Browse Names - Behind the Name

Aamadu m Fula
Fula form of Ahmad.

Abdou m Western African, Northern African
Form of Abduh common in West and North Africa.

Adamou m Western African
Form of Adam used in parts of French-influenced West Africa.

Ahmadu m Hausa
Hausa form of Ahmad.

Aïchatou f Western African
Form of Aisha used in parts of French-influenced West Africa.

Aishatu f Hausa
Hausa variant of Aisha.

Aïssatou f Western African
Form of Aisha used in parts of French-influenced West Africa.

Aku 2 f Ewe
Ewe form of Akua.

Alemayehu m & f Amharic
Means "I have seen the world" in Amharic.

Aliyu m Hausa
Hausa form of Ali 1.

Amadou m Western African
Form of Ahmad used in parts of French-influenced West Africa.

Amadu m Western African
Form of Ahmad used in West Africa.

Aminatou f Western African
Form of Amina 1 used in parts of French-influenced West Africa.

Aminu m Hausa
Hausa form of Amin.

Asma'u f Hausa
Hausa form of Asma.

Berhanu m Amharic
Means "his light" in Amharic.

Bilƙisu f Hausa
Hausa form of Bilqis.

Bontu f Oromo
Means "proud" in Oromo.

Chausiku f Swahili
Means "born at night" in Swahili.

Chidiegwu m Igbo (Rare)
Means "God is awe-inspiring" in Igbo.

Chikelu m & f Igbo
Variant of Chikere.

Chinedu m Igbo
Means "God is leading" in Igbo.

Chinwendu f & m Igbo
Means "God possesses life" in Igbo.

Chinyelu f Igbo
Variant of Chinyere.

Dubaku m & f Akan
Means "eleventh born child" in Akan.

Ekenedilichukwu m & f Igbo
Means "gratitude belongs to God" in Igbo.

Enu m & f Akan
Means "fifth born child" in Akan.

Faɗimatu f Hausa
Hausa form of Fatima.

Fatimatou f Western African
Form of Fatima used in parts of French-influenced West Africa.

Fatou f Western African
Short form of Fatoumata.

Gugulethu f Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele
From Xhosa, Zulu and Ndebele igugu "treasure, pride" and lethu "our".

Hadizatu f Hausa
Hausa variant form of Khadija.

Hafsatu f Hausa
Hausa form of Hafsa.

Halimatu f Hausa
Hausa variant of Halima.

Hamisu m Hausa
From Arabic خامس (khāmis) meaning "fifth", a derivative of خمسة (khamsa) meaning "five". It is sometimes added to a given name to indicate the fifth sibling bearing it.

Hauwa'u f Hausa
Hausa form of Hawa.

Idowu m & f Yoruba
Means "born after twins" in Yoruba.

Ifeanyichukwu m Igbo
Means "we can do anything with God" in Igbo.

Ikechukwu m Igbo
Means "power of God" in Igbo.

Imamu m Swahili
Means "spiritual leader" in Swahili, ultimately from Arabic إمام (ʾimām).

Issoufou m Western African
Form of Yusuf used in parts of French-influenced West Africa.

Jatau m Hausa
Means "fair-coloured, light" in Hausa.

Kadiatou f Western African
Form of Khadija used in parts of French-influenced West Africa.

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

Kokou m Ewe
Ewe form of Kwaku.

Kwaku m Akan
Means "born on Wednesday" in Akan.

Kweku m Akan
Variant of Kwaku.

Mahamadou m Western African
Form of Muhammad used in parts of French-influenced West Africa.

Mamadou m Western African
Form of Muhammad used in parts of French-influenced West Africa.

Mamadu m Western African
Form of Muhammad used in West Africa (Guinea-Bissau).

Mariamu f Swahili
Swahili form of Miriam.

Maryamu f Hausa
Hausa form of Maryam.

Modou m Western African
Short form of Mamadou.

Mubiru m Ganda
Meaning unknown. This is the name of a figure in Ganda mythology associated with forests and hunting.

Muhammadu m Hausa, Fula
Hausa and Fula form of Muhammad.

Nasimiyu f Luhya
Feminine form of Simiyu.

Nkiru f Igbo
Short form of Nkiruka.

Nuru f Swahili
Means "light" in Swahili, ultimately from Arabic نور (nūr).

Ogechukwu f Igbo
Means "God's time" in Igbo (a variant of Ogechi using Chukwu as the second element).

Ogochukwu f & m Igbo
Means "favour of God" in Igbo.

Okechukwu m Igbo
Means "portion of God" in Igbo.

Olanrewaju m Yoruba
Means "wealth goes forward" in Yoruba.

Olu m Yoruba
Short form of Yoruba names beginning with olú or olúwa meaning "lord, God".

Onyekachukwu m & f Igbo
Means "who is greater than God?" in Igbo (a variant of Onyekachi using Chukwu as the second element).

Oumarou m Western African
Form of Umar used in parts of French-influenced West Africa.

Oumou f Western African
Form of Umm used in parts of French-influenced West Africa.

Rabiu m Hausa
From Arabic رابع (rābiʿ) meaning "fourth", a derivative of أربعة (ʾarbaʿa) meaning "four". It is sometimes added to a given name to indicate the fourth sibling bearing it.

