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ArchivesThe Under 21s
OK, here we have the current South African u/21 World Cup rugby squad and my comments on their names.
Bennie Adams (Western Province, flank), Andries Bekker (Western Province, lock), Alsaun Bock (Boland, wing), Dawid Britz (Free State, hooker), Schalk Burger (Western Province, flank), Bronwyn Buys (Leopards, wing), Tandarai Chavanga (Free State, wing), Jacques Cronjé (Blue Bulls, No.8), Fourie du Preez (Blue Bulls, scrum-half), Braden Ferreira (Natal, centre), Jaque Fourie (Lions, fullback), Neil Fullard (Western Province, prop), Gordon Gilfillan (Western Province, lock), Hanro Haupt (Free State, loose forward), Derick Hougaard (Blue Bulls, fly-half), Enrico Januarie (Boland, scrum-half), Kenny McKenzie (Lions, prop), MJ Mentz (Leopards, fullback), Ebrahim Moerat (Western Province, hooker), JD Moller (Western Province, prop), Gordon Pangetti (Western Province, wing), Ross Skeate (Western Province, lock), Willie Steenkamp (Leopards, lock), Francois Swart (Blue Bulls, fly-half), Dewey Swartbooi (Blue Bulls, centre), Lafras Uys (Blue Bulls, centre).
Bennie and Willie show they're Afrikaans by the -ie spelling. Andries and Dawid are Afrikaans for Andrew and David; Schalk and Lafras are traditional Afrikaans names not used in English (but Marshall contains Schalk); Jacques and Jaque, and Francois, are Afrikaans, often wrongly spelt, dating back to the Huguenot settlers in the 17th century - South African schools seldom taught French until about 10 years ago so we sometimes find weird "phonetic" spellings like Charl and Fransua; Fourie is an Afrikaans surname used often as a fn; Braden has an Afrikaans ln and a trendy American name - possible TV influence; Neil could be normal English, could also be an English-spelling version of the Afrikaans nickname Niel, from Daniel or Nataniel - can't tell by the ln,w hich could be either; Hanro is an Afrikaans blended name - probably Han from Johan and -ro perhaps from Rolf, perhaps from Rosa; Derick is from Frederick and is Afrikaans; Enrico sounds Italian but has a ln found among Coloureds, typically imaginative namers; Kenny might have it as his full name - Scottish anyway! MJ and JD are typical Afrikaans initial names (they will have two full names but will always have been called by their initials); Ebrahim is Coloured, with a Muslim name; Gordon, Gordon and Ross are English-speaking in spite of Gordon the Second's Italian ln; Dewey is Coloured and imaginative, as is Bronwyn; Alsaun could be a syncopated version of Alexander but that's just a guess. Tandarai sounds like a Zimbabwean name - he's certainly Black, the ln shows that; one of the senior players in his province also comes from Zimbabwe - Kennedy Tsimba.
When I say that Enrico, Ebrahim, Dewey and Bronwyn are Coloured, I refer to the racial classification current in the bad old days, when Coloured meant mixed-race and/or of Malaysian descent (slaves brought here by the Dutch in the seventeenth century. Hence the Islamic faith that many of them retain, and the Islamic names.) Enrico Januarie has a month for a ln, typical of former slave names I think. Enrico is a "different" version of Hendrik, very well used among Afrikaans speakers. Dewey looks like one of Donald Duck's nephews, but was probably chosen for its (perceived) stylish American image; Bronwyn is quite frankly inexplicable, except that the parents must have liked the sound of it! It's possible that Alsaun should be considered here too, as his ln and the team he plays for suggest he might be Coloured as well, but I haven't seen him and I don't know.
Coloured parents are known for their imaginative choice of names; perhaps it is a way of asserting their individuality in a country where they are a minority group, in the bad old days considered not sufficiently White and now, in the opinion of many of them, not sufficiently Black. A delightful lady did some TV commentary during the Comrades Marathon road race on the 16th June, a former marathon runner herself, resoundingly named Jowaine Parrott.
