What United States Supreme Court Judge Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson's First & Middle Names Mean (according to online name websites)

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest Revision - April 8, 2022: Title change from Nominee to Judge

This pancocojams post presents information about the 2022 United States Supreme Court Judge Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson.

Information about how Ketanji Brown Jackson got her personal name/s is also included in this post.

The Addendum to this post includes information from several online sources about the etymology of the names "Ketanji" and "Onyika" 

The content of this post is presented for etymological and educational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. 
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Congratulations to Ketanji Brown Jackson on her confirmation to the United States Supreme Court (April 7, 2022). https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/ketanji-brown-jackson-senate-confirmation-vote/index.html

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INFORMATION ABOUT KETANJI BROWN JACKSON
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketanji_Brown_Jackson
"Ketanji Brown Jackson (born September 14, 1970)[1] is an American attorney and jurist serving as a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit since 2021.[2]

Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Miami, Florida, Jackson attended Harvard University for college and law school, where she served as an editor on the Harvard Law Review. She began her legal career with three clerkships, including one with U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer. Prior to her elevation to an appellate court and from 2013 to 2021, she served as a district judge on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Jackson was also vice chair of the United States Sentencing Commission from 2010 to 2014. Since 2016, she has been a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers.

On February 25, 2022, President Joe Biden announced that Jackson was his nominee for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, filling the vacancy created upon Breyer's retirement.[3]

Early life and education

Jackson was born Ketanji Onyika Brown on September 14, 1970, in Washington, D.C.  Her parents were both graduates of historically Black colleges and universities.[6][4][7] Her father, Johnny Brown, ultimately became the chief attorney for the Miami-Dade County School Board; her mother, Ellery, served as school principal at New World School of the Arts.[8][9] Jackson grew up in Miami, Florida, and graduated from Miami Palmetto Senior High School in 1988.[5]

[...]

Personal life

In 1996, Jackson married surgeon Patrick G. Jackson, a sixth-generation Harvard graduate, whose family is considered Boston Brahmin.[86] Jackson is descended from delegate to the Continental Congress, Jonathan Jackson, and is related to Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.[87] The couple have two daughters. Patrick Jackson's twin brother is the brother-in-law of Janna Ryan, wife of former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.[88]"...

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INFORMATION ABOUT HOW KETANJI BROWN JACKSON GOT HER PERSONAL NAME/S
From https://www.11alive.com/article/news/nation-world/jackson-traces-law-interest-to-preschool/507-525ee41a-3210-4e84-812b-8bd27ade8b66 Who is Ketanji Brown Jackson? Meet Biden's Supreme Court nominee, author Jessica Gresko and Mark Sherman (Associated Press); Feb. 25, 2022
..."Jackson was born in Washington, D.C., but grew up in Miami. She has said that her parents, Johnny and Ellery Brown, chose her name to express their pride in her family’s African ancestry. They asked an aunt who was in the Peace Corps in Africa at the time to send a list of African girl's names and they picked Ketanji Onyika, which they were told meant “lovely one.”
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This exact same paragraph is found in several other online sources on that date, including https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/biden-to-nominate-judge-ketanji-brown-jackson-to-the-supreme-court and https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/02/25/ketanji-brown-jackson-miami-family-parents/.

The wording of this part of the sentence ..."they picked Ketanji Onyika, which they were told meant “lovely one” implies that the Supreme Court nominee's parents chose "Ketanji Onyika" as a double first name rather than as a first and middle name.    

Common examples of  female "double first names" in the United States are "Mary Ellen" and "Mary Beth."

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Unfortunately, I've not found any information about where in Africa the aunt was when she sent that list of African names. The aunt could have sent a list of female names gleaned from multiple regions of the African continent. However, particularly if she was in East Africa or South Africa, it's possible that East Indian names were also included in that list, as people from India have lived in those regions of Africa for generations. Furthermore, many East Indian names are "spelled like" and "sound like" what African Americans in the 1970s and later thought (and still think) African names look and sound like. 

Read my Editor's Note about African Americans in the 1970s choosing or being given African names. Also, read the Addendums to this post for more information about the etymologies that I've found online for the names "Ketanji" and "Onyika". 

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
Prior to the publication in the United States of books of traditional African names*, and prior to the internet, African Americans only knew a limited number of traditional African names (notwithstanding that some enslaved Black people in the Americas and the Caribbean had forms of African names-such as some Ghanaian day names.)

I remember in the late 1960s and in the early 1970s United States that lists of African names were very hard to come by and very much prized among African Americans who wanted to change their first names and/or wanted to give their children actual names from traditional African languages.

In part because of the Moorish Science Temple and The Nation of Islam, we African Americans knew more Arabic names than names from traditional African languages such as KiSwahili, Yoruba, Igbo, Twi (Akan), Wolof, or Zulu. However, since Arabic had been spoken in the continent of Africa, including West Africa, for centuries, we (I believe correctly) considered Arabic to be a traditional African language.

