Nature
Another notable practice in the naming of children is that of bestowing a name that bears some relationship to nature or natural phenomenon that either took place or existed at the time of the baby’s birth or is a biological feature of the child. This is a very prominent practice on the continent of Africa. Although there is a mixture of religious – Christian, Muslim and Hindu, and cultural influences, the selection of the name of a child remains fairly similar in this respect. Names are selected that reflect the day of birth such as Esi, meaning born on Sunday; the season at the time of birth, for example Wekesa meaning harvest time; birth order of the baby, in the case of Zesiro meaning first of twins and finally, names that describe some physical characteristic of the baby such the Yoruba name Dada, which means curly hair. Traditional Native American names also reflect some aspect of nature. Parents would name their child after animals, they would do this based on the animal’s characteristic they saw in the child or hoped the child would display. The Miwok tribe for example would give the baby a name depending on which way the stream flowed on the day of the baby’s birth.