Always Shining Wisdom

Week Forty – four: Sunday 29 July – Saturday 4 August

What's in a name? More than most people think, I imagine. Certainly it was important to me to know that the name my Zimbabwean wife wanted for our daughter, Kumali, had a meaning to it that was translatable into English. Kumalo was the family name of the reputed first king of Zimbabwe, from the Ndebele tribe, an off shoot of the Zulu. By changing the 'o' to an 'i' Toni created a lovely girl's name, and one that held its meaning: 'spirit protector'.

Recently we met a Japanese woman who explained how all Japanese names are broken down by there syllables, each syllable an actual word. The lady who told us this is called Amiko, Am-ik-o: Am = pretty, ik = little, and o= girl. So Amiko translates literally as 'pretty-little-girl'. That's a lovely name we told her; no it's not, she replied, as lots of baby girls in Japan are named Amiko!

Ku-ma-li she told us literally translates as 'always-shining-wisdom'. Now that's cool. If we are what we believe, and Kumali believes she is Kumali, then she is not only a spirit protector, but always shining wisdom as well.

That is more than enough for any father ... but, I can't help wondering what her name translates as in other languages?