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HelpMalawian names list (#1?)
From Chloe's complaint about names you don't see enough, and possibly in response to that whole thread, here is a a relatively small list of names I came across in Malawi... small in comparison to the size of the Excel spreadsheet I am hoarding. There are some absolute gems and some.... specials.
Children sometimes have an English name and a Chichewa/Chitumbuka/Chiyao/Chitonga/other tribal language name, but this list is of the names they are best known by and recorded at school. Note that Ls and Rs are interchangeable, as is the spelling of your name (e.g. a girl wrote her name on exams on three separate occasions as Ester, Estere and Esther). Some names are Malawian-ised from the Bible (e.g. Yohane from John).
In the local language, every syllable is pronounced with emphasis on the second-last syllable (usually), and the last syllable is always a vowel, so sometimes the pronunciation of a common English name is different. Paul, for instance, is sometimes said as Pah-OO-lo. Equally, though, names are pronounced the same in English even if they aren’t particularly local-language-friendly (e.g. Florence, Beatrice), however, sometimes an extra EEE sound for good luck is added at the end, liked Francis-y, Manis-y, Janet-y. All of these are generally said the same way in English though.
I may put up some Chichewa names and meanings on the Name Facts boards, but I have never been to that place and it scares me.
Here are the English (or English-inspired? Ha) names from the first batch. Ages 4 – 10:
Girls
Agness
Alice
Alli
Amina
Annie
Bebina – not sure what this is
Bertha
Bridget
Caroline - went as Kalo (KAH-lo)
Deborah – this little girl said it Deb-OR-uh
Dorica
Doroth – sometimes English words get their last syllable ending in the long E sound lopped off because Chichewa-speakers assume it was added on. For instance, the girl I lived with was Naomi – she got called Naom.
Dyna
Edda
Edna
Eliza – this little girl pronounced it Eleeza (i is pronounced ee in the local language)
Ellen
Esnart – very common name, not sure of its origins, it’s been doing my nut in. Pronounced like EZ-nat
Estere – spelling of Esther in the Bible translation. Esther is very common and girls named Esther / Ester will get Estere (pr. ES-ter-ay) as well
Ethel
Evaleti – (all the ev- names start sounding like Eve)
Evelyn
Evilda
Faith
Febe – 90% sure this is Phoebe, but this girl gets both FAY-bee and FEE-bee
Flora
Hana – same as how I’d say Hannah
Happiness – aka Chimwemwe, local language word for Happiness
Innocesia
Janet
Joice – same pr. as Joyce, sometimes like Joyce-y
Judith
Juliet
Ketta – nickname sounds like Katie! (e = ay sound), spelled Ketti
Lilian
Margret / Magret (a = ar sound)
Martha
Mary
Mercy - aka Chifundo, Chichewa meaning
Moreen
Naomi
Olivia
Priscilla
Promise – aka Lonjezo, Chichewa meaning
Rabecca
Rachael
Ratoya
Regina
Ruthie
Sandra
Shira – i.e. Sheila
Steria – both pr. Stellia, like an elaborate Stella
Vanessa
Violeti – pr. VEE-oh-lett-ee
Yasmine – pr. Yaz-meen
Boys
Aaron
Alfred
Alick
Amosi - pr. AH-mos(ee)
Anderson
Aulen
Austine - same as Austin
Bernard
Brian
Felix
Filisone - not sure about the origins of this one, pr. like Phil-son
Flex - derived from Felix, but said like Flex! No kidding
Frackson - extremely common, must come from a colonial surname but I've yet to look into it. Similar to Shadreck and Liston (= contraction of Livingstone, i.e. David Livingstone, I presume?)
Francis
Fredriek - said like Frederick
George
Gerald
Goodlucky - like the Nigerian president, just with a typical y/i ending
Harry
Henderson
Innocent
Jackson
John
Joseph
Kelvin - very common, sometimes said like Kevin, sometimes said like Kelvin
Klonderful - not sure
Lawrence
Manfred
Manuel
Maxwell
Mishel - pr. MISH-el
Omega
Osburn
Patrick
Paul
Peter - Chichewa equivilent is Petro, so Peters sometimes get called Petro
Philip
Precious
Shadreck - see Frackson
Sidney
Stephano - said like Stefano
Thomson
Timothy
Tony
Vincent
Watson
Wilson
Yohane - pr. yo-HAH-nee
Bonus names:
Modesta (g), Prince (b), Carloreen (g) - comes from Caroline
Lonily (g) = Lonely
Sherrif (b), Gertrude (g), Master (b), King (b), Magdalena (g)
Emeless (g) = Aimless!
