African Place Names

African names are used in various places on the continent of Africa. See also about African names.

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Type

Usage

Initial letter

Meaning

expand search to ancestral names

the meaning is anything from the name's write-up that is surrounded by "double quotes"
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 ancestral names: meanings for names further up the family tree will be included in the search

Description

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" will match 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 will match Greek names of myths or legends not about Zeus
ignore name meanings: keywords from the name meanings are ignored

Origin

Length

Syllables

syllables can only be counted in names that have been assigned pronunciations
names without pronunciations are excluded from results

Pattern

the pattern will be compared to the name
* is a wildcard that will match zero or more letters
- example: *oo* will match names which contain oo
_ is a wildcard that will match exactly one letter
- example: __z will match names which have two letters and then a z

Sound

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
names without pronunciations are excluded from results
* is a wildcard that will match zero or more letters in the pronunciation
- example: *lee will match names which end with the sound lee
(s) will match exactly one syllable in the pronunciation
- example: (s)(s)ra will match names which have two syllables and then the sound rah
(c) will match a consonant
(k) will match a consonant or consonant cluster
(v) will match a vowel
(p) will match a plosive or stop consonant
(f) will match a fricative consonant
(n) will match a nasal consonant
case sensitive: check this if you wish distinguish between unstressed lowercase sounds and stressed uppercase sounds

Related name

Relationship

expand search to ancestral names

the "relationship" is how the name relates to its parent name
- example: searching for diminutive will return Betsy because it is a diminutive of its parent Elizabeth
selecting (all core forms) will exclude peripheral forms such as diminutives, short forms, and combinations
expand search to ancestral names: relationships between names further up the family tree will be included

Namesake

User list

enter a behindthename.com username to search that user's public personal name lists
to limit your search to a specific list, put the name of the list in brackets after the username

Options

GANA (Country) Western African, Akan, Ewe, Portuguese, Russian, Croatian, Serbian, Turkish
Form of GHANA.

ITYOPPYA (Country) Eastern African, Amharic
Amharic form of ETHIOPIA.

KENYA (Country & Mountain) English, Eastern African, Kikuyu, Swahili, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
The country is named for Mount Kenya, which in the Kikuyu language is called Kĩrĩnyaga meaning "the one having stripes".

KĨRĨNYAGA (Mountain) Eastern African, Kikuyu
Kikuyu form of KENYA (the mountain).

KONGO (Region, River & Country) Central African, Kongo, German, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, Polish, Russian, Croatian, Serbian
Form of CONGO.

PRETORIA (Settlement) Southern African, Afrikaans, Dutch, English
From the surname PRETORIUS. This is the name of a city in South Africa, named after the 19th-century Boer leader Andries Pretorius.

SENEGAAL (River & Country) Western African, Wolof
Wolof form of SENEGAL.

SOOMAALIYA (Country) Eastern African, Somali
Somali form of SOMALIA.

TIMBUKTU (Settlement) English, Arabic, Central African, Bamileke
Meaning uncertain. It could be derived from Songhai meaning "hollow, hole", or from Berber meaning "place of small dunes". This is the name of a city in central Mali. Descriptions of the city's wealth and remoteness first reached Europe from the 16th-century Berber author Leo Africanus. Since then the city has been used in Western Culture as a symbol for a distant, mysterious place.

TUMBUTU (Settlement) Northern African, Koyra Chiini
Koyra Chiini form of TIMBUKTU.