#african names
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Adut Akech was born in Sudan (in an area that later became part of South Sudan), but was raised in Kakuma, Kenya. Akech was born on Christmas Day, on the way to Kenya. She was 7 years old when she moved from Kenya along with her mother to Adelaide, Australia as South Sudanese refugees seeking asylum. They also had relatives there. Akech has five siblings.
Akech was known as "Mary", her Christian second name in Adelaide, as Australian teachers found it difficult to pronounce her name.
Be proud of African names, and stop falling into the trap of saying all African names are hard to pronounce. Like European names are easy
#adut#adut akech#sudan#ta seti#northeast africa#afrakan#kemetic dreams#africans#african#brown skin#brownskin#afrakans#african culture#afrakan spirituality#omowale#african names#african name#kenya#heritage#african heritage#african history#Adelaide#sydney#brisbane#melbourne#canberra#servicetasker#australia#austria#christian name
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Name help!
There I was, thinking it was a good time to look for a new name, and then I asked my mom, what name she would give me if it has to be neutral. She told me she didn't know, but she would definitively look for something african.
This made me think, and I really liked the idea of looking for neutral african names for myself.
So, I made a research, and decided to post here some of my favorite names. If you guys are looking for something alike, this may help!
Most of this names are neutral but not all
Ada
This name means first daughter and I think it's very pretty
Baakir
This one means first son
Baako
Baako means "firstborn" and is unisex/neutral
Jameela
Unisex, this one and all its variarions. Usually means "beautiful" when used for girls or "virgin" if used for boys. But there's no problem if we keep the two meanings, I guess. You can use it as a very sexy ace
Lali
This is a masculine name and means "flexible"
Maha
"Beautiful eyes". This name is feminine
Nala, or Naliah (You may remember this one from The Lion King)
Is feminine and means "sucessful"
Taj
"The exalted". Masculine. Also, the way it is written in sanscrit also stands for "crown"
Tanishia
Born in a monday. Neutral. (Some names I found means things like "born in a saturday" "youngest twin" or "first born" and things like that and I think it's pretty cool)
Ayo
Neutral. Means "hapiness"
Eno
Neutral too. Means "gift"
Ode
"Born on a road". Also neutral but is more used for girls.
Abayomi
"Born to bring huge hapiness". Unisex
Lueji
"Monarch". For what I've get, it's more used for girls
Dyami
Means "eagle", and is neutral
Kieza
This one is a girl's. It means "the one who comes"
Imani
"Faith". Neutral
Bahati
I love this one. It means "luck" (Also neutral)
Rutendo
This one sounds really strong for me. Neither exactly for girls nor boys. Also means "faith"
Amahle
"Among the beautiest". This is usually used for girls but is actually unisex
Dayo
"Hapiness has come". Neutral
Adisa
And a really graceful one, Adisa. This here is masculine and stands for "the one who will teach us"
#name help#african names#neutral names#I'm brazilian#and most of us people in my country have african ascendance#so I thought it would be pretty cool picking names like these when thinking on naming myself#I may or not look for more of these#this one is for you#my afro-american trans siblings!#also#happy pride 🌈#If I wrote something wrong please correct me#trans#transgender#trans help#trans advice#nonbinary#queer#new name
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Naming International POC Characters: Do Your Research.
This post is part of a double feature for the same ask. First check out Mod Colette's answer to OP's original question at: A Careful Balance: Portraying a Black Character's Relationship with their Hair. Below are notes on character naming from Mod Rina.
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@writingraccoon said:
My character is black in a dungeons and dragons-like fantasy world. His name is Kazuki Haile (pronounced hay-lee), and his mother is this world's equivalent of Japanese, which is where his first name is from, while his father is this world's equivalent of Ethiopian, which is where his last name is from. He looks much more like his father, and has hair type 4a. [...]
Hold on a sec.
Haile (pronounced hay-lee), [...] [H]is father is this world’s equivalent of Ethiopian, which is where his last name is from.
