NAMES &
ORIGINS

SITE AWARDS
JOBS IN NIGERIA & BEYOND
NIGERIAN ORGANIZATIONS
SEND FREE WEBCARD
IMMIGRATION
ONLINE AFFILIATES
LINK TO SITE
HOMEWORK HELP
USEFUL UTILITIES
THE LOVE ZONE
OTHER LINKS ON NIGERIA
LINK EXCHANGES
SCAM INFORMATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRO
THE GEOGRAPHY

LOCATION

MAP

STATES, CAPITALS, & LINKS

LAND & CLIMATE

RIVERS

TOWNS & CITIES
PATRIOTIC STUFF

FLAG

COAT OF ARMS

NATIONAL ANTHEM

NATIONAL PLEDGE

MOTTO
PEOPLES

POPULATION

RELIGION
     -CHRISTIANITY
     -ISLAM
     -TRADITIONAL
     -INFLUENCE

ETHNIC GROUPS
     -YORUBA
     -IBO (or IGBO)
     -HAUSA (& FULANI)
     -OTHERS
CULTURES & CUSTOMS
LANGUAGES & INTRO

LANGUAGES
     -YORUBA ALPHABET
        & LANGUAGE
     -IBO ALPHABET & LANGUAGE
     -HAUSA ALPHABET
        & LANGUAGE
     -LINKS TO OTHERS

LANGUAGE RESOURCES
     -GENERAL RESOURCES
     -YORUBA RESOURCES
     -IBO RESOURCES
     -HAUSA RESOURCES
     -OTHERS
MORE ON LANGUAGES
     -NUMBERS
     -PEOPLE
     -BODY PARTS
     -HOUSE PARTS
     -PLACES
     -OTHER WORDS
ADDITIONAL LANGUAGES
NAMES & ORIGINS

YORUBA NAMES
     -THE NAMING CEREMONY
     -COMMON PARTS
     -CIRCUMSTANTIAL NAMES

IGBO NAMES

HAUSA NAMES

LINKS ON NAMES
MARRIAGE & FAMILY

THE WEDDING

MARRIAGE TIDBITS

FAMILY TIDBITS

OTHER SOURCES
FOODS AND DRINKS

INTRO

SOME MEALS

SOME DRINKS
RECIPES

RECIPES

LINKS
FOOD: BUYING & DINING

BUYING (ingredients and food)

DINING (restaurants)
HEALTHCARE

TRADITIONAL HEALTH

CURRENT HEALTH POLICY

INFO FOR TRAVELERS

CONTENTS OF THIS PAGE

YORUBA NAMES
IGBO NAMES
HAUSA NAMES
LINKS ON NAMES

YORUBA NAMES

THE NAMING CEREMONY

In the Yoruba culture, the child is usually named on the 8th day of life (exactly a week after he/she was born), in a traditional naming ceremony. Until I can get more information on this site for it, visit this site which has a wonderful description of the ceremony, the food, etc.

Back to Contents

COMMON PARTS

If you've met a lot of Yoruba people, you might have noticed sections of their names that you've heard before. Here are some common words used in names, and their meanings (in the names). Remember that because words may be hyphenated, it might look a little different in the name, but most of the time, the entire word is used.

Also, I do not show it below, but the accent makes a big difference. If you've been to language page, you already know that. If you think you've heard the same word with a different meaning, that could be the case, or it could be that the accents are different.

WORD	MEANING
Ade	crown
	joy
	To love
	Love
Ire	goodness, favour, benefit, blessing
	King
	Child
	wealth, riches, honor
Olu	short for "Oluwa"
Oluwa	God
Ore	goodness, benevolence
	gift

Back to Contents

CIRCUMSTANTIAL NAMES

In the Yoruba culture, there are also names that tell you the circumstances under which a child was named.

For example:

NAME	MEANING	CIRCUMSTANCE
Sunday		Some children are named after the day of the week that the child is born (in English), especially for children born on a Sunday.
Taiwo	Pre-tasted the world	The first of a set of twins
Kehinde	The one who lagged behind	The second of a set of twins
Idowu		The child born after a set of twins
Alaba		The child born after Idowu
Yetunde, Yewande, Iyabo	The "mother" has come back	This usually means a female child was born after an elderly woman in the family recently passed away.
Babatunde	The "father" has come back	This usually means a male child was born after an elderly man in the family recently passed away.
Tokunbo		The parents of the child were overseas (out of Nigeria) when the child was born.

