Name Order
West Africans often place their surnames before given names. (This can also be true elsewhere, e.g. in Rwanda – in Kinyarwanda as well as French publications.)
In Côte d’Ivoire, at least, name order is sometimes given with surname in between a given name and a baptismal name. Often the surname is given (helpfully) all upper-case, though sometimes even that varies within the same publication. Be alert and look for variant versions or other clues in the source (e.g. relatives in a dedication, usage in a foreword, credit after an introduction, or in bibliographic citations) or elsewhere, in order to decide how to establish the name. Name order style among various authors within a single compilation may vary, depending on the individual author’s preferred usage.
Akan peoples (e.g. Ashanti, Twi, Baule peoples of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire) use ‘day names’ indicating the day of the week they were born. Examples are Kwasi/Kwesi, Yao, Koffi/Kofi, Kwadwo/Kouadio (male) and Akua, Afia, Amma (female). But some of these are also used as surnames; Koffi is a common family name.
Nigerian given names (e.g. Yoruba, Igbo) often have a short version of the fuller name. Keep this in mind when checking to see whether the name has already been established, and when checking against OCLC access points. Sometimes the shortened version is indicated by a preceding apostrophe.
Examples:
-
Ikechukwu / Ike
-
Oluremi / Remi
-
Olusola / ‘Sola
Ethiopian and Eritrean names lack a surname used from generation to generation; for men, their second name is the first name of their father. These names should be established in direct order (first indicator 0 rather than 1), unless the person has lived elsewhere for some time and shows usage to the contrary, e.g. in bibliographic citations.
Here is a description of Ethiopian names and usage:
Mesfin Tadesse. Standardization of Ethiopian names in the scientific literature. Ethiopian e-Journal for Research and Innovation Foresight (Ee-JRIF), v. 2, no. 1 (2010).
http://www.nesglobal.org/eejrif4/index.php?journal=admin&page=article&op=viewArticle&path%5B%5D=40
​
Central African names (Congolese etc.) did not traditionally include a surname. That has been changing over the past few decades, but still should not automatically be assumed. These names are often established in direct order, with first indicator 0 rather than 1. There are often variant forms of the name as well. Usage should be investigated.
​
​
​