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Another important aspect of people’s name still prevalent in the Makgabeng
area is on naming children after their older relatives. When a child is born,
he/she receives the name of one of his/her older relatives which might still
be alive or has already passed away 626 . In a normal family of a married
couple, the first child is named after the father of the husband while the
second child is named after the father of the wife 627 . The third child will then
be named after the husband’s mother while the fourth one will bear the
name of the wife’s mother 628 . The subsequent children will continue to
alternate in taking names of the relatives of both husband and wife 629 . In
this process, children take names of these older relatives irrespective of
their sex. For instance, if a husband’s father was Kgabo, his first child would
still be Kgabo, irrespective of the fact that Kgabo the baby girl, is taking the
name from the male older relative. As a result, most of the names in the
Makgabeng area are found in both sexes. The names Tlou, Kgabo, Phuti
and Kwena, to name just a few, can be taken by both male and female.
There are other names found in the Makgabeng area which have particular
significance. The name Mašilo, for instance, is given to a boy who was born
626 Interview, Binas Ramoroka, Early Dawn village, 10 March 2003.
627 Interview, Moses Ngwepe, Early Dawn village, 18 May 2003.
628 Ibid.
629 Interview, Moses Ngwepe, Early Dawn village, 18 May 2003.
362