Of course, this is not a complete list. You get the idea though behind how a name can tell a story.

Back to Contents

plain white line

IGBO NAMES

Here are some common parts of Ibo/Igbo names. For more 'complete names', and background information , go to Igbo (Ibo) Names by Dele C. Ukwu.

WORD	MEANING
Amaka	beautiful/good
Chi	God/god/guiding light
Chukwu	God
Mma	beautiful/good
Nma	beautiful/good
Nna	God/god/father
Nne	mother
Nwa	child

Back to Contents

plain white line

HAUSA NAMES

I want to thank VBOYE for helping with this section.

Islam has a large influence on naming conventions in Hausa. Original Hausa names a very few, they are mostly arabic.

WORD	MEANING
adamu	adam
asabe	saturday child female
balaraba	wednesday child female
balarabe	wednesday child male
danasabe	saturday child male
danjuma	friday child male
danladi	sunday child male
danlami	thursday child male
gambo	after twins
hassan	twin boy
hassana	twin girl
hussain	twin boy
hussaina	twin girl
ibrahim	abraham
idris	isaac
isa	jesus
ismaila	ishmael
jummai	friday child female
kaka	grandmother
khamees	thursday child female
khamisa	thursday child female
ladi	sunday child female
lami	thursday child female
lantana	monday child female
laraba	wednesday child female
larai	wednesday child female
musa	moses
talatu	tuesday child female
yakubu	jacob
yohanna	john
yusuf	joseph

I want to thank jamila for the following information:

FEMALE NAMES
A'isha	living,prosperous
Aminah	safe, secure, protected
Asma'u	loftier, more eminent
Atikah	clear, pure
Fa'idah	benefit, advantage
Fa'iqah	surpassing, excellent
Fa'izah	victorious
Fatimah	daughter of the prophet
Habibah	beloved
Hafsah	wife of the prophet
Halimah	gentle, clement
Hamidah	appereciative
Iman	faith, belief
Jamilah	beautiful, elegant, graceful
Khadijah	wife of prophet Muhammad
Kubra	great, senior
Latifah	kind, gentle, refined
Lubabah	the innermost essence
Mansurah	supporter, victorious
Maryam	name of mother of jesus
Maimuna	fortunate, blessed
Nabilah	noble, magnanimous
Nafisah	precious, delicate,gem
Na'imah	enjoying the bounty of God
Rabi'ah	fourth
Rahmah	kind, compassionate
Rashidah	rightly-guided
Ruqayyah	name of prophet's daughter
Safiyah	pure, serene
Sakinah	tranquility, peace of mind
Salimah	safe, sound, healthy
Samirah	jovial companion
Shukriyah	Thanksgiving, of thanks
Sumayyah	proper name
Zahrah	flower, blossom, splendour
Zakiyyah	pure, chaste
Zainab	name of the prophet's daughter
Zaytun	olive
Zubaydah	cream of the crop, radiant

MALE NAMES
All the names beginning with Abdul and followed by one of the attributes of God. e.g. AbdulRahman, Abdulsalam, Abdulmalik, Abdulaziz, etc.
Ali	excellent, noble, sublime
Aminu	reliable, trustworthy, custodian
Amir	ruler, prince, commander
Bashir	bringer of good news
Bilal	companion of the prophet
Fa'izu	victorious
faruq	distinguisher of truth from falsehood
Faisal	decisive
Fu'ad	heart
Habib	Beloved
Hadi	calm, tranquil
Hafiz	protector, guardian
Hamzah	lion
Hassan	first born in a set of twins
Hussein	second born in a set of twins
Imam	leader
Jalil	exalted, fine
Jamal	beauty, grace
Jibril	archangel
Kamil	complete,perfect
Khalifah	successor
Mahdi	rightly guided
Mahmud	praised
Mansur	aided
Muhsin	benevolent
Mustafa	chosen
Nabil	noble
Nasir	helper
Rahid	righteous
Salim	safe, sound
Tahir	pure
Umar	lifetime
Usman	companion

Back to Contents

plain white line

LINKS ON NAMES

Here are some other links relating to Nigerian names, or where you can find the meaning of Nigerian names (from different ethnic groups too):

Interesting article on how many Nigerians "English-ize" their names

Back to Contents

plain white line