The Birth and Death registry has blacklisted the use of local names such as Maame, Junior, Nii, Torgbui among others because they are titles.
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Speaking in an interview with Accra-based Citi FM, he said: “In the global civil registration regime, titles are not factored into registration. People’s names are recorded officially so we de-link titles. When you come and want to name your child ‘Junior,’ remember that the child has a different identity.”
In the interview, he explained that his outfit was not trying to discourage the use of indigenous names, but said no one should convert titles and assume they are names.
“We would encourage the use of our indigenous names because we realise that we are losing out on our typical indigenous names,” he said.
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He added: “People come and they want to use Christian and Muslim names. We don’t prescribe names for anyone, but we are saying that no one should convert titles and assume that they are names. These days, people come and say that their child’s name is Maame, but we all know that Maame is used to describe a woman of a certain status.”