The meaning of the name Oduduwa is thought to hold the key to explaining myths surrounding the man. Samuel Johnson thought it to be ‘Odu’ (‘large pot’) combined with ‘ti o da iwa’ (that created character). To Olumide Lucas, Oduduwa was ‘dudu’ (black colour) combined with ‘iwa’ (existence) or alternatively, Oduduwa was a single word ‘dua’ borrowed from the Egyptian word ‘duat’, which means ‘the other world’, which made Oduduwa ‘Lord/Mistress of the other world’. Alfred Ellis thought that Oduduwa celebrated ‘dudu’ or the black skin.
What is known for certain about Oduduwa are these. One, Oduduwa was a human, so he must have had parents. Two, the name ‘Oduduwa’ is Yoruba, so Oduduwa’s parents would have themselves been Yoruba, or at the very least, Yoruba-speaking. Three, Oduduwa’s parents would have been ruminating on their circumstances when they named him; the Yoruba say ‘to the house we look before we named a child’.
Using the technique of onomastic analysis, the name Oduduwa is revealed to be a compound word composed of the principal verb ‘wa’, which means ‘to exist’, and the prefix ‘Odudu’, the noun maker, which means ‘the scrambling’. According to onomastic analysis, the name suggests that Oduduwa’s parents were struggling with life at the time of his birth.
Johnson, Lucas and Ellis are at one with the onomastic analysis that Oduduwa was purely a Yoruba name. No argument there. This means that Oduduwa was Yoruba at birth. If he was, it follows logically that he could not have been the Yoruba progenitor or first ancestor; he could not have founded Ife where he would have been born in the first place. Onomastic analysis is the likely correct interpretation of Oduduwa because it is Old Yoruba, and does not import anything into the word itself.
His parents’ hard life would have been motivation for Oduduwa’s achievements, which were likely to have been borne of intellect rather than of warfare. The idea that greatness could only be achieved by warfare is entirely British not Yoruba. Oduduwa was more likely to have been a Yoruba sage and teacher than a warrior. The Yoruba of yore were never warriors.