) "Neicy" is usually an African American nickname for
a) Denise
b) Nancy
c) New York
d) Cecilia
4) "Sukey" is an American nickname for the female name
a) Samantha
b) Sarah
c) Samuel
d) Susan
5) "Shug" is an African American nickname that means
a) Sugar
b) Shucking and Jiving
c) A hard working man
d) Sharon
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From https://web.archive.org/web/20040407185508/http://www.alafianames.com:80/wordquiz2.htm
Quiz 002-Meanings
Instructions: Check the best answer for each question or statement. Click "Submit" to find out your results.
1) "Imani" is a Kiswahili female name that means
a) Kwanzaa
b) Christmas
c) Faith
d) Unity
2) "Sean" is an Irish male name that means
a) God hears us
b) God is giving
c) Don't stop
d) The singer
3) "Aliyah" is an Arabic female name that means
a) loveable
b) queen
c) the highest; sublime
d) gentle
4) "Jamal" is an Arabic male name that means
a) king
b) handsome
c) treasure
d) John
5) "Kofi" is an Akan (West African) male name that means
a) male born during the cold weather
b) the wise one
c) the warrior
d) male born on Friday
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From https://web.archive.org/web/20040407190031/http://www.alafianames.com:80/wordquiz3.htm
Quiz 003-Arabic & Kiswahili Names
Instructions: Check the best answer for each question or statement. Click Submit to find out your results.
1) "Amir" is an Arabic male name that means
a) a mirror
b) king
c) wise one
d) all may know
2) "Aisha" and "Maisha" are Arabic & Kiswahili female names that mean
a) sister
b) life
c) wealth
d) happiness
3) "Nia" is a Kiswahili word that is used as a female name in the United States. "Nia" means
a) never alone
b) beautiful one
c) purpose
d) prayer
4) "Rafiq" is an Arabic male name that means
a) minister
b) sailor
c) honor and wealth
d) friend
5) "Abdul" is an Arabic male name that means
a) God is in this house
b) don't be afraid
c) servant (of God)
d) male born on Tuesday
6) "Dalila" is a Kiswahili female name that means
a) strong
b) tempting
c) flower
d) gentle
7) "Jelani" is a Kiswahili male name that means
a) powerful
b) wisdom
c) kindness
d) sincere
8) "Zuri" is a Kiswahili name that means
a) happiness
b) zoo
c) beautiful/handsome
d) freedom
9) "Khalid" is an Arabic male name that means
a) eternal
b) the lid
c) heavenly
d) the warrior
10) "Taj" is an Arabic male name that means
a) the wanderer
b) the eyes
c) the heart
d) the crown
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From https://web.archive.org/web/20040407191432/http://www.alafianames.com:80/wordquiz4.htm
Quiz 004-Origin
Instructions: Check the best answer for each question or statement. Click Submit to find out your results.
1) "Richard" is a male name that comes from which language?
a) German
b) French
c) Chinese
d) Arabic
2) "Elizabeth" is a female name that comes from which language?
a) Portuguese
b) Italian
c) Spanish
d) Hebrew
3) "Estelle" is a female name that comes from which language?
a) Creole
b) French
c) Latin
d) Russian
4) "Miguel" is a male name that comes from which language?
a) Spanish
b) French
c) Ibo
d) Luo
5) "Eric" is a male name that comes from which language?
a) Portuguese
b) Norse
c) English
d) Xhosa
6)"Helen" is a female name that comes from which language?
a) German
b) Spanish
c) Irish
d) Greek
7) "Jumoke" is a female name that comes from which language?
a) Ibo
b) Welsh
c) Japanese
d) Yoruba
8) "Imani" is a female name that comes from which language?
a) Celtic
b) Kiswahili
c) Egyptian
d) Zulu
9) "Kwame" is a male name that comes from which language?
a German
b) Spanish
c) Akan
d) Greek
10) "Chaka" is a male name that comes from which language?
a) Greek
b) Welsh
c) Zulu
d) Egyptian
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Quiz 005: Forms of Names
From https://web.archive.org/web/20040407191648/http://www.alafianames.com:80/wordquiz5.htm
Instructions: Check the best answer for each question or statement. Click "Submit" to find out your results.
