Balthasar's Personal Name List

Means "flower" in Amharic.

Means "Where do I stay?" in Alur language. It is given to someone who is born to a parent or parents who are disliked by, or in conflict with, their familymembers or community.

Means "comes with the start of the week" in Yoruba, given when the child is born on Sunday.

Means "eldest daughter of the king" in Igbo.

Means "she must be introduced" in Nguni.

Means "spring (season)" in Ovambo.

Means "born on Saturday" in Akan.

Means "power, strength" in Xhosa and Zulu.

A famous bearer is Amandla Stenberg (b. 1998) an American actress and singer.

Means "God knows" in Nyoro, Tooro, Nkore, and Kiga.

Means "grace" in Igbo.

Means "cheetah" in Tamazight [1].

Means "the first" in Kabyle.

Means "lion" in Tigrinya.

Means "expanded, increased" or "extension" in Xhosa.

From Hausa Asabar meaning "Saturday" (of Arabic origin).

Means "she is still beautiful" in Nguni.

From Swahili ishi meaning "live, exist", derived from Arabic عاش (ʿāsha).

From the name of an African people who reside in southern Ghana. It possibly means "warlike" in the Twi language.

From the name of an Islamic holy day that commemorates the death of Husayn ibn Ali. It is so named because it falls on the tenth day of Muharram, deriving from Arabic عشرة (ʿashara) meaning "ten" [1].

Means "victory" in Eggon.

Feminine form of Otieno.

Means "they are increasing" in Zulu, Xhosa and Ndebele.

Meaning uncertain. In 1970 it was featured in The Book of African Names by Chief Osuntoki [1][2] with a listed meaning of "beautiful flower". American comedian and activist Dick Gregory used it for his daughter in 1971.

Means "joy has come again" in Yoruba.

Means "luck, good fortune" in Swahili, ultimately from Persian بخت (bakht).

Variant of Bibi.

Short form of Gubena or Abena. This was used by early slaves in the American South - attested in the 1730s in South Carolina. It was frequently misanalyzed as Venus.

English corruption of Abena. This was used by early slaves in the American south. Attested in the 1730's in South Carolina.

Variant of Abosede.

Alternate transcription of Arabic بشرى (see Bushra) chiefly used in North Africa.

Means "wealth, richness, well-being" in Punu.

Variant of Camisha.

French diminutive of Catherine.

Means "born at night" in Swahili.

Meaning gift or freely given

Means "God is more beautiful" in Igbo.

Means "God holds a portion" in Igbo.

Means "good God" in Igbo, derived from Chi 2, referring to God, and ọ́má meaning "good, beautiful".

Means "God continues to save" in Igbo.

Combination of Christine and Anne 1 used in South Africa.

From Shona dana meaning "call, summon" [1][2].

Variant of Dion.

Western African form of Zahra.

Means "given by God" in French, used as a French form of Deusdedit. It is currently much more common in French-speaking Africa than it is in France.

Means "praise" in Zulu and Ndebele.

Variant of Ebere.

Variant of Afua.

Means "gift" in Idoma.

Means "thanks, gratitude" in Igbo.

From a Greek form of a Hebrew name meaning "God is grandeur". The Gospel of Matthew lists him as an ancestor of Jesus. This name is popular in Kenya.

Short form of Chukwuemeka and other Igbo names ending with the same element.

Means "person with a story, storied person" in Yoruba.

Means "it is good for me" in Ewe.

Notable bearer is Erinayo Wilson Oryema, Uganda's first African Inspector General of Police.

French form of Aisopos.

Means "you are my sister" in Amharic.

From Shona fara meaning "rejoice, be happy" [1].

Feminine form of Gadisa.

Means "alive" in Tamazight.

Variant of Aisha. It was popularized by the song Iesha (1991) by Another Bad Creation [1].

Means "love" in Igbo (literally "to see in one's eye").

Means "power of the father" in Igbo.

Means "faith" in Swahili, ultimately from Arabic إيمان (ʾīmān).

Form of Yemayá found in Uruguay. Also compare Iemanjá.

Means "hope" in Swahili.

Means "star" in Tamazight.

Means "mother has returned" in Yoruba.

Means "lion" in Tamazight [1].

Variant of Jacquot.

Means "rear yourself" or "be self reliant" in Tumbuka. Can be given to orphans, or to children expected to be independent early in life.

