Popular Nigerian comic actor Bayo Bankole, better known as Boy Alinco, has urged parents to give their children native names instead of foreign ones.

The actor underlined that this practice would help preserve cultural history through names while he cautioned that ignoring traditional names could lead to a weakened sense of cultural identity.

Boy Alinco praised the beauty of Yoruba names like Oluwaseun, Oluwapamilerinayo, and Oluwasoromidayo during his participation on the Teju Babyface Podcast, but cautioned against the tendency toward foreign names like Jayden or Biden.

Regarding pronunciation issues, he refuted the idea that non-Africans find it hard to speak African names, pointing out that educational institutions can easily pronounce names with Dutch, Russian, and Indian origins.

In addition, he emphasized the difficulties African Americans encounter in reestablishing ties to their roots, drawing a comparison with the strong cultural ties that Indian and Jewish groups preserve through their names.

He said: “It’s because they changed their name, and that’s why I always encourage here that we don’t give our children, Jayden, Biden, all that stuff when we have beautiful names like Oluwaseun, Oluwapamilerinayo, Oluwasoromidayo.

Look, some will say they won’t be able to call their names in schools, but it’s a lie. They call Dutch names, they call Russian names that even sound awkward."