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Help[Opinions] Ethiopian names
I'm not sure if this should be in opinions or facts...
I was just wondering if anyone knew of any Amharic names for either gender?
On most baby name sites, they just list "African" as that, and do not clarify tribe/country.
-Erica
I was just wondering if anyone knew of any Amharic names for either gender?
On most baby name sites, they just list "African" as that, and do not clarify tribe/country.
-Erica
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There's an African section on BtN
And it does list the tribe of every name: http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/afr.html.
The section is on the whole of Africa, so you'll have to search by tribe.
Miranda
"Multiple exclamation marks are a sure sign of diseased mind" -- Terry Pratchett
Proud adopter of 15 punctuation marks. Check my profile for their names.
And it does list the tribe of every name: http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/afr.html.
The section is on the whole of Africa, so you'll have to search by tribe.
"Multiple exclamation marks are a sure sign of diseased mind" -- Terry Pratchett
Proud adopter of 15 punctuation marks. Check my profile for their names.
1
Thanks and sorry about that.
No names in Amharic, though.
I was also curious as to whether or not anyone likes any particular Amharic or other tribal name.
I'm not familiar with the demographic on the boards or their opinions. :-D
I myself am to be the mother of an interracial/national child and the father and I have decided to go back to what we believe connects us- Africa. We have decided on giving our child an Ethiopian first name and a biblical (hebrew, aramaic...) middle name (or vice versa). We are still working on the particulars ;-)
-Erica
No names in Amharic, though.
I was also curious as to whether or not anyone likes any particular Amharic or other tribal name.
I'm not familiar with the demographic on the boards or their opinions. :-D
I myself am to be the mother of an interracial/national child and the father and I have decided to go back to what we believe connects us- Africa. We have decided on giving our child an Ethiopian first name and a biblical (hebrew, aramaic...) middle name (or vice versa). We are still working on the particulars ;-)
-Erica
1
Well, I think we're a pretty open-minded bunch as long as we're informed of the origin and meaning of the name. However, our personal styles are all very different. Some might like a name and others might dislike a name for any number of reasons. It depends on the name itself, its meaning and/or history, the background of both the family the name's being considered for and the poster responding, and other miscellaneous issues. You're quite welcome to stick around here if you want to get a better feel of the board.
According to Wikipedia Amharic is actually a Semitic language spoken in Northern Central Ethiopia: http://snipurl.com/e2ni. A Google search reveals 123 English hits for "Amharic names", including this site: http://snipurl.com/e2nh. I can't vouch for its etymological accuracy as I really don't know anything about Amharic etymology. And another site very briefly describes the Amharic general naming practice (http://snipurl.com/e2nm):
QUOTE:
Amharic names are concatenations [connected or linked in a series or chain] of the child's given name and the father's given name.
Or in other words, since my given name is Miranda and my father's (first) given name is Dennis, I would be Miranda Dennis in the Amharic system.
Miranda
"Multiple exclamation marks are a sure sign of diseased mind" -- Terry Pratchett
Proud adopter of 15 punctuation marks. Check my profile for their names.
According to Wikipedia Amharic is actually a Semitic language spoken in Northern Central Ethiopia: http://snipurl.com/e2ni. A Google search reveals 123 English hits for "Amharic names", including this site: http://snipurl.com/e2nh. I can't vouch for its etymological accuracy as I really don't know anything about Amharic etymology. And another site very briefly describes the Amharic general naming practice (http://snipurl.com/e2nm):
QUOTE:
Amharic names are concatenations [connected or linked in a series or chain] of the child's given name and the father's given name.
Or in other words, since my given name is Miranda and my father's (first) given name is Dennis, I would be Miranda Dennis in the Amharic system.
"Multiple exclamation marks are a sure sign of diseased mind" -- Terry Pratchett
Proud adopter of 15 punctuation marks. Check my profile for their names.
