Browse Names - Behind the Name

Abiola f & m Yoruba
Means "born into wealth" in Yoruba.

Abioye m & f Yoruba
Means "born into royalty" in Yoruba.

Adaeze f Igbo
Means "eldest daughter of the king" in Igbo.

Adanna f Igbo
Means "eldest daughter of the father" in Igbo.

Adeola f & m Yoruba
Means "the crown of wealth" in Yoruba. It is also a surname.

Akachi m & f Igbo
Means "the hand of God" in Igbo.

Akuchi f & m Igbo
Means "wealth from God" in Igbo.

Alhaji m Hausa
Means "the pilgrim" in Hausa, a derivative of Arabic حجّ (ḥajj) meaning "pilgrimage, hajj". It is typically a title, not a name.

Alheri f Hausa
Means "the charitable, the good" in Hausa, from Arabic خير (khayr).

Bitrus m Hausa
Hausa form of Peter.

Bosede f Yoruba
Variant of Abosede.

Bukola f Yoruba
Means "add to wealth" in Yoruba.

Chichi f Igbo
Diminutive of Chi 2.

Chinwe f Igbo
Means "God possesses" in Igbo. It is also a short form of Igbo names beginning with Chinwe.

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

Chisom f & m Igbo
Means "God goes with me" in Igbo.

Eniola f & m Yoruba
Means "person of wealth" in Yoruba.

Enitan m & f Yoruba
Means "person with a story, storied person" in Yoruba.

Folami m & f Yoruba (Rare)
Means "respect and honour me" in Yoruba.

Hadiza f Hausa
Hausa form of Khadija.

Hafsat f Hausa
Hausa form of Hafsa.

Halima f Arabic, Urdu, Bengali, Hausa, Swahili
Feminine form of Halim. Halima was the name of the foster mother of the Prophet Muhammad.

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.

Haruna 2 m Hausa, Fula
Hausa and Fula form of Harun.

Hauwa'u f Hausa
Hausa form of Hawa.

Ifeoma f Igbo
Means "good thing" in Igbo, derived from ífé meaning "thing" and ọ́má meaning "good, beautiful".

Ijeoma f Igbo
Means "good journey" in Igbo.

Ikenna m Igbo
Means "power of the father" in Igbo.

Inyene m & f Ibibio
Means "wealth" in Ibibio.

Jamila f Arabic, Urdu, Hausa
Feminine form of Jamil. This was the name of a wife of the caliph Umar.

Jummai f Hausa
From Hausa Jumma'a meaning "Friday" (of Arabic origin).

Kayode m Yoruba
Means "bringing joy" in Yoruba.

Kyauta m & f Hausa
Means "gift" in Hausa.

Lawali m Hausa
Variant of Lawal.

Mamman m Hausa
Contracted form of Muhammadu.

Monifa f Yoruba (Rare)
Means "I am lucky" in Yoruba.

Nkechi f Igbo
Short form of Nkechinyere.

Nnamdi m Igbo
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.

Nnenna f Igbo
Means "father's mother" in Igbo. This name is given in honour of the child's paternal grandmother.

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

Obinna m Igbo
Means "heart of the father" in Igbo, from óbì "heart, mind" and ńnà "father".

Ogechi f Igbo
Means "God's time" in Igbo.

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

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

Oluchi f Igbo
Means "work of God" in Igbo.

Onyeka m & f Igbo
Short form of Onyekachi.

Rakiya f Hausa
Hausa form of Ruqayya.

Safiya f Hausa, Kazakh, Arabic
Hausa and Kazakh form of Safiyya. It is also an alternate transcription of the Arabic name.

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

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

Ufuoma m & f Urhobo
Means "peace of mind" in Urhobo.

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

Uzochi m & f Igbo
Means "way of God" in Igbo.

Yaƙubu m Hausa
Hausa form of Yaqub.

Yejide f Yoruba
Means "mother has awakened" in Yoruba.

Zainab f Arabic, Urdu, Hausa, Malay, Indonesian
Alternate transcription of Arabic زينب (see Zaynab), as well as the usual form in several languages.

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