There we go! As Sudan is filled with many different tribes and ethnicities. His reason was to rid the country of all of Mobutu’s influence and he felt a change of name was the way to do it. Playing with names really is part of many African cultures. Names are of huge significance in the continent and that is why some cultures go as far as having naming ceremonies where families officially name their children in the presence of other people. Most Common African American Surnames By Count. In some Western countries, the surname or family name ("last name" is placed after the personal or given name ("first name". As Africa is made up of 54 countries (making it the second-largest continent in … Other names reflect the birth order of the newborn, for example Mosi “first born”, Kunto “third born”, Nsonowa “seventh born”, and Wasswa “first of twins”. hausas are the most populous group in nigeria. Nigerian names are used in the country of Nigeria in western Africa. In African culture, it is very important to have the clan’s name with their name even though you don’t have a surname. Some names describe the parents’ reaction to the birth (such as Kayode, Gwandoya, Abeni and Monifa) and still others are descriptive of the newborn or of desired characteristics (like Yejide, Dada, Chiumbo and Zuberi). example: *lee will match names which end with the sound lee (s) will match exactly one syllable in the pronunciation. This name is commonly pronounced as 'Deli' but this is not the real way on how to pronounce this name. If you don’t discover a name you like, please review the 5,508 names in The African Book of Names or try our African Name Generator. African Last Names. Tawedzwegwa Purpose Katakwa, Zimbabwe. African names comes with great pride and power. names missing pronunciations are excluded from results by default * is a wildcard that will match zero or more letters in the pronunciation. List of Surnames. An uncommonly used name from the West African country of Nigeria. What a wonderful name; Maduabuchi Onwuachimba (Igbo-Nigeria). It has branched onward to America, and multiple other countries. But by the grace of God, my first and middle names are not only African but reflect the ethnic origin of where I know my maternal ancestors come from, the Mandinka people. African names have always been associated with personal identity and personality structure expressed in the hopes and aspirations of the parents and passed on to the individual child. So a name is really very important. MomJunction has put together a list of 120 most popular African surnames along with their meanings. And Its curious there aren’t many hausa names (if any at all). For example: Sefu “sword” and Tau “lion” (masculine) and Marjani “coral” and Ife “love” (feminine). Nigerian Names Home » Names. Nowhere in the Bible does it say one should have a Christian name and it certainly did not require it to be English or Western. leakon; gender type Male and tribe where commonly used in: yoruba. The indigenous African last names and surnames are meaningful, reflective, and unique. Deng Mador K-Dengdit, Sudanese in Australia, African names like most traditional names like John (Yahweh is gracious) , Patrick (nobleman) , Natasha (christmas day), Abdul (servant of..) etc.. have meanings. Daneil Negussie Aberra, Ethiopia/USA, What makes a person is his/her identity. Paul Gisemba, Kenya, Given the importance of names in my social background (among the Dinka people), I am proud to be one of those named after the “famous” legendary ancestor of the Dinka people of Sudan, Deng, who was believed to be the direct decendant of Adam (Garang) and Eve (Abuk). Wairimu Kuria, Kenyan in US, African names comes with great pride and power. I am certain that many other cultures equally create such names. • Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi – beatified by Pope John Paul II oreva ; gender type Male and tribe where commonly used in: isoko example: (s)(s)ra will match names which have two syllables and then the sound rah AKUCHI is a unisex Nigerian name which means “wealth from God” in Igbo. A collection of Nigerian names and their meanings. Noxolo Judith Ncapayi, South Africa. names missing pronunciations are excluded from results by default * is a wildcard that will match zero or more letters in the pronunciation. BR, USA, I am responding to Vince Gainey’s point – “Why are African Christians so ashamed of their Christian names in comparison to Muslims who have pride in their Arabic Islamic names.” I think Vince is confusing “European” with “Christian”. The United States Bureau of Census conducted a census in 2000, upon which this article will be mostly reliant for statistical data. Similarly, Nigerian last names have a wonderful history and an interesting way of being given. Census Bureau: Frequently Occurring Surnames from the Census 2000 (public domain). African last names are the perfect example of colonial influence. When my mother was pregnant, she was always fighting with my father and his family; she was in this constant state of depression. I am trying to find out if the sir name(last name) can indicate what part of Africa a person is from. The United States Bureau of Census conducted a census in 2000, upon which this article will be mostly reliant for statistical data. The following are among the most common last names of African Americans: Williams. Find out how surnames are ranked in popularity, how many people in the United States of America bear a particular name, and how the statistics … My people! Africa is home to several language families and hundreds of languages all these different cultures countries and people have something in common they can be found now world wide and one way of keeping and telling others about your roots is African Surname and there for it is considered as very important in todays African culture. This name is commonly