The England international, who was born to Nigerian parents in the United Kingdom, shared the information in a recent interview with GQ magazine.
“My grandma gave [the name] to me because of its meaning,” he began. “It means ‘God has added joy to my life.’
“She wanted me to add joy to the family, so she named me that. Every time she called me, that’s probably what I meant to her.”
Saka was the subject of speculation a few years ago when Nigeria reportedly tried to persuade him to commit his international future to the Super Eagles.
Instead, he opted to turn out for England and while he remains close to his Nigerian heritage, some Eagles fans appear not to have entirely forgiven him for his decision not to represent the West African giants.
“Forget about him until he switches and comes back to his fatherland because this shows he has nothing to do with Nigeria or maybe Nigeria has no value in his eyes,” said Abdullahi Muhammad on Facebook, in response to Saka’s comments about his Yoruba name.
“You are Yoruba, why did you not agree to join The Super Eagles then,” queried Umar Makinta.
Some fans think Saka made a mistake choosing England, and were keen to remind the wideman of such.
“Prodigal son, England will use and dump you,” Chijioke Johnson said, with Akingbade Abayomi Olanrewaju also sharing those sentiments.
“England will soon show you another pepper after the World Cup. Naija all the way,” he said.
However, not everyone has given up on Saka representing Nigeria one day, even if Fifa rules wouldn’t currently allow such a switch in loyalties.
“It is time you came back home bro,” responded God’spower Leonard who still has hopes that the Arsenal youngster will one day don the green and white even though he has already turned out for the senior England team in a competitive fixture.
For Hez Kelvin, Saka is better off where he is.
“Thank God you didn’t choose Nigeria, you would have missed the World Cup in Qatar,” he said.
Saka, who is Arsenal’s joint top-scorer with 10 goals in all competitions this season, has been representing England since 2020.
He’s scored four goals in 14 outings to date, but missed one of the Three Lions’ spotkicks in their Euro 2020 final defeat by Italy.
