I really need some girl names with African origin.(someone let me pick a name for them)
I have gone through a lot of Swahili and Afrikaans names but haven’t find anything I like except for [name]Aisha[/name], which is too popular for my taste and Bahoti, which causes pronunciation problems. I also like [name]Amani/name but not sure if it is THE name.
Maybe some of you ladies are familiar with Afrikaans and/or Swahili names could give me some suggestions? I need to pick a name but I am not really satisfied with [name]Aisha[/name]. Any ideas will be great:)
If your friend and/or the baby in question is black, they probably won’t be too keen on an Afrikaans name.
Is your friend/baby Muslim? If not, don’t use [name]Aisha[/name] [it’s Arabic, used widely in the Muslim world including [name]North[/name] & [name]West[/name] [name]Africa[/name]]. Same with [name]Amani[/name], which is a local variant of [name]Iman[/name], “faith.”
What part of the continent is your friend interested in?
[name]Imara[/name]
[name]Lissa[/name]
[name]Neema[/name]
[name]Zuri[/name]
[name]Zaina[/name]
[name]Shafira[/name]
[name]Siri[/name]
[name]Kamaria[/name]
[name]Izara[/name]
Adaeze
Adanna
[name]Amara[/name]
Ayodele
Chioma
Desta
[name]Imani[/name]
[name]Makena[/name]
Mirembe
[name]Nia[/name]
A great website with a long list of African names and their meanings: African Names - Behind the Name
Good luck!
“African” is a little vague haha. What part of [name]Africa[/name]?
I have a Nigerian friend named Ifeoluwa, I think it’s pretty. It’s pronounced {iff-AY-oh-loo-uh}, she goes by [name]Ife[/name] {iff-AY}.
I think Amani/Imani are very pretty but in my head they’re very Arabic names, and I probably would be surprised to meet a non-Muslim named either. Is your friend Muslim?
I’ve spent a lot of time in Uganda and have a lot of friends there, and whilst they tend to have Biblical or virtue names, I met a Ugandan woman who’s daughters where Miremba (mee-rehm-bah) and Dembe (dem-bay), both coming from the Luganda word for Peace which I think are just so beautiful.
[I’ve just realised Mirembe has been suggested already - it’s lovely].
Yeah, [name]Africa[/name] is a continent. Not a country. And each African country has its own unique ethnic, linguistic, and cultural makeup. A Yoruba name is not the same thing as a Swahili name, in the same way that a Bavarian name is not the same as a Gaelic name.
[name]Amali[/name] is Swahili for hope
Kwagala is Luganda for love
I have a number of students from the Kirundi-speaking region of [name]Africa[/name] (sorry to be vague, but it’s a border region and there are multiple countries involved), and most have French word names. [name]Tresor[/name], [name]Esperance[/name], Bienvenu, and so on. I always find them surprising and lovely.