Why are twins called Ara Isokun in Yorubaland?

You probably have heard twins being serenaded as 'èjìrẹ́ ará Ìṣokùn' and you wonder why they are referred to that way. Are they really from Ìṣokùn? Where is Ìṣokùn? Why are they referred to like that? There is Ìṣokùn in lléṣà, and there is Ìṣokùn in Ọ̀yọ́ state too, so how do we know which one is the oríkì referring to?

The issue is that nobody knows for certain why ibeji is referred to as ará Ìṣokùn.

All we hear is conjectures and opinions. One of such popular opinion is that perhaps, there was a certain ibeji that came from Ìṣokùn village in the past.

These twins were so popular then that to differentiate them from other twins, they referred to them as ejìrẹ́ ará Ìṣokùn or ejìrẹ́ Ìṣokùn.

Gradually, this became fused into the oríkì of all ejìrẹ́ as parents wish their own twins to be as popular. Wealthy? Royal? Endowed? Renowned? etc as ejìrẹ́ of Ìṣokùn.

This explanation scores higher on rational grounds than any others that have been provided. In the ancient time we hear of "Ẹ̀ṣà Ògbín, ará òde Ògbólúkẹ́." Could this be that the man came from the modern-day Òde-Ògbólú in Ìjẹ̀bú?

Concerning the absorption of identity and oríkì, the same trend can be seen in the modern period. For example, Abíọ́dún is a name in Yorùbá given to a baby born on a festival day. But, one particular Abíọ́dún well known in Yorùbá land is the legendary Aláàfin Abíọ́dún Adégoólú of Ọ̀yọ́.

His praise name became the praise name of every Abiodun, Abíọ́dún Adégoólú