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ORÚKỌ, ORÍIKÌ AND ORÍLẸ̀ : THE UNIQUE GENIUS OF THE YORUBAS

IN HUMAN NOMENCLATURE

Just recently, I was discussing with an adult Yoruba man and I

asked him what is the Orílẹ̀ of his family so that I could tell him
where his family originated from. But surprisingly, not only that he
did not know his family’s Orílẹ̀ but it would seem he has not even
heard the word Orílẹ̀ before. When I asked him what is Oríkì is, it
took him about five minutes before he could remember.

This would have been understandable if he had been a man born of a

Yoruba father and a Briton or American mother who has never been
in Yoruba-land in his life. But this is a man born of two Yoruba
parents, and who has lived all his life in Ibadan.
It is this that then prompted me to put down these few words as a
matter of urgency so that the heritage of our ancestors would not
die out.
If this present trend continues, I wonder if in the next 50 years any
Yoruba person would know what an Oríkì is, not to talk of what an
Orílẹ̀ is.

Where I grew up, we have a saying which goes as follows:-

Àìríse ní í mú onílù lọ sí Gaa, se Fulani lórúkọ ni, abi o lóríkì which
when translated goes as follows:
It is lack that makes a drummer praise-singer to go to Gaa ( a place
where Fulanis live), does a Fulani have a name (that can be praised)
or an Oríkì (that can be recited).
We also have a saying which goes thus:
Èmi o ni ki Gambari má sun rárà, kó sá ti mà kì’ran àn mi which
when translated goes as follows:
I do not forbid a Hausa praise singer to sing praises, so long as he
does not sing the praises of my family.

I included these sayings not in order to promote or assert the racial

superiority of the Yorubas above other nationalities in Nigeria, but to
show forth the fact that the Yorubas are aware that they themselves
are the only race in the world which has a name (Orúkọ), an Oríkì ( a
cognomen) and an Orílẹ̀ ( a totem).
No other tribe or race in the entire world has this three-fold
nomenclature, and it is something that is worth preserving by us as
it is one of the things that make us unique and set us apart.

In fact if the Yoruba system of nomenclature had been a tangible

object it would have been something that the UNESCO. would have
preserved as a World Heritage because it is the only one of its kind
in the whole wide world.

Now ask the person next to you, if he is a Yoruba person, "Do you
know your name, your Oríkì and your Orílẹ̀ ". If he knows the three
give him ten over ten; if he knows only the first two give him four
over ten; but if he knows only his name give him zero.

In ancient times, the Yorubas did not use to bear their father’s name
or grandfather’s name as their surname as is the case now.
Each individual was known by their personal name (the Orúkọ) his
cognomen (the Oríkì) and his totem (the Orílẹ̀ )
The current system that is now prevalent of an individual being
recognised by his name and his surname came into Yorubaland
through our adoption of the British System of nomenclature when
being registered for school.
Up till now if you meet a pure Yoruba of the “un-educated” type and
ask him his name, what he will tell you is his personal name and
Oríkì. It is only if you press him for his surname that he would now
tell you his father’s name.

Now to our matter; Orúkọ is the personal name of a Yoruba person

his Oríkì is his attributive or cognomen, while his Orílẹ̀ is the totem
of his family.
For an illustration, under the Yoruba System of nomenclature, the
full names for the purpose of identification of the writer of this
article will be Ayodele Àjàó Ìjí.

Ayodele being my personal name (Orúkọ), Ajao being my cognomen

(Oríkì) and Ìjí being the totem of my family on my father’s side.

The Totem, Orílẹ̀ : there are many Orílẹ̀ s in Yorubaland. The Orílẹ̀ s
denote the original family stock from which an individual
descended. It is a means whereby the pedigree of an individual may
be traced. From your Orílẹ̀ you can know where your forefathers
originated from. For an instance I am from Ibadan; my forefathers in
the recent past were from Oyo-Ile; they vacated Oyo-Ile and came to
Ibadan when Oyo-Ile was deserted for fear of invasion by the
Fulanis. However from our totem Ìjí, I understood (though no one
ever told me the story) that we were descended from the Onigbeti,
which shows that originally we were from Igbeti. This is because Ìjí
is the totem of the Onigbeti.
Other totems in Yorubaland and some known persons from that
totem are:

Òpó (post) :- This is the totem of a noble Oyo family. This shows that
people having this totem are originally from Oyo-Ile. A popular family
belonging to this family is the family of the Emir of Ilorin family.
Though they are Fulani on their father (Alimi)’s side; the family
adopted the totem of their mother, a Yoruba-woman who though
being Alimi’s second wife produced the first two sons of Alimi, and
her lineage had been producing the Emirs of Ilorin to the exclusion
of the sons of the Fulani wife who was the first wife ever since.