Triphonia (g) = feminine of Tryphon is my best guess, but I knew 3 of these so no idea how it's so popular
Loveness x 1294090 - very popular English form of Chichewa word for love
Vergina (g) = Virginia, I assume?
Sports (m), Because (m), Future (m), Lastone (m), Danger (m), Beauty (f)
Fostina (f), Macdonald (m), Heartson (m), Mcfully (m), Shakira (f), Funny (f)
Children sometimes have an English name and a Chichewa/Chitumbuka/Chiyao/Chitonga/other tribal language name, but this list is of the names they are best known by and recorded at school. Note that Ls and Rs are interchangeable, as is the spelling of your name (e.g. a girl wrote her name on exams on three separate occasions as Ester, Estere and Esther). Some names are Malawian-ised from the Bible (e.g. Yohane from John).
In the local language, every syllable is pronounced with emphasis on the second-last syllable (usually), and the last syllable is always a vowel, so sometimes the pronunciation of a common English name is different. Paul, for instance, is sometimes said as Pah-OO-lo. Equally, though, names are pronounced the same in English even if they aren’t particularly local-language-friendly (e.g. Florence, Beatrice), however, sometimes an extra EEE sound for good luck is added at the end, liked Francis-y, Manis-y, Janet-y. All of these are generally said the same way in English though.
I may put up some Chichewa names and meanings on the Name Facts boards, but I have never been to that place and it scares me.
Here are the English (or English-inspired? Ha) names from the first batch. Ages 4 – 10:
Girls
Agness
Alice
Alli
Amina
Annie
Bebina – not sure what this is
Bertha
Bridget
Caroline - went as Kalo (KAH-lo)
Deborah – this little girl said it Deb-OR-uh
Dorica
Doroth – sometimes English words get their last syllable ending in the long E sound lopped off because Chichewa-speakers assume it was added on. For instance, the girl I lived with was Naomi – she got called Naom.
Dyna
Edda
Edna
Eliza – this little girl pronounced it Eleeza (i is pronounced ee in the local language)
Ellen
Esnart – very common name, not sure of its origins, it’s been doing my nut in. Pronounced like EZ-nat
Estere – spelling of Esther in the Bible translation. Esther is very common and girls named Esther / Ester will get Estere (pr. ES-ter-ay) as well
Ethel
Evaleti – (all the ev- names start sounding like Eve)
Evelyn
Evilda
Faith
Febe – 90% sure this is Phoebe, but this girl gets both FAY-bee and FEE-bee
Flora
Hana – same as how I’d say Hannah
Happiness – aka Chimwemwe, local language word for Happiness
Innocesia
Janet
Joice – same pr. as Joyce, sometimes like Joyce-y
Judith
Juliet
Ketta – nickname sounds like Katie! (e = ay sound), spelled Ketti
Lilian
Margret / Magret (a = ar sound)
Martha
Mary
Mercy - aka Chifundo, Chichewa meaning
Moreen
Naomi
Olivia
Priscilla
Promise – aka Lonjezo, Chichewa meaning
Rabecca
Rachael
Ratoya
Regina
Ruthie
Sandra
Shira – i.e. Sheila
Steria – both pr. Stellia, like an elaborate Stella
Vanessa
Violeti – pr. VEE-oh-lett-ee
Yasmine – pr. Yaz-meen
Boys
Aaron
Alfred
Alick
Amosi - pr. AH-mos(ee)
Anderson
Aulen
Austine - same as Austin
Bernard
Brian
Felix
Filisone - not sure about the origins of this one, pr. like Phil-son
Flex - derived from Felix, but said like Flex! No kidding
Frackson - extremely common, must come from a colonial surname but I've yet to look into it. Similar to Shadreck and Liston (= contraction of Livingstone, i.e. David Livingstone, I presume?)
