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HelpRe: Board preferences, Amharic names
in reply to a message by Chitown1296
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!
Anan (m/f)
Ayo (f)
Chipo (f)
Dada (f) - Potentially tease-prone here in NA though
Dayo (f)
Folami (m)
Imamu (m)
Imani (f) - Rather popular with African-Americans, I think (though this perception is from watching a lot of TV, so you might take this with a grain of salt!)
Kamaria (f)
Kato (m)
Kibwe (m)
Kobe (m) - Made familiar by Kobe Bryant, although his rape charge may have permanently sullied the name. He was named for a Japanese dish his mother saw on a menu, iirc
Kofi (m) - I once saw this in Reader's Digest as the name of an African-American. The article said this name was pronounced like "coffee", possibly making it tease-prone
Kojo (m)
Manyara (f)
Marjani (f)
Monifa (f)
Neo (m/f) - I would use this on a boy if he's living in NA, since people are more familiar with the Greek-originated Neo, which is usually used on boys
Nia (f)
Nyah (f)
Oni (f)
Paki (m)
Ramla (f)
Rudo (m/f) - Due to this name's similarity with Rudy, which is usually thought of as a masculine name, I would use this name for a boy
Sipho (m)
Subira (f)
Thabo (m)
Zola (f)
Zuri (f)
There's also Simba and Obi for boys, but those are pretty much unusable in NA imo because of Disney's The Lion King and Star Wars respectively. Sauda for girls would be very pretty, but unfortunately it's probably too tied to country here.
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.
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!
Anan (m/f)
Ayo (f)
Chipo (f)
Dada (f) - Potentially tease-prone here in NA though
Dayo (f)
Folami (m)
Imamu (m)
Imani (f) - Rather popular with African-Americans, I think (though this perception is from watching a lot of TV, so you might take this with a grain of salt!)
Kamaria (f)
Kato (m)
Kibwe (m)
Kobe (m) - Made familiar by Kobe Bryant, although his rape charge may have permanently sullied the name. He was named for a Japanese dish his mother saw on a menu, iirc
Kofi (m) - I once saw this in Reader's Digest as the name of an African-American. The article said this name was pronounced like "coffee", possibly making it tease-prone
Kojo (m)
Manyara (f)
Marjani (f)
Monifa (f)
Neo (m/f) - I would use this on a boy if he's living in NA, since people are more familiar with the Greek-originated Neo, which is usually used on boys
Nia (f)
Nyah (f)
Oni (f)
Paki (m)
Ramla (f)
Rudo (m/f) - Due to this name's similarity with Rudy, which is usually thought of as a masculine name, I would use this name for a boy
Sipho (m)
Subira (f)
Thabo (m)
Zola (f)
Zuri (f)
There's also Simba and Obi for boys, but those are pretty much unusable in NA imo because of Disney's The Lion King and Star Wars respectively. Sauda for girls would be very pretty, but unfortunately it's probably too tied to country here.
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.
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