Abeni

I am absolutely in love with the meaning of this name. It’s so sweet!

The namesake has a lovely surname.

I love this meaning. Good name too.

The meaning is so beautiful and precious. Anybody who has it is lucky to have such a nice name.

It sounds very pretty, but the meaning is hilarious! I still like it though :)

Very nice meaning :)

I named my daughter Abeni because my husband and I thought we couldn't have kids. We kept trying, but nothing. Every night I would pray, and hold my tummy. Finally I got a yes, you are pregnant. It was the happiest day. I already knew her initial letter A, and so I looked at all the A name meanings. Then I saw 'a girl prayed for, we asked and behold, there she is.' I disagree that the name has the stigma of property. When I saw the meaning of Abeni I said that's Her with tears in my eyes. After I was 1 month pregnant, I had to be in bed rest for 4 months. I kept bleeding, so strict bed rest. I was just allowed to go to the restroom. I prayed before getting pregnant and after pregnancy. Abeni is my miracle baby girl. She is now 15 years old and she is the best thing that has happened to me. She is everything. Her name is beautiful, unique, one of a kind, sweet, smart, with a big heart. Love her name and people sometimes want to call her Abby or something short, but she says 'no, my name is Abeni.' She says 'my mom named me Abeni not Abby because there's a special meaning behind my name.' :)

The meaning is beyond sweet, and the nickname Benny would be quite adorable. I think it's beautiful.

My name is Abeni and I always get made fun of for it but I like being different from everyone else. People call me Abby, Abs, Bennie or AJ- my initials. I like common names but it doesn't feel stupid to me when people call me, it just makes me proud to be unique. My mum always told me she would kill for a girl and the name fit. It also makes me feel better about myself to be wanted. It doesn't sound like property just that someone cares.

Abeni is an interesting, wonderful name. I love the sight of it, I love the sound of it. And Ben or Beni would be a marvelous nickname.

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However... I find myself to be really turned-off by the meaning: "we asked for her, and behold, we got her." I suppose it is endearing when the child is born, but I have a hard time not thinking about how it sounds when she grows up. For an adult (presumably) looking for eventual marriage/partnership/love, I think it has a distasteful patriarchal aspect... especially the final piece of the meaning, "we GOT her," as if she were property. Perhaps I am merely reading too deeply into it, though.

Would you read into it that way if it weren't an African name? Or does it being African automatically mean it must be misogynist?

We named our daughter this and have only received compliments on it. It is a unique name that isn't too "out there" and is easy to pronounce.

I'm in love with the meaning and it's quite amusing. I started laughing too! What a way to welcome a much wanted girl.

The meaning is simply precious.

I'm sorry, but the meaning of this name makes me burst out laughing! But still, it is a nice-sounding name.

I suggested this to a professor who was expecting her first child (she'd found that it would be a girl), but she didn't take to it. It's a shame, for her family was hoping for a daughter and this would have been a good welcome.