Yoruba people

=== Twins in Yoruba society ===
{{Main|Ibeji}}
[[File:Yoruba Ibeji figures, representing twins Wellcome L0035694.jpg|thumb|right|120x120px|Wooden ''Ere [[Ibeji]]'' figures representing twins. Yorubas have the highest [[twin]]ning rate in the world.]]
The Yoruba present the highest [[dizygotic]] twinning rate in the world (4.4% of all maternities).<ref name=rand>{{cite journal|url=http://www.randafricanart.com/Yoruba_Customs_and_Beliefs_Pertaining_to_Twins.html|title=Yoruba Customs and Beliefs Pertaining to Twins|volume=5|issue=2|pages=132–136|author=Leroy Fernand |author2=Olaleye-Oruene Taiwo |author3=Koeppen-Schomerus Gesina |author4=Bryan Elizabeth|journal=Twin Research |year=2002|doi=10.1375/1369052023009|pmid=11931691|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UT5iQgAACAAJ&q=Yoruba+twin+art|title=Ibeji: The Cult of Yoruba Twins Volume 2 of Hic sunt leones|author1=George Chemeche|author2=John Pemberton|author3=John Picton|publisher=5 Continents|year=2003|isbn=978-88-7439-060-1}}</ref>  They manifest at 45–50 twin sets (or 90–100 twins) per 1,000 live births, possibly because of high consumption of a specific type of [[yam (vegetable)|yam]] containing a natural [[phytoestrogen]] that may stimulate the [[ovary|ovaries]] to release an egg from each side.

Twins are very important for the Yoruba and they usually tend to give special names to each twin.<ref name="Knox">{{cite journal|url=http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119755283/abstract |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130105100018/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119755283/abstract |archive-date=2013-01-05 |title=Twinning in Yoruba Women|journal=BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology|volume=67|issue=6|pages=981–984|date=December 1960|author=Knox George|author2=Morley David |doi=10.1111/j.1471-0528.1960.tb09255.x|pmid=13757217|s2cid=28909380 }}</ref>  The first of the twins to be born is traditionally named ''[[Taiwo|Taiyewo]]'' or ''Tayewo'', which means 'the first to taste the world', or the 'slave to the second twin', this is often shortened to ''[[Taiwo]]'', ''Taiye'' or ''Taye''.<ref>{{cite web |title=The J. Richard Simon Collection of Yoruba Twin Figures - Art & Life in Africa - The University of Iowa Museum of Art|url=https://africa.uima.uiowa.edu/topic-essays/show/45?start=2|access-date=2021-01-24|website=africa.uima.uiowa.edu|language=en-US}}</ref>  ''[[Kehinde]]'' is the name of the last born twin.  ''Kehinde'' is sometimes also referred to as ''Kehindegbegbon'', which is short for; ''Omo kehin de gba egbon'' and means, 'the child that came behind gets the rights of the elder'.<ref>{{cite web |title=Land of Ibeji |url=https://www.noorimages.com/land-of-ibeji-english |website=NOOR |language=en-US |access-date=2021-01-24 }}</ref>

Twins are perceived as having spiritual advantages or as possessing magical powers.<ref name=":1">{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/style/article/stephen-tayo-ibeji-nigeria-twins/index.html|title=Stephen Tayo captures the sacred kinship of Nigerian twins|last=Seymour|first=Tom|date=2019-01-31|website=CNN Style|language=en|access-date=2019-11-05}}</ref>  This is different from some other cultures, which interpret twins as dangerous or unwanted.<ref name=":1" />