Renowned Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has revealed the story behind her internationally acclaimed name.
Speaking at a recent student gathering, the Half of a Yellow Sun author shared that although her birth certificate listed her names as Ngozi Grace — with Grace being her mother’s name — she never truly felt a personal connection to them.
Now 47, Adichie said she appreciated the name Ngozi but felt it was too common.
She explained that the name ‘Chimamanda’ came to her as a divine revelation, following an earlier attempt to adopt the English name Amanda.
“I am going to say I love both names, but that’s not actually true. The real reason is that ‘Chimamanda’ is a name that I gave myself. And the story is a little bit long, but maybe I should tell it so that the students can hear it,” she said.
“When I was born, the names that were on my birth certificate were Ngozi Grace. Grace was my mother’s name. As I grew older, I always felt that Grace was my mother, not I. I think Grace is a very beautiful name, but it never felt like my name.
“And so I was Ngozi. As a child, I felt that Ngozi, while also a beautiful name, was very common. I felt that one in two Igbo girls were named Ngozi. And I always felt that I needed something else that felt uniquely mine.
“And so then at my confirmation, I was reading a novel at the time, and the character in the novel was called ‘Amanda’. So I decided that this name was wonderful and I was going to be called Amanda.
“There were a few arguments with the hierarchy of the church concerning such things as that you must have a saint’s name. So I made my case, and I was allowed to have Amanda.”
Chimamanda said when she moved to the United States for school, she realised how often the name Amanda was mispronounced and how common it was.
“… But anyway, so then I was Amanda. And then I went to the United States to school,” she continued.
“And I noticed very quickly that there were many other Americans in my class called Amanda. But the worst part was how they pronounced the name Amanda.”
She said that’s when she decided to reclaim her Igbo heritage while keeping a trace of Amanda.
“And so one day, someone was referring to me, and I didn’t know because they were saying ‘Amanda,’ and I didn’t turn because I didn’t realise it was me,” the author said.
“And I think that it was, but also during that period, I had started to think about identity and what it means to be from where you come from.
“And so I remember sitting in that class in the US and suddenly I thought, this name is not my name. This name belongs to other people. It’s not mine. I’m not Amanda. And that’s when I started thinking about how I could give myself a name that was an Igbo name, that had a real meaning, but also that had to have that word Amanda because that word was already in my passport and my licence and everything.
“And honestly, it came as a revelation. I remember exactly where I was. And that name, Chima Amanda, came to me. And in Igbo, it means my God will never fall down. And so I just really felt that this was the name that I was given. I gave it to myself, but I was also given the name.”