From the English word jubilee meaning "season of rejoicing", which is derived from Hebrew יוֹבֵל (yovel) "ram, ram's horn; a jubilee year: a year of rest, prescribed by the Jewish Bible to occur each fiftieth year, after seven cycles of seven years; a period of celebration or rejoicing" (via Late Latin iubilaeus and Greek ἰώβηλος (iobelos)). In Latin, the form of the word was altered by association with the unrelated Latin verb iubilare "to shout with joy".

It may also refer to African-American folk songs known as Jubilees.

In popular culture, Jubilee is the 'mutant' name (a contraction of Jubilation Lee) of one of the protagonists of Marvel's X-Men line of comics.

Means "Tuesday" in Swahili.

Means "allotment, share, gift" in Sotho and Tswana.

Variant of Khadija.

Means "peace" in Tswana.

Means "woman who behaves like a slave raider" in Kasem.

Derived from Arabic الكاهنة (al-Kāhina) meaning "the diviner, the fortuneteller". This was a title applied to the 7th-century Berber queen Dihya, who resisted the Arab expansion into North Africa.

Meaning unknown. This was the birth name of the Kenyan president Jomo Kenyatta (1897-1978).

Means "answer" in Sotho and Tswana.

Means "heavy, serious" in Amharic.

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.

Means "king, chief" in Tswana.

Variant of Qiana [1].

From the name of the capital city of the African country, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city was named after a village (which is also named Kinshasa) that once existed there, which now has become a commune. The name itself is derived from Kikongo particles, ki as the locative word and nshasa meaning "salt".

Means "gift" in Luganda.

Diminutive of Chepkirui and Kipkirui.

Means "gift" in Rutooro [1].

Allegedly means "mine" in Oromo.

Means "be happy, rejoice" in Chewa and Tumbuka.

Ewe form of Kwasi.

Means "born on Tuesday" in Akan.

Ndyuka equivalent of the Fante (Akan) name Kwasi.

Variant of Lawal.

Short form of Olamilekan.

From Oromo leellisaa meaning "admirer".

Means "light" in Tswana.

Means "companion" or "to keep company" in Kabyle, possibly of Arabic origin.

Means "born face down" in Ewe.

Means "blessings" in Chewa.

Means "sing, dance" in Kikuyu. Kikuyu males were traditionally organized into age sets or generations, each lasting about 30 years. The Maina generation occupied the last part of the 19th century.

Possibly means "greatness" in Ethiopic. This was the name of an Ethiopian queen of the 10th-century BC. She is probably the same person as the Queen of Sheba, who visited Solomon in the Old Testament.

Means "happy one" in Kikuyu.

From the Malagasy mamy meaning "sweet" or "well-liked" and haja meaning "respect, honour".

Title for "king" or "ruler", now also used as a name. Can also mean "third daughter" in Twi, which is in the Akan language family.

Means "you have been humbled" in Shona.

Means "leaves, vegetables" in Yao.

Means "blessings" in Tswana, from sego "blessed".

Means "tears" in Tumbuka.

Latinized form of Berber Masensen meaning "their lord" [1]. This was the name of a 3rd-century BC Berber chieftain. He became the first king of Numidia after allying himself with the Roman Republic against Carthage.

Means "God lives" in Ewe.

Means "joy; happiness" in Kongo.

Means "flower" in Zulu.

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

Means "leader of the nation" in Xhosa.

Derived from Tamazight meẓyan meaning "young, little".

Diminutive of Melinda.

From Mohombi Nzasi Moupondo, known professionally as Mohombi, a Swedish-Congolese singer-songwriter and dancer.

Means "I wake up to wealth" in Yoruba.

Probably a Latinate form of Monime, first used by Thomas Otway for the title character in his tragic play The Orphan (1680). It was subsequently used by the Scottish author Tobias Smollett (also for an orphan character) in his novel The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom (1753), and later by English poet and novelist Charlotte Smith for the heroine of her novel The Old Manor House (1793), which was a huge bestseller in the last decade of the 18th century. The 1850 United States census shows about 40 women and girls with variants of this name.

Means "peace" in Chewa.

Meaning unknown. This is the name of a figure in Ganda mythology associated with forests and hunting [1].

Possibly means "the one who milks the cows" in Kikuyu.

Musoke is the God of Rain in Ganda mythology. His Name derives From ‘mu’, indicating a single individual, and ‘soke’, which means ‘rain’.

