When searching for a baby’s name begins, some parents look to other countries and languages for inspiration, choosing – for example – Japanese, French, Russian or Turkish names.
Africa, with 54 countries and more than 2,000 languages and dialects, is also a place from which we can draw inspiration for naming our baby. Depending on the region, African names can have Arabic, Egyptian or Ethiopian origin to name a few, or come from languages such as Igbo, Swahili or Zulu, among others.
A few days ago we published some ideas of African names for girls, so now we share 101 African names for boys with their meaning .
- Aadan , “son of Adam”
- Abasi , “severe”
- Abayomi , “the one who brings joy”
- Abdalla / Abdullah , “servant of God”
- Abidemi , “born in the presence of his father”
- Addo , “king of the road”
- Bye , “fair”
- Adom , “who receives the help of the gods”
- Ahmed , “praise”
- Akil , “smart”
- Amadi , “free man”
- Amari , “who possesses great strength, eternal”
- Amin , “faithful”
- Anum , “born in the fifth place”
- Arno , “easy”
- Ashraf , “distinguished, noble”
- Assim , “protector”
- Azizi , “precious”
- Baako , “firstborn”
- Badru , “born on a full moon”
- Bakari , “noble oath”
- Bassel , “brave”
- Bes , “the one who brings joy”
- Bomani , “warrior”
- Bongani , “grateful”
- Chidike , “God is strong”
- Dakarai , “happiness”
- Dalmar , “versatile”
- Ebo , “born on Tuesday”
- Essam , “guardian, protector”
- Fadil , “generous”
- Faraji , “consolation”
- Farid , “unique, incomparable, without equal”
- Femi , “love”
- Gamal , “God is my reward”
- Habib , “dear”
- Hakim , “wise”
- Halif , “ally”
- Hamadi , “praised”
- Hasan , “good”
- Hasani , “handsome”
- Ibrahim , “father of many children”
- Idir , “alive”
- Ike , “God laughs”
- Imamu , “spiritual leader”
- Jabari , “brave”
- Jalil , “great, who venerates”
- Jamal , “beauty”
- Jamil , “nice”
- Jawara , “lover of peace”
- Jomo , “farmer, farmer”
- Juma , “born on Friday”
- Kamal , “perfection”
- Karim , “generous, noble”
- Khalid , “immortal”
- Khalil , “good friend”
- Kofi , “born on Friday”
- Lerato , “love”
- Lethabo , “happiness”
- Lubanzi , “love of God”
- Lukman , “prophet”
- Malik , “king”
- Manu , “born second”
- Masud , “lucky”
- Moses , “son”
- Mosi , “firstborn”
- Mustafa , “chosen”
- Nabil , “noble”
- Nadir , “rare, exceptional”
- Naim , “comfort, tranquility”
- Nuru , “born during the day”
- Olufemi , “God loves me”
- Omar , “father of the prophet”
- Omari , “boss”
- Osahar , “God hears me”
- Radhi , “sorry”
- Ramses , son of Ra, sun god
- Rashidi , “wise”
- Re , “noon sun”
- Rufaro , “God has answered our prayers”
- Sadiki , “faithful”
- Samir , “partner”
- Shakir , “grateful”
- Sudi , “lucky”
- Tafari , “one who inspires wonder”
- Thabo , “happiness”
- Ubaid , “faithful”
- Yared , “descendant”
- Yassir , “prosperous, tolerant”
- Youssef , “José”
- Zaid , “abundance”
- Zuberi , “strong”
Baby names in other languages
- Welcome baby !: 173 French names for your baby
- 185 Japanese girl and boy names for your baby (and their meaning)
- 51 Italian names for your baby that will make you fall in love
- 117 Nordic girl names for your baby
- 117 Nordic boy names for your baby
- 91 Celtic names for brave boys, with character and big heart
- 77 Celtic names for brave, warrior and beautiful girls
- 43 Irish girl and boy names for your baby
More baby names
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- 33 short and original boy names
- 33 short and original girl names
- 51 cute-sounding baby names in any language
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- For girls and boys: 87 names for your baby inspired by nature
- Neither boy nor girl: 53 unisex baby names
- Baby names from A to Z (5,000+ names)
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