Ìjí:- This is the Totem of the Onígbẹti. People having this Totem are
originally from Igbẹti, the totem being that of the Onigbeti. A popular
family bearing this totem is the family of Adegoke Adelabu
(Penkelemesi) of Oke-Oluokun Area, Ibadan.

Ẹ̀ lọ́ :- This is the totem of the Ẹlẹ́ rìn. People bearing this totem are
originally from Ẹ̀ rìn-Ilé, it being the Totem of the Ẹlẹ́ rìn. The families
of the Ẹlẹ́ rìn of Ẹ̀ rìn-Ilé in Kwara State and the Ẹlẹ́ rìn of Erin-Osun in
Osun State are some of the families bearing this totem.

Àró:- This is the Totem of the Aare Latoosa family of Ibadan who was
the last Aareona Kakanfo of Yorubaland to fight a war. The last two
Aareona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, namely Akintola of Ogbomosho and
Abiola of Abeokuta were merely ceremonial as they were appointed
after the war-era in Yorubaland, even though they also managed one
way or the other to die in battle as is customary for anyone bearing
that title.

Ọ̀ gọ̀ :- This is the Totem of some Ijesha families. People bearing this
totem are originally from Ijeshaland. Prince Sunday Adegeye (King
Sunny Ade) is one popular person I know bearing this totem, so
originally his family must have come from Ijeshaland, even though
he now claims Ondo as his place of origin.

Ògún:- This is the Totem of the family of the Bashorun of Oyo-Ile;

however Alaafin Abiodun Adegoolu whose mother was of the
Bashorun of Oyo family adopted the totem of his mother (the
Bashoruns of Oyo being then in the ascendant during the reign of
Bashorun Gaa) and since then this totem has also been the totem of
all descendants of all Alaafins of Oyo from Alaafin Abiodun Adegoolu
downward. The ruling families of Oyo who are now exclusively of
Alaafin Atiba lineage and the families of the Bashoruns of Oyo are
some of the families bearing this totem. So anyone bearing this
totem is either from Alaafin of Oyo or Bashorun of Oyo families.

Erin:- This is anciently the totem of the old lines of Alaafins before
Alaafin Abiodun Adegoolu. All the families bearing this totem
descended from the old lines of Alafins of Oyo before Alaafin
Abiodun Adegoolu. So anyone bearing this totem is from the old
lines of Alaafin of Oyo.

Okin:- This is the totem of the Olofa of Ofa and the Oloro of Oro both
now in Kwara State. The royal families of Olofa and Oloro are the
popular families bearing this totem. Anyone bearing this totem
descended from either of these two families.

Ade:- This is the totem of the Onikoyi. Anyone bearing this totem is
originally from Ikoyi, one of the principal towns in the Ekun Osi
Province of old Oyo. The status of the family is now greatly reduced
and the family carries on their existence in a town of that name in
Osun State. Anyone bearing the totem is originally from Ikoyi of the
Ekun Osi Province of old Oyo and I believe though I am not sure that
the Onikoyi family of Lagos is a scion of this noble family.

Ẹ̀ rí:- This is the totem of the Oloyan. Anyone bearing this totem is
originally from Oyan in Osun State. The royal family of Oloyan are
the popular people bearing this totem.
Other totems are

Ìkọ́ :- the Totem of the Olokunesin family of Oyo. It is the official duty
of the title-bearer of this family to hold the reins of the horse of the
Alaafin whenever he wants to mount or dismount from his horse and
it used also to be his priviledge to die with a dead Alaafin, to go with
him to the great beyond to continue to hold his horse for him.
However this practice died out when after the death of Alaafin
Ladigbolu 1, the Colonial Government prevented the then Olokunesin
from being compelled to die with the dead Alaafin, Ladigbolu, even
though the then Olokunesin was still made to die mysteriously.
Anyone bearing this totem is from the family of Olokunesin of Oyo.
Baba Rev. Samuel Johnson (Àyìnlá-Ògún) the then CMS Pastor of
Oyo in his book History of the Yorubas (first published in 1897) also
identified other totems as being Edu, Ojo, Agbo, Ekan, and Oge. I
don’t know anything about these totems and so I will not be able to
expatiate on them.

I know it is not everyone that is intrested in things like this, but for
those who like me, have an obsessive interest in knowing the origin
and true meaning of things and the lores of Yoruba land, I commend
this post.

By: Daniel Ayodele Adeniran Àjàó-Iji