How men with female surnames are standing up to ridicule in Kenya

Image caption, Simon Macharia Wangũi says he is proud to have chosen his mother's name as his surname By Basillioh Rukanga Reporting from Nairobi Published 12 July 2026, 00:27 BST Many children in Kenya traditionally inherit their father's first name as their surname, but there are an increasing number of people who are taking their mother's instead. This is particularly the case amongst the country's largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu - and has become a subject of debate and in some cases ridicule for the men with female surnames. Girls and women who have their mother's names do not face the same censure - and often when they marry may opt to take their husband's first name as their surname. Some say the growing trend of men having female surnames reflects changing attitudes to women and their influence in what is a patriarchal society; others are critical of those who have been given - or in some cases opt to take - their mother's name. It used to be rare to see men in prominent positions with a female surname, but now there are even several politicians who have them - like MP John Njũgũna Wanjikũ. Brought up by a single mother, he was first elected in 2021 and goes by the nickname "Ka-Wanjikũ", meaning child of Wanjikũ. Some like Wanjikũ were given their female surname at birth, but others have chosen theirs to honour their mothers. Kĩgia wa Esther/Facebook When you take your mother's name, it means you love and respect her" One of the earlier personalities to break the norm over male surnames was Peter Kĩgia, a Kenyan musician who chose his mother's name as his stage name. Kĩgia wa Esther (son of Esther), now in his 60s, is known for playing benga - fast, rhythmic guitar folk music with lyrics in Kikuyu. "When you take your mother's name, it means you love and respect her," he told the BBC, saying he had even registered his record company as Wa Esther Productions. It now comes with a certain cachet in the music industry, with other younger male musicians following in his footsteps. Posters advertising performers with their mother's surname, such as Waithaka wa Jane and 90K Ka Msoh, are often plastered to hoardings in the capital, Nairobi. Though in these cases the formal names of these artistes remain male. Journalist Simon Macharia Wangũi told the BBC he decided to deliberately choose his mother's name as his official surname. "Why give somebody credit where it does not exist?" he says of his father, who was absent for most of his life and about whom he has "only heard rumours of his existence". Mostly raised by his grandmother, he was 12 when his mother died in 2003. He had no surname until his final year of high school, when he applied for a birth certificate. Some Kenyans still think that a child raised by a single parent "lacks certain morals", explains Evans Kibe Waceke, a broadcaster who bears a female surname. "People perceive you as undisciplined, especially when you are raised by a single mother," he tells the BB