Bennie Adams (Western Province, flank), Andries Bekker (Western Province, lock), Alsaun Bock (Boland, wing), Dawid Britz (Free State, hooker), Schalk Burger (Western Province, flank), Bronwyn Buys (Leopards, wing), Tandarai Chavanga (Free State, wing), Jacques Cronjé (Blue Bulls, No.8), Fourie du Preez (Blue Bulls, scrum-half), Braden Ferreira (Natal, centre), Jaque Fourie (Lions, fullback), Neil Fullard (Western Province, prop), Gordon Gilfillan (Western Province, lock), Hanro Haupt (Free State, loose forward), Derick Hougaard (Blue Bulls, fly-half), Enrico Januarie (Boland, scrum-half), Kenny McKenzie (Lions, prop), MJ Mentz (Leopards, fullback), Ebrahim Moerat (Western Province, hooker), JD Moller (Western Province, prop), Gordon Pangetti (Western Province, wing), Ross Skeate (Western Province, lock), Willie Steenkamp (Leopards, lock), Francois Swart (Blue Bulls, fly-half), Dewey Swartbooi (Blue Bulls, centre), Lafras Uys (Blue Bulls, centre).
Bennie and Willie show they're Afrikaans by the -ie spelling. Andries and Dawid are Afrikaans for Andrew and David; Schalk and Lafras are traditional Afrikaans names not used in English (but Marshall contains Schalk); Jacques and Jaque, and Francois, are Afrikaans, often wrongly spelt, dating back to the Huguenot settlers in the 17th century - South African schools seldom taught French until about 10 years ago so we sometimes find weird "phonetic" spellings like Charl and Fransua; Fourie is an Afrikaans surname used often as a fn; Braden has an Afrikaans ln and a trendy American name - possible TV influence; Neil could be normal English, could also be an English-spelling version of the Afrikaans nickname Niel, from Daniel or Nataniel - can't tell by the ln,w hich could be either; Hanro is an Afrikaans blended name - probably Han from Johan and -ro perhaps from Rolf, perhaps from Rosa; Derick is from Frederick and is Afrikaans; Enrico sounds Italian but has a ln found among Coloureds, typically imaginative namers; Kenny might have it as his full name - Scottish anyway! MJ and JD are typical Afrikaans initial names (they will have two full names but will always have been called by their initials); Ebrahim is Coloured, with a Muslim name; Gordon, Gordon and Ross are English-speaking in spite of Gordon the Second's Italian ln; Dewey is Coloured and imaginative, as is Bronwyn; Alsaun could be a syncopated version of Alexander but that's just a guess. Tandarai sounds like a Zimbabwean name - he's certainly Black, the ln shows that; one of the senior players in his province also comes from Zimbabwe - Kennedy Tsimba.
When I say that Enrico, Ebrahim, Dewey and Bronwyn are Coloured, I refer to the racial classification current in the bad old days, when Coloured meant mixed-race and/or of Malaysian descent (slaves brought here by the Dutch in the seventeenth century. Hence the Islamic faith that many of them retain, and the Islamic names.) Enrico Januarie has a month for a ln, typical of former slave names I think. Enrico is a "different" version of Hendrik, very well used among Afrikaans speakers. Dewey looks like one of Donald Duck's nephews, but was probably chosen for its (perceived) stylish American image; Bronwyn is quite frankly inexplicable, except that the parents must have liked the sound of it! It's possible that Alsaun should be considered here too, as his ln and the team he plays for suggest he might be Coloured as well, but I haven't seen him and I don't know.
Coloured parents are known for their imaginative choice of names; perhaps it is a way of asserting their individuality in a country where they are a minority group, in the bad old days considered not sufficiently White and now, in the opinion of many of them, not sufficiently Black. A delightful lady did some TV commentary during the Comrades Marathon road race on the 16th June, a former marathon runner herself, resoundingly named Jowaine Parrott.
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