Ghana Ethnicity and Culture
There are over a hundred different ethnic groups in Ghana, each with its own language and culture. The largest group are the Ashanti. the Fante and the Asante groups are part of the Akan. Other large groups are the Ewe, the Ga-Adangme, the Dagomba, the Dagbani, and the Gonja. There are also some Europeans, Lebanese, Chinese, and Indians living in Ghana. People from Ghana who now live in the Chicago area, mostly belong to the Akan ethnic group.
Ghanaians tend to have several names. Although the naming system is similar to the US (i.e. first, middle, and last name), Ghanaian names tell a story about a person. For instance among the Akans if you are named Ata, one knows you are a twin. Or if you are named Tawiah on knows that you are a person born after twins. Similar to the US, a person can be named after an older or deceased relative. Hence a person could be called Kofi Ata Ampomah Owusu. This individual has a twin (Ata), and was born on Friday (Kofi). Ampomah could be his grandfather’s name and Owusu is his father’s name.