pronounced as 'Deli' but this is not the real way on how to pronounce this name. Select a category: Yoruba Igbo Hausa Edo Esan Urhobo Ibibio Efik; Extra features: Popular names; Nigerian.name Gadget for your website; Nigerian.name … And one is able to decipher such person's Nigerian tribe very easily. Africans used to live in colonies and clans and hence they give a lot of importance to their tribe while adopting a surname. Due to a dark history of slave trade forced upon African colonies, these names are particularly common throughout the United States and Europe. Nigeria, a beautiful, diverse, African country home to the Niger River, and a rich history of culture and tradition. Thank you! The first name is Bright. Last names come from indigenous, colonialist and diasporic roots. The last name is most frequently held in Nigeria, where it is held by 1,169 people, or 1 in 151,534. This complex background makes summing up African naming traditions in a few paragraphs very difficult. It was a middle name that became a last name. I find it quite silly in retrospect that almost all Kenyans have a “Christian” name which is quite English. Nigerian names are used in the country of Nigeria in western Africa. African last names or surnames have deeper meanings than many think. For example if you were born on a Monday and named Kojo or Kodjo for a boy or Adjo for a girl, you would be taken as a zealous man or woman because Monday is the first day of work after the weekend, and if you were born on a Wednesday and named Kokou for a boy or Akwa for a girl, you were taken as a half-lazy person because people usually work or go to school for just the first half of the day -from 7 to 12- and use the other half as leisure time, and if you were born on a Sunday and named Kossi for a boy or Kossiwa for a girl, you were taken as the child of God, the pure, pretty child because people dress up pretty to worship God at the mass on Sunday. The Nigerian Army was established in 1960 and is the foremost defence arm of the Nigerian Armed Forces, being responsible for land warfare. It depends on what region of Sudan the girl is from. So “Ndubueze” means that “life is king” – to live is to be a king. —Kenya, Uganda (Luhya) Enjoy these royal names.. I interpret my name to mean that I lie low, allowing my snout to be poked and proded until I emerge to reveal all that was hidden below the murky water’s suface. Most Common African American Surnames By Count. It would be great if you could help me out. Sekou Nkrumah was named after Guinea’s first President Sekou Toure, while Gamal Nkrumah got his name from Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. The name list is disproportionately nigerian . This list may not reflect recent changes (). ADETOKUNBO is a unisex Western African name which means “the crown came from over the sea” in Yoruba. Interesting article, where did you source the data this research is based on. according to the nigerian census. Nigerian Names Home » Names. what are the parameters you have used to arrive at this results ? I am having trouble picking the right name for her, and I want to get it correct so the first name and last name come from the same culture and make sense together. Nkrumah is not alone in fostering the identity of Africanism – the late President Mobutu Sese Seko dropped his own Christian name and even renamed his country – the then Belgian Congo – which became Zaire. DEMEKAI m Nigerian (Rare) Originally a surname found more often in Nigeria … The above lists are not guaranteed complete. ... in Igbo, a variant of ONYEKACHI using Chukwu as the last element, which is the extended form of Chi meaning "God". There are 54 countries, between 900 and 1,500 languages and several thousand ethnic groups in Africa, according to Britannica. I just feel happy to say that this programme of conscientization is excellent. Vocabulary words are also often used as given names. In African culture, it is very important to have the clan’s name with their name even though you don’t have a surname. "walks like a wealthy person, walks with confidence", Apply this search to the user-submitted names, search for an exact phrase by surrounding it with double quotes, this field understands simple boolean logic, force a term to be included by preceding it with a, force a term to be excluded by preceding it with a, syllables can only be counted in names that have been assigned pronunciations, names without pronunciations are excluded from results, sounds can only be searched in names that have been assigned pronunciations, names missing pronunciations are excluded from results by default, the "relationship" is how the name relates to its parent name, enter a behindthename.com username to search that user's public personal name lists, to limit your search to a specific list, put the name of the list in brackets after the username. Actually just after I was born, peace was restored in my family. In Nigeria … Good question! My name is meaningful (‘in your God’s name I’m happy’ is the direct translation of my first and last names taken together). This is why you hardly see an African man bearing a Western name as his last name. In May 2003 I took a genetics test and found out that I’m a direct descendent of the Mandinkas maternally. Maduabuchi means Humans are not God. African last names are popular around the globe. There are over 2.4 million African-American and Caribbean people with that last name. OPEYEMI m & f Western African… Also: no one can dictate my life, nor my destiny, strong to be God to my destiny and my self. That is why some yorubas in Abeokuta Ibadan and lagos have European last names. African last names are popular around the globe. For example “Gebre-Egziabher” in the Ethiopian/Eritrean languages of Amharic/Tigrinya means “Servant of God” and those are Christian names. 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