While getting my morning dose of the “bird app” which you all know as Twitter, I stumbled on two names that immediately won my heart. I know you don’t know me that well, so I’ll give you a little background story.
On the 16th day of December 2021, I got married to my best friend. It’s been nine months of adventures, arguments and pure bliss. I can tell you that I am a much better and wiser man than I was nine months ago.
During our relationship phase and after getting married, one topic that often comes up is “what names are we going to give our kids?” Whenever she brings this up, I always don’t know how to tell her I have yet to settle for anyone. There are so many beautiful names in my native language and across diverse cultures all over the world. The only problem is that I have not been paying that much attention.
I’ve always known I’d one day have kids of my own. I’ve just never bothered much about what they will be called. Please don’t crucify me. Sometimes, I just deliberately let matters rest until I am mentally ready to deal with them. That has always worked for me. Now that I am married, the time has come.
Consciously and unconsciously, I have been searching. Together with my wife, we have shortlisted a long list of names and it’s still piling up. They are all lovely names in their own right, but I’m not just “feeling” any of them yet. I don’t even check the list that often. Please don’t tell my wife.
Then without even deliberately searching, I found the names I’d been looking for. How did this happen?
A female British news anchor at CNN recently interviewed one of Nigeria’s presidential hopefuls, Peter Obi, and as expected, it sparked a lot of reactions from the opposition. In the middle of all the Twitter chatter, the name of the news anchor was the only thing that jumped out at me. It literally hit me in the face. She has a combination of names that I found so desirable that I almost leapt out of my seat when I saw it.
Her name? Zain Asher. Asher was born to Nigerian parents in London but grew up in West Norwood, South London. The only thing that gives her off as a Nigerian is her middle name, Ejiofor. But her first and last names are the ones that really got my attention.
Zain and Asher. Oh, my ovaries. Sorry, my wife’s ovaries. 😍🥰
It’s just a beautiful coincidence that I would find two names that I like at once, especially because we plan to have just two kids. My excitement and love for the two names were even more justified after I did a quick Google search to find out what they mean.
Zain is a name of Arabic origin. It translates to “beauty” and “grace”.
Asher on the other hand is of Hebrew origin and means “fortunate, blessed, happy one.
Do you see? Such lovely names with deep meanings. The world could use some extra beauty and happiness, and my offspring are coming with an unlimited supply. Una go choke, haha!
That’s one hurdle crossed. The next step is selling these two names to my beloveth wife. Knowing fully well that she already has some favourites from our name pool, it will be a hard sell. But I think I’m a good salesman, so I think I can pull it off.
For now, I can’t confidently say that the search for baby names is over for me, but the end is in sight. Please wish me luck.
Meanwhile, I’m still open to name suggestions from any part of the world. So if you come across this post and have a name in mind, don’t hesitate to drop it in the comment section. I will be happy to see another name challenge Zain and Asher.