1) "DeAndre", "Ondray" and Aundray" are all African American forms of this Greek name
a) Andrew
b) Andre
c) Alexander
d) Anthony
2) "Miguel" is a Spanish form of this Hebrew name
a) Enrique
b) Joshua
c) David
d) Michael
3) "Amiri" is a Kiswahili form of this Arabic name
a) Amin
b) Anwar
c) Amir
d) Abdul
4) "Isha", "Ashia", and "Ayisha" are all forms of this Arabic & Kiswahili name
a) Imani
b) Hasina
c) Zuri
d) Aisha
5) "Myra" is a form of this Arabic name
a) Ellen
b) Marion
c) Elmira
d) Maltida
6 "Lisa", "Bettina" and "Isabel" are all forms of this Hebrew name
a) Betty
b) Eleanor
c) Linda
d) Elizabeth
7) "Sean" is an Irish form of the Hebrew name
a) Samuel
b) John
c) David
d) Michael
8) "Mamie", "Marlo", and "Marion" are forms of this Hebrew name
a) Marianne
b) Margaret
c) Mary
d) Martha
9) "Yusef" is an Arabic form of the Hebrew name
a) Jehovah
b) Joseph
c) Kwame
d) Juan
10) "Ahmad", "Ahmed" and "Hamid" are forms of the Arabic name
a) Abdul
b) Muhammed
c) Andrew
d) Hasan
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ANSWERS:
Quiz 001
1) b
2. c
3. a
4. d
5. a
Quiz 002
1. c
2. b
3. c
4. b
5. d
Quiz 003
1. b
2. b
3. c
4. d
5. c
6. d
7. a
8. c
9. a
10. d
Quiz 004
1. a
(Note: The 2004 Quiz incorrectly had "English" for this option.)
2. d
3. either b or c
(Note in the 2004 Quiz I incorrectly indicated that c was the only right answer).
4. a
5. b
6. d
7. d
8. b
9. c
10. c
Quiz 005
1. b
2. d
3. c
4. d
5. c
6. d
7. b
8. c
9. b
10.b
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Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
For Quiz 004 that is found above, I chose personal names from European languages to point out how people in the United States-including Black people- are much more familiar with European language names than traditional African names and Arabic names.
ReplyDeleteI remember that my plan was to feature another quiz on that website about the names of capitols around the world as another way of demonstrating how Americans (including me) are much more familiar with the names of European capitols than African capitols.
I chose the name "Alafia Cultural Services" for my no longer active non-profit cultural organization. I also used the name "Alafia Children's Ensemble" for the game song division of that organization and I chose "AlafiaNames" for my name origins and meanings website.
ReplyDelete"Alafia" is pronounced ah LAH fee- ah.
I chose the name "Alafia" for my organization name because that word was used by some afrocentric people in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (including me) as a greeting word that meant "Peace". As such for the non-Muslims that I "hung with", "Alafia" took the place of the Arabic greeting "A Salaam Alaikum" or its shortened form "Salaam".
Furthermore, there was a small African shop near downtown Pittsburgh in the late 1990s whose name was "Alafia". When I asked the Nigerian (Yoruba) owner of that shop what "Alafia" meant, she said "peace". However, I have since learned that the word "alafia" came to the Yoruba language by way of the Hausa language which originally got that word from Arabic. The Arabic meaning for "alafia" is something like "grace", "mercy", good health" etc.
Here's an excerpt about the Arabic origin of the word "alafia" from https://www.abibitumikasa.com/forums/showthread.php/35439-ALAAFIA-IS-NOT-AN-AFRIKAN-WORD-Nor-Does-It-Mean-Peace
ALAAFIA IS NOT AN AFRIKAN WORD Nor Does It Mean "Peace" by Awotunde, 4-12-2007
"As we move forward towards cultural restoration and reconstitution we must be aware of many of the bumps on the road the we ourselves create for ourselves. Part of this is our misuse of language in Afrikan tradition. Many if not most people in the tradition use the word “alaafia” or “alafia” as some form of greeting to one another. This is problematic for several reasons.
This will not be a long discourse so let’s get right to the point. The word alaafia is not an Yoruba or Afrikan word at all. Period. Let’s look at the root.
alafia: grace; pardon; mercy; health. From Andalusian Arabic al afya ultimately from “Classical” Arabic afiyah "health”...
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Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/02/excerpts-from-online-articles.html for more article excerpts and comments about the word "alafia".