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None of my friends has got a clue ... but I just might have had a lightbulb moment: Have you seen the name written down, or have you just heard people saying it? If you've seen it, the lights are out! But if it's something you've heard, then it might actually be Thulani ... in which case it's a unisex name meaning "You all be quiet!" or "Everyone, shut up!". That makes it the equivalent of the Quaker name Tace; however, it's not addressed to the child; it's usually used for a child whose father is absent or unknown, as a reminder to the public not to be judgemental.

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The singular form is Thula - You be quiet! In both cases, the Th doesn't make the sound we know from this and that and thistle ... it's an unvoiced t which means that basically you whisper the t and then say the rest of the word normally. tu-LAAH-ni, or TOO-la.