While in South Africa last week to headline the World Cup Kick-Off Concert in Johannesburg, Alicia Keys and fiance Swizz Beatz (can I just call him Kasseem Dean?) had their unborn child blessed in a “traditional” Zulu ceremony near Durban, on the country’s eastern coast.
Wearing tribal beads, Alicia and the baby were given Zulu names, a blessing in return for her work with local children’s charity Bobbi Bear. The names were kept private, but it’s said they were chosen to reflect Alicia’s character. Though Alicia and Kaseem probably already have names picked out for their child, I’m sure the Zulu names gave them something to think about…
I named my daughter Sascha (she was born in January 2006) to reflect a sassy attitude I somehow knew she was going to need. I was also randomly drawn to names that ended in the letter “a”.
The name first struck me while flipping through a newspaper and I saw comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his daughter, yep, Sascha. Then the name wouldn’t stop coming at me: I remembered that relatively unknown candidate for US Senate who spoke so eloquently at the 2004 Democratic National Convention had a daughter named Sasha, and actress Vanessa Williams daughter with former Los Angeles Laker Rick Fox was also a Sasha.
