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I first heard the name stakaya, as a native term. Did not like for daughters name so made it makaia. It is a native american term, but also of many different languages. Stakaya is of native Songhees. Native indians of British Columbia.

When I did initial searches for the name (my daughter's name is Makaya) I found that it was a native american term meaning "bear", however, I have been unable to identify which tribe it comes from.

The -khaya element in the name means a house, or a nearby house, or therefore a neighbour; the ma- bit is the singular (or plural) marker, singular in this case. So, it looks like "house" or "neighbour"; however, it can also, for rather obvious reasons if you think about it, mean the placenta or afterbirth. This is probably a kinky thing to name a child from a Western perspective, but if you believe in bad luck and/or evil spirits it makes sense to give a child a name that would not attract them. Why bother with something unimportant and disposable when there's a genuine human child available for attack?

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I don't know at all which meaning Mr and Mrs Ntini, senior, intended when they named their son! Nor have I got any idea about their feelings about evil spirits etc. The meanings of names change. Let's assume that all the warm feelings we may have about houses and neighbours were in their minds at the time.

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He is certainly a magnificent player - I was privileged to watch him play against the West Indies last month; his bowling is wonderful to watch, and in the field he's never passive or inattentive for a moment - in fact he spends his time encouraging the rest of the team when he isn't chasing impossible shots to the boundary and stopping them. A couple of years ago the then South African and Australian teams did some fitness exercises together, and he was the best sprinter by far - better than some track athletes.

Reminds me of Makalya
but there may be no relation

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~SD