Browse Names

Aisha f Arabic, Urdu, Hausa, Swahili, Kazakh, African American
Means "living, alive" in Arabic. This was the name of Muhammad's third wife, the daughter of Abu Bakr. Some time after Muhammad's death she went to war against Ali, the fourth caliph, but was defeated. Her name is used more by Sunni Muslims and less by Shias.... [more]

Akeem m African American
Perhaps a variant of Hakim.

Amare m African American (Modern)
Variant of Amari. This name is borne by basketball player Amar'e Stoudemire (1982-).

Amari m & f African American (Modern)
Meaning uncertain, perhaps from Arabic Ammar. This name has risen in popularity in America at the same time as similar-sounding names such as Jamari and Kamari.

Andre m English, African American
English form of André.

Aniya f African American (Modern)
Variant of Aniyah.

Ayana 3 f African American
Variant of Ayanna.

Davon m African American (Modern)
Combination of the phonetic elements da and von.

Deion m African American (Modern)
Variant of Dion. A notable bearer is retired American football player Deion Sanders (1967-).

Donte m African American
Variant of Dante.

Eboni f African American
Variant of Ebony.

Ebony f African American
From the English word ebony for the black wood that comes from the ebony tree. It is ultimately from the Egyptian word hbnj. In America this name is most often used in the black community.

Iesha f African American (Modern)
Variant of Aisha. It was popularized by the song Iesha (1991) by Another Bad Creation.

Imani f & m Swahili, African American
Means "faith" in Swahili, ultimately from Arabic إيمان (ʾīmān).

Ivory m & f African American
From the English word for the hard, creamy-white substance that comes from elephant tusks and was formerly used to produce piano keys.

Jalen m African American (Modern)
An invented name. In America it was popularized in the 1990s by basketball player Jalen Rose (1973-), whose name was a combination of those of his father James and maternal uncle Leonard.

Jamal m Arabic, Urdu, Indonesian, Malay, African American
Means "beauty" in Arabic, from the root جمل (jamala) meaning "to be beautiful".

Jamar m African American
Invented name, based on the sounds found in names such as Jamal and Lamar. It has been in general use in America since the 1970s.

Jamir m African American (Modern)
Variant of Jamar, probably influenced by names such as Jamil.

Jaren m English (Modern), African American (Modern)
Variant of Jaron 2.

Jaron 2 m English (Modern), African American (Modern)
Invented name, probably based on the sounds of names such as Jared and Darren.

Javon m African American (Modern)
Combination of the phonetic elements ja or jay and von.

Kanye m African American (Modern)
Meaning uncertain. It could be from the name of a town in Botswana (of Tswana origin). Yoruba, Igbo, Xhosa and Fula meanings have also been suggested. It is borne by the American rapper Kanye West (1977-), and the name briefly appeared on the United States top 1000 list in 2004 when he released his debut album.

Kenya f English, African American
From the name of the African country. The country is named for Mount Kenya, which in the Kikuyu language is called Kĩrĩnyaga meaning "the one having stripes". It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since the 1960s.

Kiana 2 f African American
Variant of Qiana.

Kisha f African American
Variant of Keisha.

Kyree m African American (Modern)
Variant of Kyrie 1.

Kyrie 1 m African American (Modern)
Invented name, based on the sounds found in names such as Tyree and Kyle. It was popularized as a masculine name by American basketball player Kyrie Irving (1992-).

Lamar m English, African American
From a French and English surname, originally from a place name in Normandy, which was derived from Old French la mare meaning "the pool". In the second half of the 20th century this name has been well-used in the African-American community, probably because of its popular phonetic components la and mar.

Levar m African American
Popularized by the American actor LeVar Burton (1957-) after he starred in the popular American miniseries Roots (1977). His birth name was Levardis, after his father, of unknown meaning. It can be spelled Levar or with a capitalized third letter as LeVar.

Mekhi m African American
Meaning unknown, possibly an invented name. This name was popularized by the American actor Mekhi Phifer (1974-).

Qiana f African American (Modern)
From the word for the silk-like material, introduced by DuPont in 1968 and popular in the fashions of the 1970s.

Semaj m & f African American (Modern)
The name James spelled backwards.

Tamia f African American (Modern)
An invented name, using the initial sound found in names such as Tamika. It was popularized by the Canadian singer Tamia Hill (1975-), who is known simply as Tamia.

Tavon m African American (Modern)
Combination of the phonetic elements ta or tay with von.

Tisha f English, African American
Short form of Letitia or Latisha.

Tyree m African American
From a Scottish surname, a variant of McIntyre. It has been well-used as an African-American name, especially since the 1970s, probably inspired by other similar-sounding names such as Tyrone.

Tyrik m African American (Modern)
Invented name, influenced by the sounds found other names such as Tyrone, Tyrell, Tyree and Tariq.

Tyriq m African American (Modern)
Variant of Tyrik.

Zaire m African American (Modern)
From the name of a country in Africa from 1971 to 1997, now called the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is said to be derived from Kikongo nzadi o nzere meaning "river swallowing rivers", referring to the Congo River.