Published information is currently unavailable to the IRBDC in Ottawa.

According to a former high official in the ministry of Education presently living in Ottawa, contacted on 24 January 1991, the name of a person must be the result of a consensus among the family or friends of the parents. If the consensus is not reach the child can hold two or three different names. Also, it is not uncommon that a person's name change according to the place or region of living. For example, a person can have a different name whether in school than they have at home. Ethnic Somalis have no family names but a series of names, listing a person's father, grandfather, great-grandfather, etc. This helps Somalis trace back their genealogical lines (i.e. the family clan). For example, Mohamed Moukthar (father's name) Ahmad (grandfather's name) Aden (great grandfather), etc.

A representative of COSTI (Centre for Italian Scholastic and Technical Organisations) in Toronto, contacted on 24 January 1991, corroborated the above source. This source also added that a second name may be given by the mother as a qualifier. For example, Mohamed-Ghani (Mohamed the rich), or Ali-Baché (Ali the King), or Barni-Hodan (Barni the lucky). Hence, the mother can use the second name or the qualifier.

A former official in the ministry of Education, contacted on 24 January 1991, corroborated these information. This source further reported that in certain specific region (Ogaden), it sometimes happen that names be compose with both a male and female name like Ismaïl-Choukri. This oral source emphasize the fact that Somalis use surnames very often. In order to illustrate this the source gave the example of the former minister of Defence M. Aden Abdillahi Nour, commonly known as Aden Gabayo (the poet). Also, the example of the first Prime Minister of Somalia M. Aden Abdullah Osman, known as Aden Cadde (the clear). Additional information on this subject is currently unavailable to the IRBDC in Ottawa.