Rajabu m Swahili
Swahili form of Rajab.

Salamatu f Western African
Form of Salama used in West Africa.

Salisu m Hausa
From Arabic ثالث (thālith) meaning "third", sometimes added to a shared given name to indicate the third sibling bearing it.

Sefu m Swahili
Possibly a Swahili form of Saif.

Seydou m Western African
Form of Said used in parts of French-influenced West Africa.

Seynabou f Western African
Form of Zaynab used in parts of West Africa (mostly Senegal).

Shehu m Hausa
From Arabic شيخ (shaykh) meaning "elder, chief, sheikh", a title of Usman dan Fodio (1754-1817), the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate.

Simiyu m Luhya
Means "born during the dry season" in Luhya.

Siphosethu m & f Zulu, Xhosa
Means "our gift" in Zulu and Xhosa.

Ssanyu f Ganda
Means "joy" in Luganda.

Talatu f Hausa
From Hausa Talata meaning "Tuesday" (of Arabic origin).

Tariku m Amharic
Means "his history, his story" in Amharic.

Tatu 2 f Swahili
Means "third (child)" in Swahili.

Tau m Tswana, Sotho
Means "lion" in Tswana and Sotho. Tau was the name of the last ruler of the Rolong in South Africa (18th century).

Thandolwethu f & m Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele, Swazi
Means "our love" in Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele and Swazi, from thanda "to love".

Tochukwu m & f Igbo
Means "praise God" in Igbo.

Ugochukwu m Igbo
Means "eagle of God" in Igbo.

Uhuru m Swahili
Means "freedom" in Swahili.

Uju f Igbo
Means "fullness, plenty" in Igbo.

Umaru m Hausa
Hausa variant of Umar.

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

Wanjiku f Kikuyu
Meaning unknown. This is one of Mumbi's nine daughters in the Kikuyu origin legend.

Wanjiru f Kikuyu
Possibly from Kikuyu njĩra meaning "way, path". In the Kikuyu origin legend this is the name of one of the nine daughters of Mumbi.

Yaƙubu m Hausa
Hausa form of Yaqub.

Zainabu f Swahili, Hausa
Swahili and Hausa form of Zaynab.

Usage	clear
Language	clear
Place	clear

Initial	clear
Start	clear
End	clear
Substring	clear
Pattern	clear help?
the letters in the pattern are compared to the letters in the name * is a wildcard that matches zero or more letters example: oo matches names which contain oo _ is a wildcard that matches exactly one letter example: __z matches names which have two letters and then z

Meaning	clear help?
	expand search to include grammatical forms
	expand search to include close synonyms
	expand search to include subclasses
	expand search to related names
separate search terms with spaces search for an exact phrase by surrounding it with double quotes this field understands simple boolean logic force a term to be included by preceding it with a + sign force a term to be excluded by preceding it with a - sign expand search to include grammatical forms: attempt to include grammatical forms of the meanings example: speak includes spoke expand search to include close synonyms: attempt to include synonyms of the meanings example: brave includes courageous expand search to include search narrower synonyms: attempt to include subclasses of the meanings example: reptile includes turtle expand search to related names: allow related names to inherit the meaning of the main form
Description	clear help?
	ignore name meanings
the description is the meaning and history write-up for the name separate search terms with spaces search for an exact phrase by surrounding it with double quotes example: "lord of the rings" matches names from the novel 'The Lord of the Rings' this field understands simple boolean logic force a term to be included by preceding it with a + sign force a term to be excluded by preceding it with a - sign example: +greek +(legend myth) -zeus matches Greek names of myths or legends not about Zeus ignore name meanings: keywords from the name meanings are ignored

Pronunciation	clear help?
	case sensitive
see the pronunciation key for a guide on how to write the sounds sounds can only be searched in names that have been assigned pronunciations * is a wildcard that will match zero or more letters in the pronunciation example: lee matches names which end with the sound lee* _ is a wildcard that will match exactly one letter in the pronunciation example: __z matches names which have two letters and then a z (s) matches exactly one syllable in the pronunciation example: (s)(s)ra matches names which have two syllables and then the sound rah (c) matches a consonant (k) matches a consonant or consonant cluster (v) matches a vowel (p) matches a plosive or stop consonant (f) matches a fricative consonant (n) matches a nasal consonant case sensitive: check this if you wish distinguish between unstressed lowercase sounds and stressed uppercase sounds
Syllables	clear help?
syllables can only be counted in names that have been assigned pronunciations names without pronunciations are excluded from results

Related name	clear
Relationship	clear help?
	expand search to ancestral names
the "relationship" is how the name relates to its parent name example: searching for diminutive matches Betsy because it is a diminutive of its parent Elizabeth selecting *(all core forms)* excludes peripheral forms such as diminutives, short forms, and combinations expand search to ancestral names: relationships between names further up the family tree are included

Impression	clear help?
name impressions are based on the ratings left by the behindthename.com community
Impression	clear help?
name impressions are based on the ratings left by the behindthename.com community
Impression	clear help?
name impressions are based on the ratings left by the behindthename.com community

List	clear
Year	clear
Rank	clear

Country	clear
Month	clear
Day	clear

Sort	clear
Display	clear