The Iteso, (people of Teso) are an ethnic group in Eastern Uganda and western Kenya. The name Teso refers to the traditional homeland of the Iteso while Ateso is their language.
The Iteso in Kenya, approximately 578,000, live mainly in Busia County.
The Kenyan Teso people are an extension of their Ugandan counterparts that were separated by the partition of East Africa during the historic scramble and partition of Africa
They are among the Plain Nilotic groups closely related to the Turkana, Karamojong, Toposa and the Maa groups of the Maasai and Samburu.
There was no particular procedure for naming children amongst the Teso community. A child could be named according to the circumstances in which it was born or the particular conditions which were experienced by the mother during labor or pregnancy.
A child could also be named according to the season to reflect instances like famine ‘Ateng’ee, or Oteng’ee’, harvest, drought or rain ‘Okiru or Akiru.’
It could also be named according to the particular day of the week or the time at which it was born; in the morning, during the day or at night.
Finally, it was common for a child to be named after an ancestor as a sign of commemorating him or her.
Naming also reflected the struggle to have a family. When a number of children have died in early infancy a new born will be given a name that is obnoxious. Such names could be ‘Olupot or Alupot’ which means dirt and ‘Okurut or Akurut’ which means germ.
There were certain protocols when it comes to giving a child a name. A first son will take the name of his father’s father, while the first daughter will take the name of the father’s mother.
All twins must be called ‘Opio or Apio’ if a girl and ‘Ocen or Acen’. If the mother bears another set of twins these should be named ‘Odongo or Adongo’.
If only one child follows on from twins then it must be named ‘Okello or Akello’. Male names in Teso invariably begin with O or E and female names with A.
The Iteso have a a special way of doing the naming, sometimes the Iteso leave the child to choose its name in a special ceremony.
This is done by an old grandmother from the father’s side who will involve the mother of the child plus a few family members.
The Grandmother from the fathers side strictly performs the ceremony as they believe that a child belongs to the father’s clan.
The ritual is performed after three days where Ajono ‘liquor’or bukusu refer to it as ‘busaa’ is put in a tin then the grandmother dips her finger in the liquor and starts calling the available names that will see it suck, if the child does not suck it means the names are rejected and they will be tasked to look for more names then perform a similar ritual.
According to Carren Anyah papai who is an Iteso, Anyah means born in ‘Enyait’ grass. Etyang means born during a season of hawks, Kapule means having a bigger navel. This did not mean that the child had it, but just because the child suck the Ajono.