TEEN MOM Shen explains Bar’s real name Bariki Elimu LockettSmith

The multiple arrests of Teen Mom dad Bar Smith have revealed something rather unexpected about the reality star: his name isn’t actually Bar Smith. Ashley Jones’ husband’s real name is Bariki Elimu LockettSmith, as evidenced by jail and court records.

That is a pretty unique moniker, and certainly there must be a story behind it, right? Right! Bar’s mom, Shenandoah “Shen” Williams, posted an explanation for Bar’s real name in an Instagram story post — and it’s really something!

If you are still confused, I will attempt to summarize what Shen wrote. Bar’s grandmother picked the name Bariki Elimu. That grandmother was later found dead in a park, which has nothing to do with Bar’s name.

Bar had a step-grandfather with the last name Smith, whom I assume was married to the grandmother who was found dead in a park. I also assume this was Bar’s paternal grandmother.

Bar’s biological paternal grandfather’s last name was Lockett. This grandfather was in prison when his biological son (Bar’s dad) was born. As a result, Bar’s dad had the last name Smith instead of the last name of his biological father, Lockett. Bar now has the last name of both of his paternal grandfathers.

According to multiple court documents, Bariki is a junior and shares the first and last name of Bariki Elimu with his dad. I’m not sure how that works when the dad is Bariki Elimu Smith, Sr. and the son is Bariki Elimu LockettSmith, Jr.? (I should note that there is at least one official record that includes a hyphen in Bar’s last name.)

This is purely speculation on my part, but I’m guessing that Bar was born Bariki Elimu Smith, Jr. and he later change his last name to include his biological grandfather’s last name. This theory seems to be backed up by the fact that Bar’s meth possession, trespassing, and providing false information to a police officer charges in 2015 were under the name Bariki Smith, Jr.

If you’re curious about what the name Bariki and Elimu mean, a quick search on Google turns up Swahili definitions for both. Bariki means “bless” and Elimu means “education.”

I was combing through the old Starcasm files from when I first researched Bar and Ashley almost five years ago and I ran across something interesting. I didn’t know what it meant at the time, and I still don’t. Bariki’s dad married a woman with the last name Williams in 2012, but that woman was not named Shenandoah (whose last name is also Williams). The woman filed for divorce in November of 2015.

To keep up with Bariki Elimu LocketSmith Jr., be sure to tune in for new episodes of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter airing Tuesday nights at 8/7c on MTV.

Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com