The Meaning Of The Name...RaKhem
“The meaning of the name [RaKhem]? Well I'll tell ya
It means I find my mind can excel to
A greater type of thought, brought by the things that I've been taught
In relation to things that I rebel
To divine and combine with a sense of confidence
Accomplishments, are achieved off lots of gifts
But sloppiness, I could never tolerate it…”
-GURU of Gangstarr, “The Meaning of the Name,” Step into the Arena, 1991.
Many have asked us why we named our son RaKhem Ajani. In an age where names often have no meaning and are used to exclude people of color from jobs, schools, or even from purchasing real estate, why name your child something “ethnic?” Why constrict him to be viewed as strange or different from others for the rest of his life? Why didn’t you just name him John? I’d like to clear up why we named him the way we did. Frankly, we WANT him to be different from others. We want him to know that his parents believed that the very act of naming was such a sacred thing that we felt his name should say something about him and his place in the world.
Des and I believe that names have meaning, and that that meaning influences how a person navigates the world and we wanted to give Ra a name that would help him always know who he is. With that in mind, we waited several days to name him to make sure that our assessments of his personality in the womb were accurate—and they were. Ra was a born fighter whose desire to be here was like a bolt of lightning. So we only thought it fitting that he be named accordingly.
Starting with his middle name, Ajani, a Nigerian name that means “He who fights for what is his” or “He who wins the struggle” also means “of noble birth” in Sanskrit. Desiree carefully chose this name because of how he fought to be here, overcoming all of the obstacles that cost us two other pregnancies. And thankfully, he “won the struggle” after all.
In casual conversation, the spelling of his named is assumed to be the same as the famous rapper “Rakim” (from the Hip-Hop group Eric B. & Rakim), so people assume that we blindly named him after an artist we liked, but this is not the case. RaKhem’s name is “RaKhem Ajani,” which means a variety of things that both overlap and compliment each other. In Kemetic (Egyptian) lore, the sun god “Ra” is the descendant of Ptah, the god who “birthed” himself (or decided to exist) out of the Nun, the place of “blackness” –or Khem–where all ideas, principles, and concepts lie un-manifest. Thus, in Kemetic script, RaKhem is the “the divine light born of infinite possibility.” In other words, he chose to be what he is out of all of the possibilities available to him. In this sense, since Kemetic culture is the progenitor of the Hebraic Christian mythos, RaKhem also means “Christ-child.” In the following Aramaic passage from the Peshitta, RaKHeM is the word used for love, a verb meaning mercy, compassion, or love, depending on usage. In a dialogue between Simon Peter (Shimon) and Jesus (Yeshua), RaKHeM is translated "love." Thus, between the Kemetic and the Christian Aramaic, RaKhem, “Christ-child,” is fittingly synonymous with love, mercy, and compassion.
Lastly, the rapper Rakim’s name IS a part of my son’s name-meaning. Rakim was to Hip-Hop what Miles Davis and John Coltrane were to jazz. He innovated the art form and demonstrated a level of mastery that is still heralded to this day in Hip-Hop culture. Thus, in contemporary society, I chose him because although his name is a product of the Nation of Gods and Earths’ (Five Percenters) teachings, it has come to mean “mastery” in Hip-Hop culture. In an interview, Rakim comments on how he came to his name,
“RA means sun god. KIM was another word for Egypt. KMT. Sun god, land of the burnt faced people and KMT. Know what I mean? For some reason when I was going through the names and I didn't even know the meaning of the name, god. And I was like yo, I always wanted to be original. Rakim, I said, I never heard of no one with the name Rakim. So I said alright, this is me right here, know what I mean, and everything fell together because…[the] mathematics adds up at all times and it completes itself.” (Rakim interview- http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:UbnjWy_8Hp4J:www.allahteam.info/rakim_interview.htm+Rakim%2Bmeaning+of+the+name&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us)
Interesting how all things connect huh? Rakim chose his own name (or birthed himself). Anyway, my son’s name has meanings that intersect the ancient, the philosophical, the mythological, the contemporary, the revolutionary, and the spiritual. I wanted his name to connect the African with the African American experience simultaneously because his generation will have to maintain the balance between the past and the future. All in all, I hope his name will help him stay on his path to mastery—whatever that may mean for him.
