I get that question a lot. And then when my response is “I don’t know,” I can see the disappointment on their faces, followed by the judgment of “how come you don’t know?” All the Nigerians silently say, “abomination!” They don’t say it out loud, but our conversation always ends with “you need to find out.” Some people have told me to google it. But Google doesn’t know unless they go to my Bangwa people in Southwest Cameroon and dig up some of my ancestral background, which they haven’t done. Another thing people tell me to do is to ask my parents; I’m sorry to disappoint you but they don’t know either. My grandfather whom I was named after didn’t tell my father. But I guess that would be my grandfather’s parents that you would have to blame for not passing down the meaning. Unfortunately, I don’t have the history of my name except that I was named after my grandfather.

People have told me that my name “Ajab” is Arabic and “Amin” is Muslim. I don’t relate to either, but who knows, maybe a couple of generations prior there was a connection? I can’t tell.

The main reason why I’m talking about names is because I find it interesting that people tend to ask for meanings of names from foreigners or people who have uncommon names. It’s as if because they haven’t heard the name, it has to mean something profound, if not it isn’t worth being a name. Or maybe they are trying to connect the name to something familiar to make it easy for them. Or maybe they are just trying to connect with the other person. I’m sure all the Chelseas and Toms in the U.S. don’t get asked the meanings of their names.

But you know what? Every name doesn’t have a profound meaning and it’s okay, it doesn’t make the person any less special or valuable (but you already knew that). And there doesn’t have to be a judgment just because someone doesn’t know the meaning of their name. It doesn’t mean they care any less about their history or themselves. And you can still connect with them in many other ways in the moment.

You know what would be funny? If the person who asked doesn’t know the meaning of their own name. I mean can you imagine if I keep asking that question to others when I don’t have the answer for myself? Unless part of the purpose would be to find some commonality in not knowing. I mean “misery likes company” right?

Okay, so after all my ranting, I did a google search just because and here is what I found: According to this website, Ajabeyang means “Genius, Wealth, Protector” 

And Ajab in Arabic means “Wonder, Astonishment, Miraculous” 

But I don’t trust them because why should I trust everything on the internet? I’m not sure how they found the meanings especially for Ajabeyang, which they did not pronounce correctly. But if it would appease some people to have an answer, I might just start telling them that my name means “miraculous genius that brings wonder, wealth, and protection.” Sounds good to me!