In his own words�

My parents named me Quett Ketumile Joni Masire. I think Masire is a good name, because it means “the protector”. It is shortened from “Masire pheho ya borwa”- “the protector against the cold from the South whose chill gets into the marrow of one’s bones”.

As was common in our family in those days, I had several names. Ketumile means “I am well known,” and it was the given name of one of my mother’s uncles. Quett is a shortened form of Marquette, after the 17th century French missionary and explorer, Father Jacques Marquette.