From Egyptian mwt-m-wjꜣ meaning "Mut is in the sacred barque" [1], from the name of the goddess Mut combined with wjꜣ "sacred barque" (a boat used to carry the dead to the afterlife). This name was borne by a wife of the pharaoh Thutmose IV. She was the mother of Amenhotep III.

Means "mother-in-law" in Kikuyu.

From Egyptian mwt-nḏmt meaning "Mut is sweet", from the name of the goddess Mut combined with nḏm "sweet, pleasant". This name was borne by the wife of the pharaoh Horemheb.

Means "opportunity" in Chewa.

From the Chewa word for a type of flowering tree (species Breonadia salicina).

Feminine form of Wafula.

From the name of the capital city of Kenya, derived from Maasai enkare nyrobi meaning "cold water".

Means "born during the weeding season", from Luhya liliaka meaning "weeding".

Protector of the village

Feminine form of Wanjala.

Feminine form of Simiyu.

Feminine form of Wekesa [1].

From Shona netsa meaning "trouble, annoy, bother" [1].

Means "purpose, aim" in Swahili, borrowed from Arabic نيّة (nīya) [1].

Means "travelling one" in Kikuyu. Njeri (or Wanjeri) is the name of one of the nine daughters of Mumbi in the Kikuyu origin legend.

Short form of Nkechinyere.

Means "that to come is greater" in Igbo.

Means "princess" in Xhosa.

Means "my father is alive" in Igbo. This name is given to a child when it is believed that he is a reincarnation of his grandfather.

Means "mother's mother" in Igbo. This name is given in honour of the child's maternal grandmother.

Means "merciful" in Ndebele.

Means "sixth born child" in Akan.

Means "seventh born child" in Akan.

From the name of the ancient region and kingdom in Africa, south of Egypt. It possibly derives from the Egyptian word nbw meaning "gold".

Means "sibling is greater" in Igbo.

From Ekegusii oboke "honey"

From Kikuyu mbura meaning "rain". This is the name of one of the nine daughters of Mumbi in the Kikuyu origin legend.

From Shona nyara meaning "be shy, be quiet, be humble" [1].

The name of a character from two 15-part movie serials in the early 1940s: Jungle Girl (1941) and Perils of Nyoka (1942). The serials were based on the novel Jungle Girl (1932) by Edgar Rice Burroughs, in which the titular character was named Fou-tan. The meaning of the name is not uncertain, but it has been suggested that it was inspired by the word nyoka which means "snake" in multiple African languages including Swahili, Shona, Kikuyu and Tsonga.

Means "born on Saturday" in Luhya.

Derived from Swahili and Lingala nyota meaning "star".

Variant of Njinga.

Means "boy (born on) Eke" in Igbo, Eke being one of the four days of the Igbo week.

Means "boy (born on) Orie" in Igbo, Orie being one of the four days of the Igbo week.

Possibly a form of the Igbo name Olaedo. This was borne by former slave, anti-slavery campaigner and autobiographer Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797), the son of a West African village chief.

Means "God makes wealth" in Yoruba.

Means "child is family" in Yoruba.

Means "born early in the morning" in Luo.

Means "who is greater than God?" in Igbo.

Form of Uthman used in parts of French-influenced West Africa.

Literally means "she (who) tore" in Yoruba.

In Yoruba mythology, Oya, a Great Yoruban Orisha, is the undergoddess of the Niger River. The wife of Shango, and elder sister to goddesses Yemayá and Oshun. She is the goddess of storms and winds, and her realm ranges from rainbows to thunder, as well as the marketplace where she steers the changing fortunes made through business. She is believed to be able to manifest as winds, ranging from a gentle breeze to a raging hurricane or cyclone. She's known as a fierce warrior goddess and a protector of women as the Orisha of rebirth and new life, and she is believed to bring about change.

Oya has been syncretized in Santería with the Catholic images of the Virgin of Candelaria.

Means "powerful man" or "strong man" in Mende.

Means "flower" in Sotho.

Means "seek for, look for" in Tumbuka.

Means "he who is never defeated" in Haya.

Likely a transferred use of the surname.

From Arabic ثانٍ (thānin) meaning "second", a derivative of اثنان (ithnān) meaning "two" [1]. If two or more siblings share the same given name, this name may be appended to that of the second.

Means "conquer" in Yoruba, also a short form of Olusegun or Oluwasegun.

The name Originates from Tiv and it means "Peaceful Bird" or "One of a kind"

Means "laugh" in Tumbuka.