From my interaction with other afro-centric adults in the 1970s United States and from my subsequent reading, I would say that next to Arabic, KiSwahili names were the ones that were most often given to or chosen by African Americans during the 1970s. In the early 1970s we were excited to find "zeroxed" (photo-copied) lists of "African" names with or without any publication source. These lists usually didn't have any pronunciation codes and the meanings that were ascribed to those names were usually someting positive whether or not those meanings were actually true. 

Futhermore, some African Americans in the 1970s and later have purposely chosen (choose) non-European and non-Hebrew names for our children whether those names came (come) from traditional African languages or not. Usually, how those names look/ed and sound/ed were (are) much more important than what those names actually meant (mean). And we might have unbeknowingly pronounce/d those names differently than they were/are pronounced in Africa or elsewhere.

That said, African Americans who choose African names for ourselves and for our children want names with positive meanings. There are lots of traditional African, Arabic, and other non-Euopean/non-Hebrew names that actually have positive meanings. However, some African Americans have purposely "make up" positive meanings for names from traditional African languages, and from Arabic, and from other non-European and non-Hebrew languages, using their creativity and their self-determination.  

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-i-got-my-african-name.html for a closely 2011 related pancocojams post entitled "How I Got My African Name."

*Three relatively early publications of paperback books of African names with their meanings are "The Book Of African Names" As Told By Chief Osuntoki (originally published by Drum & Spear Pres, 1977, republished by Black Classic Press, 1991), "Golden Names for an African people: African & Arabic Names" by Nia Damali (Blackwood Press, 1986), and "The Book of African Names" by Molefi Kete Asante (African World Press, 1991).

The names "Ketanji" and "Oyinka" aren't found in any of these books under female names or male names or unisex names. 

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ADDENDUM #1 - ORIGIN AND MEANING FOR THE NAME "KETANJI"
From http://www.indiachildnames.com/originof.aspx?name=Ketanji

"Name  Ketanji  generally means Home or Pure Gold or Mark or Sign or Dwelling,  is of  Indian  origin,  Name  Ketanji  is a  Unisex  name, which means both Boy and Girl can have this name”…
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I found this meaning in several online websites for baby names.

Since there were/are people of East Indian descent in East Africa, it's possible that  East Indian names were included in the list of "African names" that the aunt in the Peace Corps in Africa sent Ketanji Brown Jackson's parents.

Alternatively, (based on my informal internet searching), it appears that "Kitanji" is a KiSwahil surname (last name). I don't know what that name means.  I wonder if the name "Ketanji" could be a form of that Swahili name (meaning that the name "Kitanji" could have been on that list of African names that was sent to Ketanji Brown Jackson's parents and they changed the spelling of that name to "Ketanji".   

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ADDENDUM #2- THE ORIGINS AND MEANINGS OF THE NAME "ONYIKA"
"Onyika" is a form of the name "Onyeka". "Onika" is another form of this name. 

Here's information about the name "Onyeka" from several online sources (given in no particular order)

Source #1
From https://www.name-doctor.com/name-onyeka-meaning-of-onyeka-18892.html
"Onyeka

Diminutive of: Onyekachi

Languge Family: Afro-Asiatic

Origin: African (Igbo)

Name Root: Ukwu Chukwu

Meaning:

This name derives from the African (Igbo) "Ukwu Chukwu", meaning "Who is greater than God?". In the traditional Igbo spiritual belief system and Igbo mythology, Chukwu is the infinitely powerful, undefinable, Supreme Deity encompassing everything in space and space itself."
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All of these words were written with upper case letters. I changed this lettering for aesthetic purposes.

The saying "Who is greater than God" in the Igbo (Nigeria, West Africa) language means "No one is greater than God".
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Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/01/igbos-comments-about-names-beginning.html for a 2018 pancocojams post entitled "Nigerian Igbos' Comments About Names Beginning With "Chi" & Comments About The Frequent Use Of "Chi" In Igbo Names".

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Source #1
From https://www.meaningofthename.com/onyeka
"onyeka- God is the greatest, awn-YEH-kah,

Meaning: God is the greatest

Origin: African

Gender: Boy, Girl

Pronunciation: awn-YEH-kah

Info:

Onyeka is a diminutive of Onyekachi. Onyekachi originates in African languages and means "God is the greatest". It can be used as both feminine and masculine given names and it functions as a surname as well. In the United States it is rather rare."
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Here's information about the "chi" ending in the name "Onyekachi":
From https://www.pulse.ng/lifestyle/food-travel/african-gods-the-importance-of-the-chi-in-igbo-culture/qhdefws African gods: The importance of the 'Chi' in Igbo culture by Temi Iwalaiye,  July 21, 2021
"Chukwu can be translated as 'The Great Chi'. The Chi is a part of Chukwu that resides in human beings.

Chi is a person’s spirit. It is a personal life force or, a person's providence, or a portioned-out life principle.

Chukwu created the world, then he put the creative spirit in the man known as his Chi to decide the course of his life."...
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"Onyika" and "Onika" are variant forms of the name "Onyeka" in the United States, in Trinidad, and probably in other nations. I've heard "Onika" pronounced as "oh-KNEE-kah".

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Source #3
From https://babynames.com/name/onika
"What is the meaning of the name Onika?

The name Onika is primarily a female name of African - Igbo/West Africa origin that means Who Is Greater Than God?."

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