Until next time...
peace&luv,
hasan
It means I find my mind can excel to
A greater type of thought, brought by the things that I've been taught
In relation to things that I rebel
To divine and combine with a sense of confidence
Accomplishments, are achieved off lots of gifts
But sloppiness, I could never tolerate it…”
-GURU of Gangstarr, “The Meaning of the Name,” Step into the Arena, 1991.
Many have asked us why we named our son RaKhem Ajani. In an age where names often have no meaning and are used to exclude people of color from jobs, schools, or even from purchasing real estate, why name your child something “ethnic?” Why constrict him to be viewed as strange or different from others for the rest of his life? Why didn’t you just name him John? I’d like to clear up why we named him the way we did. Frankly, we WANT him to be different from others. We want him to know that his parents believed that the very act of naming was such a sacred thing that we felt his name should say something about him and his place in the world.
Des and I believe that names have meaning, and that that meaning influences how a person navigates the world and we wanted to give Ra a name that would help him always know who he is. With that in mind, we waited several days to name him to make sure that our assessments of his personality in the womb were accurate—and they were. Ra was a born fighter whose desire to be here was like a bolt of lightning. So we only thought it fitting that he be named accordingly.
Starting with his middle name, Ajani, a Nigerian name that means “He who fights for what is his” or “He who wins the struggle” also means “of noble birth” in Sanskrit. Desiree carefully chose this name because of how he fought to be here, overcoming all of the obstacles that cost us two other pregnancies. And thankfully, he “won the struggle” after all.
In casual conversation, the spelling of his named is assumed to be the same as the famous rapper “Rakim” (from the Hip-Hop group Eric B. & Rakim), so people assume that we blindly named him after an artist we liked, but this is not the case. RaKhem’s name is “RaKhem Ajani,” which means a variety of things that both overlap and compliment each other. In Kemetic (Egyptian) lore, the sun god “Ra” is the descendant of Ptah, the god who “birthed” himself (or decided to exist) out of the Nun, the place of “blackness” –or Khem–where all ideas, principles, and concepts lie un-manifest. Thus, in Kemetic script, RaKhem is the “the divine light born of infinite possibility.” In other words, he chose to be what he is out of all of the possibilities available to him. In this sense, since Kemetic culture is the progenitor of the Hebraic Christian mythos, RaKhem also means “Christ-child.” In the following Aramaic passage from the Peshitta, RaKHeM is the word used for love, a verb meaning mercy, compassion, or love, depending on usage. In a dialogue between Simon Peter (Shimon) and Jesus (Yeshua), RaKHeM is translated "love." Thus, between the Kemetic and the Christian Aramaic, RaKhem, “Christ-child,” is fittingly synonymous with love, mercy, and compassion.
Lastly, the rapper Rakim’s name IS a part of my son’s name-meaning. Rakim was to Hip-Hop what Miles Davis and John Coltrane were to jazz. He innovated the art form and demonstrated a level of mastery that is still heralded to this day in Hip-Hop culture. Thus, in contemporary society, I chose him because although his name is a product of the Nation of Gods and Earths’ (Five Percenters) teachings, it has come to mean “mastery” in Hip-Hop culture. In an interview, Rakim comments on how he came to his name,
“RA means sun god. KIM was another word for Egypt. KMT. Sun god, land of the burnt faced people and KMT. Know what I mean? For some reason when I was going through the names and I didn't even know the meaning of the name, god. And I was like yo, I always wanted to be original. Rakim, I said, I never heard of no one with the name Rakim. So I said alright, this is me right here, know what I mean, and everything fell together because…[the] mathematics adds up at all times and it completes itself.” (Rakim interview- http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:UbnjWy_8Hp4J:www.allahteam.info/rakim_interview.htm+Rakim%2Bmeaning+of+the+name&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us)
Interesting how all things connect huh? Rakim chose his own name (or birthed himself). Anyway, my son’s name has meanings that intersect the ancient, the philosophical, the mythological, the contemporary, the revolutionary, and the spiritual. I wanted his name to connect the African with the African American experience simultaneously because his generation will have to maintain the balance between the past and the future. All in all, I hope his name will help him stay on his path to mastery—whatever that may mean for him.
Until next time...
peace&luv,
hasan
posted by des at 1/18/2008 06:23:00 PM
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