Means "bloom, flower" in Tswana, derived from thunya "to bloom".

Combination of the popular phonetic elements sha and nay.

Allegedly means "wonder" in Swahili.

Means "wish" in Zulu.

Means "power, strength" in Shona [1].

Means "follow me home" in Yoruba.

Simidele Adeagbo is a Canadian-born Nigerian skeleton racer who competed at 2018 Winter Olympics. She is Nigeria and Africa’s first female skeleton athlete, as well as the first black female athlete in the sport of skeleton.

Means "rest in wealth" in Yoruba.

Means "born during the dry season" in Luhya.

Means "patience" in Swahili, from Arabic صبر (ṣabara).

Means "we have been blessed" in Chewa.

Means "revived" in Amharic.

Means "we are pleased" in Shona, from fadza meaning "please, make happy".

Means "taste the world, taste life" in Yoruba.

Means "flower" in Tamazight.

Means "we are glad" in Chewa.

Means "exalt, praise" in Chewa.

Means "we are thankful" in Tumbuka.

Means "given" in Shona.

Means "his history, his story" in Amharic.

Means "hope" in Shona [1].

Means "(to) be looked" in Shona.

From Shona tenda meaning "be thankful, thank" [1].

From Amharic ተስፋ (tasfa) meaning "hope".

Means "be happy" in Zulu and Ndebele.

Means "loved" in Zulu and Ndebele.

Means "loving one" in Xhosa, Zulu and Ndebele, from thanda "to love".

Means "will, desire" in Sotho and Tswana.

From the name of the day of the week, which ultimately derives from Old English þunresdæg meaning literally "Thor's day". A known bearer of this name was Thursday October Christian (1790-1831), the first son of the HMS Bounty mutineer Fletcher Christian and his Tahitian wife Mauatua, who was born on a Thursday in October.

Short form of Tatiana or Christiana. It was rare in the United States until it jumped in popularity in 1975, perhaps due to the Vietnamese-American actress Tiana Alexandra (1956-), who had some exposure at that time. It was used as the name of the princess in the Disney movie The Princess and the Frog (2009).

Means "we will see" from Shona ticha "we will" and ona "see".

Feminine form of Idir.

Means "we thank" in Chewa and Tumbuka.

Means "returned from overseas". It is often given to children born abroad and brought home.

The meaning is "to be happy". It was popularized by Tsakani Mhinga. She was a South African singer who died in 2006.
-------------------------------------
Means "be happy" in Xitsonga.

Means "wisdom, sense, mind" in Igbo.

Means "peace" in Igbo.

Means "eagle of God" in Igbo, from ùgó meaning "eagle, honour" and Chi 2, referring to God.

Means "young man" in Urhobo.

Means "he or she is with us" in Xhosa, from the prefix u- meaning "he, she" and nathi meaning "with us".

Meaning youthful or childhood. A person who looks much younger than his age

Means "beauty" in Efik.

Means "way of God" in Igbo.

From Kikuyu irimũ meaning "ogre, giant". In the Kikuyu origin legend Wairimu is of one of the nine daughters of Mumbi.

Means "born during the brewing season" in Luhya.

Means "zebra" in Kikuyu. This is one of Mumbi's nine daughters in the Kikuyu origin legend.

Means "freedom" in Tumbuka.

From Kikuyu ngarĩ meaning "leopard". In the Kikuyu origin legend this is the name of one of the nine daughters of Mumbi.

Means "born during famine", from Luhya injala meaning "hunger, famine".

Means "born during the weeding season", from Luhya enyonyi meaning "weeds".

Means "first of twins" in Luganda.

Means "abundance" in Hausa.

Hebrew form of Jared. This form is also used in Ethiopia. It was borne by a semi-legendary 6th-century Ethiopian musician who is considered a saint in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

Transferred use of the surname Yarrow, and/or from the word for the flowering plant (Achillea millefolium).

Means "mother has awakened" in Yoruba.

Variant of Iemanjá.

Means "mother has come again" in Yoruba.

Means "beautiful beyond limits" from Amharic ውብ (wb) meaning "beautiful" and ዳር (dar) meaning "limit, horizon, frontier, shore".

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.

Variant of Zariah.

Means "gift" in Swahili, derived from Arabic زواد (zawād) meaning "provisions" [1].

Variant transcript of Zayyan.

Borne by the American actress Zendaya Coleman (1996-), known simply as Zendaya. Her name was apparently inspired by the Shona name Tendai.