Francis
Fredriek - said like Frederick
George
Gerald
Goodlucky - like the Nigerian president, just with a typical y/i ending
Harry
Henderson
Innocent
Jackson
John
Joseph
Kelvin - very common, sometimes said like Kevin, sometimes said like Kelvin
Klonderful - not sure
Lawrence
Manfred
Manuel
Maxwell
Mishel - pr. MISH-el
Omega
Osburn
Patrick
Paul
Peter - Chichewa equivilent is Petro, so Peters sometimes get called Petro
Philip
Precious
Shadreck - see Frackson
Sidney
Stephano - said like Stefano
Thomson
Timothy
Tony
Vincent
Watson
Wilson
Yohane - pr. yo-HAH-nee
Bonus names:
Modesta (g), Prince (b), Carloreen (g) - comes from Caroline
Lonily (g) = Lonely
Sherrif (b), Gertrude (g), Master (b), King (b), Magdalena (g)
Emeless (g) = Aimless!
Triphonia (g) = feminine of Tryphon is my best guess, but I knew 3 of these so no idea how it's so popular
Loveness x 1294090 - very popular English form of Chichewa word for love
Vergina (g) = Virginia, I assume?
Sports (m), Because (m), Future (m), Lastone (m), Danger (m), Beauty (f)
Fostina (f), Macdonald (m), Heartson (m), Mcfully (m), Shakira (f), Funny (f)
This message was edited 3/26/2012, 6:38 PM
Archived Thread - replies disabled
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Replies
I would think Shadreck was from Shadrach.
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Yes, that spelling is common too, but why is it SO common? Like, it would definitely be in the top 20 for the general population. So weird.
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Neaty!
Did you live in Malawai?
This is great information. One of the reasons I come here is my original love of languages / etymology. Seeing how words travel from language to language always fascinated me. It's fun to see how names are treated in Malawi.
Poor Emeless. Does it really mean aimless or is that more of a pronunciation guide? Or if it does mean aimless then perhaps it's part of the "give the child a name that will cause the evil spirits to pass over it" theory.
Goodlucky and Loveness are fabulous. And that's funny about Doroth and Naom. My neurotransmitters are sparking up a storm. Thanks!
Did you live in Malawai?
This is great information. One of the reasons I come here is my original love of languages / etymology. Seeing how words travel from language to language always fascinated me. It's fun to see how names are treated in Malawi.
Poor Emeless. Does it really mean aimless or is that more of a pronunciation guide? Or if it does mean aimless then perhaps it's part of the "give the child a name that will cause the evil spirits to pass over it" theory.
Goodlucky and Loveness are fabulous. And that's funny about Doroth and Naom. My neurotransmitters are sparking up a storm. Thanks!
This message was edited 3/28/2012, 10:41 AM
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It's so interesting, isn't it? The greatest naming-related day of my life was when I realised that Liston / Riston / Listone (all people I knew) derived from Livingstone.
I've not such about Emeless' meaning, though I would guess that it is actually Aimless spelled for Chichewa-speakers (E being ay). I haven't come across any Aimlesses, but there probably is a Chichewa/Chiyao name meaning aimless and I just don't know the word.
I think Loveness in particular is great. It's actually a GP of mine (like, serious GP. There's no way I'd use it), but only because I have met some great kids called Loveness. Lovemore is popular too.
Another good one is James - the Chichewa nickname is Muje (MOO-jay) - I think in the Bible James is Jemu (JAY-moo), so it's Jemu reversed. James = Muje.
I've spent a bit of time in Malawi - been there twice. I've just come back from three months in the south. :)
I've not such about Emeless' meaning, though I would guess that it is actually Aimless spelled for Chichewa-speakers (E being ay). I haven't come across any Aimlesses, but there probably is a Chichewa/Chiyao name meaning aimless and I just don't know the word.
I think Loveness in particular is great. It's actually a GP of mine (like, serious GP. There's no way I'd use it), but only because I have met some great kids called Loveness. Lovemore is popular too.
Another good one is James - the Chichewa nickname is Muje (MOO-jay) - I think in the Bible James is Jemu (JAY-moo), so it's Jemu reversed. James = Muje.
I've spent a bit of time in Malawi - been there twice. I've just come back from three months in the south. :)
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