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A couple in Brazil have been told that their newborn daughter’s name was rejected because it’s “too African,” her parents say.
According to the site Black Women of Brazil, 44-year-old Cizinho Afreeka and 27-year-old Jéssica Juliana decided to name their daughter Makeda Foluke.
Makeda is the name that most Ethiopians use when referring to the Queen of Sheba, while Foluke is a Yoruba (Nigerian) name.
When together, the two names literally mean “Grandiose that is at the care of God.”
Although the new parents were already aware that the Brazilian government prefers children to have traditional European names, Afreeka and Juliana had no idea that Makeda’s name would be flat-out rejected as an option.
“It’s not a name phonetically alien to Portuguese, we thought about it,” Afreeka said, according to the site R7.
With so many people from Africa living in Brazil, the couple believes the rejection of their daughter’s name should be considered racism.
“It’s a form of racism that takes place in Brazil: the racism of subtleties,” Afreeka said. “It should be very natural a man and a black woman adopting an African name, as the country is made up of three races. It is difficult to prove. Only those in this skin is knows.”
As of now, the 2nd district of São João de Meriti’s registration office has not approved Makeda’s name, so it is not on her birth certificate.
According to Afreeka, officials from the registration office explained that they believed Makeda’s name would cause her “embarrassment” in the future.
