When she needs her son to take out the trash, Maureen Madubuike yells “Nnamdi!”
If the Ravens Pro Bowl defensive tackle calls home, his father, Festus Madubuike, will pick up and say, “Hey, Nnamdi. How’s your day?”
But until Monday, if their son sacked a quarterback, the broadcasters and announcers would call him by a different name: “Sack made by Justin Madubuike.”
Those days are over. Moving forward, the Ravens’ star defensive tackle will be known as “Nnamdi Madubuike,” pronounced NAHM-dee.
Both names, Justin and Nnamdi, are the result of his Nigerian American culture. Officially, his name is Justin Nnamdi Madubuike. His legal records state Justin is his first name — but Nnamdi is his first name in his heart.
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“I think that’s a Nigerian culture thing, I guess, since we’re in America, they give us an American name,” Madubuike said Monday. “But if we were in Nigeria, we would have a different name.”
Nnamdi was, in fact, the first name anyone used for him.
“I think probably mid-elementary school, I started being more adjusted to ‘Justin,’” Madubuike said, adding that Nnamdi was “the first name I answered to.”
So when he broke out at McKinney North High School in Texas, it was “Justin” who college scouts were telling their coaches about. When he won Defensive Most Valuable Player at Texas A&M, the award said “Justin.” And when the Ravens drafted him in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft, they called out for “Justin.”
One year later, the Ravens drafted outside linebacker Jayson Oweh out of Penn State. Oweh, who is also of Nigerian heritage, made the decision to officially go by his Nigerian name as he ascended to the NFL. His birth certificate name goes Nigerian name-American name-last name (Odafe Jayson Oweh). Like Madubuike, his parents refer to him by his Nigerian name — Odafe or “Dafe.”
And so the outside linebacker became known as Odafe Oweh by his teammates in the Ravens locker room and the NFL fans watching. Madubuike said he didn’t even realize Oweh had gone by Jayson until he followed him on socials.
Sure, Oweh’s college teammates might still refer to him as Jayson, and a certain Ravens reporter (me) who covered Oweh at Penn State might slip occasionally, but it’s “Dafe” that rings out when he makes a big play and his teammates and the fans react. And it’s Odafe Oweh that general manager Eric DeCosta talked about in glowing terms when he decided to pick up his fifth-year option.
But when DeCosta took to the podium to explain why he placed the franchise tag on Madubuike, he talked about Justin Madubuike.
Madubuike had been thinking about changing his name for a while, and Oweh certainly had an impact on that.
“I guess Dafe felt that thing too, just keeping it real, being close to who you are, being true to who you are,” Madubuike said.
But he didn’t make the move over the next two years, although some of the advice from his mentors kept the idea alive in the back of his mind. His “brothers from another mother” told him to “keep your life real, figure out what matters to you most, people, things, places, whatever it is and just stick to that.”
Then Madubuike made NFL history. He tied a league record for recording at least half a sack in 11 consecutive games, and he finished the NFL season with the most sacks by an interior lineman that season. The name Justin Madubuike became known across the league.
It also happened to be a contract year. The Ravens placed the franchise tag on him, ensuring he stayed at least one more year, but contract negotiations ensued as they worked out an extension. Through those talks, Madubuike started thinking about that advice from his mentors.
“I think when I got my contract and all that stuff, I was like, you know? I’m going to just keep everything real,” Madubuike said.
And yet, he was still on the fence about it. On July 1, he posted “My real name is Nnamdi” on X, formerly known as Twitter. He also changed his name (but not his handle) to Nnamdi. Then he deleted the tweet.
When he returned to the locker room, he decided to take a small step and asked for his locker room plate to say “Nnamdi Madubuike.” Teammates noticed and asked him if that was a name he made up. He assured them it’s his real name.
On the first day of locker room access, I noticed the new name and went up to chat about it. Madubuike told me that it was something he’d been thinking about, and he wanted to start with something he saw every day to test it out. But he hadn’t made it official with the NFL yet.
For a few minutes, we talked about where Nnamdi and where Justin came from, as well as the cultural implications. I mentioned that many kids who I went to school with in Howard County had American names that were different than what their parents called them, and Madubuike, who is known for being inquisitive, asked questions about my experience.
At the end of the chat, I asked if I could post on X about it even if it wasn’t official. He said yes.
The response was overwhelming. Hundreds of X users replied or reposted with messages along the lines of “Nnamdi Madubuike is a DPOY [Defensive Player of the Year] name.”
The next day, team officials pulled me out of the locker room so I could speak to Madubuike. He’s making it official, they said.
“What changed in the last 24 hours?” I asked.
Walking quickly towards some Ravens offices, a slightly out-of-breath Madubuike said that he’d been wrapped up in camp, working 5 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. every day and hadn’t had time to give it much thought. “But when we talked about it, it kind of like reopened that thinking process I had before camp,” he said.
Madubuike said he had considered doing it a little later but realized he should do it right now, before the season kicks off in three days. He also said he was being tagged in replies to the post and that, after seeing it, he changed his X handle to Nnamdi Madubuike. His Instagram name is also Nnamdi.
“So I guess you kind of sparked it — appreciate you, I guess,” he told me with a laugh.
Beyond his own preference, Madubuike said he wants this to have a cultural impact. Between him and Oweh, he said they could start a trend — although he emphasized this isn’t a situation where one or the other is a bad choice.
“I think culture’s really, really important, just how you were raised. ... I think it’s important to know where you come from and your roots,” Madubuike said. “But it’s your choice. At the end of the day, I could have stuck with Justin, but it was just in my heart for a long time to hit that button.”
“I think it’s a movement,” Madubuike added. “I think it’s a good movement. If it’s really in your heart to do that, I think you should do it.”
It had only been a few hours, but Madubuike had no regrets.
“I love my name,” he said.
And don’t worry, he’s still cool to go by his locker room nickname, as well: “Beeks.”
Correction: This story was updated to correct a misspelling of the name Jayson Oweh, and to correct the order of Odafe Jayson Oweh’s name.