1
I didn't mean to imply anyone was closed-minded. I thought about the wording after the fact. :-(
I'm just not sure, in general, how popular foreign names are. Especially the extremely difficult-to-pronounce African ones. I'm even more uncertain as to how a caucasian would feel naming their child such a name.
I don't find that at all discriminatory. It's very understandable- it would be awkward for the child, if the name were so extreme.
That is why I am searching for African names that aren't spelled too strangely and are simply to pronounce. So far, those names are NOT Amharic.
:-D
-Erica
I'm just not sure, in general, how popular foreign names are. Especially the extremely difficult-to-pronounce African ones. I'm even more uncertain as to how a caucasian would feel naming their child such a name.
I don't find that at all discriminatory. It's very understandable- it would be awkward for the child, if the name were so extreme.
That is why I am searching for African names that aren't spelled too strangely and are simply to pronounce. So far, those names are NOT Amharic.
:-D
-Erica
1
No, no, I didn't mean to imply anyone here was discriminatory! I meant "open-minded" as in "Hm, I'm unsure of what I think of this name. My first instinct is to say I don't like it because it's unfamiliar and looks odd to me, and might cause the kid problems here in North America. But if it has a good origin and the family has a good reason to use it, I might like it for this family" as opposed to "That name is too weird for any kid who's living in NA, no matter what the origin of it is or what/who it honours!"
I would personally use an Aramaic fn and an Amharic mn if you're that concerned about pronunciation. Aramaic names, or their derivatives, are familiar amongst English speakers: Bartholomew, Barnabas, Mahalia, Martha, possibly Rebecca, Salome, possibly Samantha, Tabitha, Talitha, Thaddeus, and Thomas all have Aramaic roots listed on this site. And of course most of these names have variants and versions in other languages you could use.
I remember that a few years back there was a cheesy Saturday morning cartoon called Captain Planet. There was an African boy on it called Kwame (KWAH-mee), and as I believe this show was widely aired for several years, I think Kwame might be a little more well-known than most African names. (I can't say for sure, I don't get out in public much.)
Other possibilities (your mileage may vary):
Abena (f)
Abeni (f)
Ama (f)
Amadi (m/f) - Probably a good idea to use this for a girl, because the feminine Igbo meaning is much nicer than the masculine Yoruba meaning!
I would personally use an Aramaic fn and an Amharic mn if you're that concerned about pronunciation. Aramaic names, or their derivatives, are familiar amongst English speakers: Bartholomew, Barnabas, Mahalia, Martha, possibly Rebecca, Salome, possibly Samantha, Tabitha, Talitha, Thaddeus, and Thomas all have Aramaic roots listed on this site. And of course most of these names have variants and versions in other languages you could use.
I remember that a few years back there was a cheesy Saturday morning cartoon called Captain Planet. There was an African boy on it called Kwame (KWAH-mee), and as I believe this show was widely aired for several years, I think Kwame might be a little more well-known than most African names. (I can't say for sure, I don't get out in public much.)
Other possibilities (your mileage may vary):
Abena (f)
Abeni (f)
Ama (f)
Amadi (m/f) - Probably a good idea to use this for a girl, because the feminine Igbo meaning is much nicer than the masculine Yoruba meaning!
1
LOL. I've had trouble with misinterpreting people this weekend- I meant that my own post implied that the people here could be closed-minded. At least that is what I got from it when I reread it. I was worried- I don't want to insult anyone and I didn't want it to be taken that way. I guess it's just me then. :-D Sorry for the confusion.
Anyway... thanks for the names. I have considered Neo and Kobe before. The trouble is with girls' names...
I agree on the switch. I think it'd be easier to go with a biblical first name and an Amharic middle one.
-Erica
Anyway... thanks for the names. I have considered Neo and Kobe before. The trouble is with girls' names...
I agree on the switch. I think it'd be easier to go with a biblical first name and an Amharic middle one.
-Erica
1