hingoa tonga

Your average baby names book would be useless to most Tongans. Very few of the hingoa (names) I have encountered here in Tonga would be included.

In Australia, unless you were calling somebody about repairing their toilet or car, are their grandmother or just have a penchant for the word you are unlikely to call somebody "Love". I am now of the above, but, in Tonga, I do this all the time. 'Ofa (Love) is a common name and, surprisingly, more common for guys it seems. So next time you feel the urge to call a guy over 180 cm tall and weighing in at more than a hundred kilograms "Love" without risk or serious injury, come to Tonga. You are sure to meet at least one 'Ofa who answers to that description and that name.

Another name that I recently encountered is Fale (House). Perhaps his parents wanted to raise a solid, dependable child and thought nominative determinism was the way to go. Either that or they were following the example of David and Victoria Beckham who named their first child, Brooklyn, after where he was conceived.

If you accept the nominative determinism explanation and his parents had been more pious, then they may have named him Lotu (church).

The parents of one of Jess’ colleagues obviously wanted her to be academically gifted and named her Sele Pesine (100 per cent). Either that, or they were ecstatic when they counted the full compliment of fingers and toes and discovered she was all there.

The most common names in Tonga are Tonganised versions of biblical names. "Tonganised?" I hear you ask. Those of you who have read the language lessons in earlier posts will know that all Tongan words end in a vowel. So my name, Sam, becomes Semi in Tongan (don't ask me why the "a" becomes an "e"). Also, the Tongan alphabet is only 17 letters long and excludes C, D, G, J, Q, W, X, Y and Z.

Displaying the same ingenuity that you can find on display in the birth notices of the Herald Sun/Daily Telegraph, Tongans have overcome this paucity of consonants and displayed real ingenuity to exhibit their faith.

For example, Isaac becomes Aisake – this is the name of the Secretary of Finance. Joshua becomes Siosiua – the name of the Minister for Finance. John is Sione, Peter is Pita, Moses is Mosese, Gabriel is Kelepi and so on.