Enset

1. The Hadiya use the suffix 'manna', meaning 'house of' or 'people of', to identify lineage (ex. Degagmanna). This naming practice is not universal among the Hadiya. When asked for their name, Hadiya folks give their father's name first and their given name second. For example, I would give my name as Helebo Fikru instead of Fikru Helebo. I lived among the Silte people, who are neighbors of the Hadiya, and I am aware that they also have a custom of giving their name in the inverse order in their culture.

2. The Shekacho and Kaffacho people do have a naming system which resembles the Western system. In Shekacho and Kaffacho communities, people are identified by a patriarchal family name that they belong to. A person is known by his/her first name and then by the family name (surname). For example, if two individuals have the same last name, say Gatimo, it means that these two individuals have some kind of blood relationship. Unfortunately, the Shekacho and Kaffacho have been discouraged from using their indigenous naming system by the dominant (read Amhara) culture.

3. I searched on the internet and found out something that startled me. The 1960 Civil Code of Ethiopia, which you can read in its entirety here, has an article that attempted to codify a naming system for Ethiopians. Regarding names, article 32 in chapter 2 states the following:

(1) Every individual has a family name, one or more first names and a patronymic.
(2) He shall be designated in administrative documents by his family name followed by his first names and by his patronymic.

I can't be sure, but I do not think that there is a people group in Ethiopia which practices the above naming system that the Civil Code was attempting to standardize. So, it seems to me, what this 1960 code was trying to impose was a brand new naming system on all Ethiopians, a naming system that, apparently, is an adaptation of the Chinese naming system, but with some modifications.

I do subscribe to the argument the anonymous person put forth about encouraging Southerners to use names that are indigenous so that their contributions to Ethiopia could be easily recognized. But based on the feedback I got and my own little research, I seriously doubt that the current naming system is imposed on Southerners by northern Ethiopians. In reality, Southern Ethiopians have a lot in common with northern Ethiopians in naming patterns and conventions than some would like to acknowledge. An exhaustive study on Ethiopian naming conventions could help to dispel misconceptions some people have on this subject. Obviously, this is not an exhaustive study and it should not be treated as one.

Coming back to my own naming system preference, I am now used to the Western naming practice and, actually, I have come to prefer it over the Ethiopian one and have adopted it for my own family. On the other hand, most Ethiopians I know in the US seem to prefer the use of the Ethiopian system for their families. It seems to me that the Ethiopian naming system is too strongly attached to the Ethiopia psyche that most Ethiopians who have immigrated to the US can't fathom abandoning it. As far as Southerners or any other Ethiopians adopting the Western naming system or the one advocated by the Haile Sellassie regime, I think it is a good idea but I doubt that the "Ethiopian" culture, be it southern or northern, is ready for such a change or will it ever be!