Many Yoruba people believe that names are so meaningful and powerful that the names children bear can influence their behavior. A child bearing the name of a thief will become a thief, for example. They also believe that the choice of a new name can change the behavior of a child. I had personal experience of this in 1964. There was a child aged four years old in Nigeria who had been given the name of "Sumala" at birth. Although he was so very young, this child would steal anything stealable. His parents had tried everything else to no avail. At last he was brought to me for prayer. At the time, there was a notorious thief in Nigeria who also bore the name "Sumala." When I prayed, God instructed me to change the child's name and that he would stop stealing. I therefore baptized him and gave him the name "David." From that day he stopped stealing. This was a great miracle to the community. From this example one can easily conclude therefore that a name can make or mar a person. It is therefore seriously advisable to give good names to our children.
--Dr. Fred Ogunfiditimi

According to Yoruba scholar Dr. Akinisi, who has written many articles on Yoruba names, tradition calls for children to receive names from their fathers. However, children often receive names from their mothers, their grandparents, or other close kin as well.

Like many other Nigerians from Yoruba families, Dr. Gilbert Ogunfiditimi has more than one given name. At birth, his mother and his father each bestowed their choice of names on him, Olatide and Oladojo as a beloved first son. As Dr. Ogunfiditimi was leaving to come to America to study at Howard University, his uncle gave him the name "Gilbert." His father gave him another English name, "Festus." Besides these four given names, his last name, "Ogunfiditimi," was the given name of his grandfather.

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18 April 1996