Justin Madubuike made a name for himself in the 2023 season as he turned out to be one of the best defensive tackles in the league. Now, the star player from the Ravens wants to change his name from this year and beyond.
He wants to go by his Nigerian given name from now on. His Nigerian name is Nnamdi. He made this announcement through the Ravens website.
“Coming from Nigerian culture, our parents give us like an American name and give us a Nigerian name. When we were growing up as little kids, they addressed us as our Nigerian name.”
“So Nnamdi, I believe in my heart, that’s my real name.”
When we look at the meaning of this name, it means, “my father’s son” or “my father’s legacy”. This is one of the reasons why Justin wants to go back to his birth name from the 2024 season and beyond.
According to him, Justin is the name on his birth certificate but everyone at home calls him Nnamdi. He saw his teammate Odafe Oweh, who changed his name in 2021. Odafe went by Jayson in his years prior to joining the big leagues.
Madubuike also said. “Just learning from the older vets and stuff, I keep finding ways to get better every single year. I just started to just keep everything real in terms of my life. After I signed my contract, I just need to keep doing that. I just felt like when I keep it real, the better player I am, the better man I am. I just was like, you know, I’m going to go with my real name. So Nnamdi is my real name.”
He signed a four-year contract extension with the Baltimore Ravens this offseason. This made him one of the highest-paid defensive tackles in the NFL.
So, from now on, he will be known as Nnamdi.