My Name - Soukeyna Niang

 

House of Paradise

A name is usually something that represents a person by their personality or behavior. People may think about changing their name or adding something to it because they do not like it. Should we be proud of our name or hate it?

I like my name Soukeyna because it is an Arabic and Muslim name. I got it from my father who named me after his older sister. She was the one who was taking care of him when he was a child because their mom could not take care of his siblings. My aunt, who is the first child, had to be a mother for all of her nine siblings. He never forgot that and wanted to thank her by giving her name to his child. In Islam, only a father has the responsibility to name a child unless the mother asks permission. Also, in my country, Senegal, the oldest assume that if someone named a child after somebody, the child will take or have at least eight personalities of that person. Most of the time, it is true. Maybe it is because we believe that. I have never met my father’s sister, she passed away three years before I was born. Apparently, she was a sweet and kind person, and my grandmother used to tell me I like to sing when I do the dishes just like her. My name means well-being and house of paradise. For this reason, I share this name with another cousin in my family, same name and last name. I also have a name on my mother’s side, but it is not on my papers because it is just cultural. The name is Majha and means "chance" in my mother’s language, bambara.

I would never change my name because I am proud of it even though I did not have the opportunity to meet my namesake. It may be very difficult for some people to pronounce it, but it is always a pleasure to help and say the meaning of my name. I am more than happy to share it with others.