OP, where did you get this name? Behindthename.com, perhaps?
Note how it says, “Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. Check marks indicate the level to which a name has been verified.” Do you see any check marks, OP?
What language is this, by the way? If we only count official languages, Ethiopia has 5: Afar, Amharic, Oromo, Somali, & Tigrinya. If we count everything native to that region? Over 90 languages. And I haven't even mentioned the dormant/extinct ones. Do you know which language this name comes from? Have you determined Kazuki’s father’s ethnic group, religion, and language(s)? Do you know just how ethnically diverse Ethiopia is?
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To All Looking for Character Names on the Internet:
Skip the name aggregators and baby name lists. They often do not cite their sources, even if they’re pulling from credible ones, and often copy each other.
If you still wish to use a name website, find a second source that isn’t a name website.
Find at least one real life individual, living or dead, who has this given name or surname. Try Wikipedia’s lists of notable individuals under "List of [ethnicity] people." You can even try searching Facebook! Pay attention to when these people were born for chronological accuracy/believability.
Make sure you know the language the name comes from, and the ethnicity/culture/religion it’s associated with.
Make sure you understand the naming practices of that culture—how many names, where they come from, name order, and other conventions.
Make sure you have the correct pronunciation of the name. Don’t always trust Wikipedia or American pronunciation guides on Youtube. Try to find a native speaker or language lesson source, or review the phonology & orthography and parse out the string one phoneme at a time.
Suggestions for web sources:
Wikipedia! Look for: “List of [language] [masculine/feminine] given names,” “List of most common [language] family names,” “List of most common surnames in [continent],” and "List of [ethnicity] people."
Census data! Harder to find due to language barriers & what governments make public, but these can really nail period accuracy. This may sound obvious, but look at the year of the character's birth, not the year your story takes place.
Forums and Reddit. No really. Multicultural couples and expats will often ask around for what to name their children. There’s also r/namenerds, where so many folks have shared names in their language that they now have “International Name Threads.” These are all great first-hand sources for name connotations—what’s trendy vs. old-fashioned, preppy vs. nerdy, or classic vs. overused vs. obscure.
~ ~ ~
Luckily for OP, I got very curious and did some research. More on Ethiopian & Eritrean naming, plus mixed/intercultural naming and my recommendations for this character, under the cut. It's really interesting, I promise!
Ethiopian and Eritrean Naming Practices
Haile (IPA: /həjlə/ roughly “hy-luh.” Both a & e are /ə/, a central “uh” sound) is a phrase meaning “power of” in Ge’ez, sometimes known as Classical Ethiopic, which is an extinct/dormant Semitic language that is now used as a liturgical language in Ethiopian churches (think of how Latin & Sanskrit are used today). So it's a religious name, and was likely popularized by the regnal name of the last emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie (“Power of the Trinity”). Ironically, for these reasons it is about as nationalistically “Ethiopian” as a name can get.
Haile is one of the most common “surnames” ever in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Why was that in quotes? Because Ethiopians and Eritreans don’t have surnames. Historically, when they needed to distinguish themselves from others with the same given name, they affixed their father’s given name, and then sometimes their grandfather’s. In modern Ethiopia and Eritrea, their given name is followed by a parent’s (usually father’s) name. First-generation diaspora abroad may solidify this name into a legal “surname” which is then consistently passed down to subsequent generations.
Intercultural Marriages and Naming
This means that Kazuki’s parents will have to figure out if there will be a “surname” going forward, and who it applies to. Your easiest and most likely option is that Kazuki’s dad would have chosen to make his second name (Kazuki’s grandpa’s name) the legal “surname.” The mom would have taken this name upon marriage, and Kazuki would inherit it also. Either moving abroad or the circumstances of the intercultural marriage would have motivated this. Thus “Haile” would be grandpa’s name, and Kazuki wouldn’t be taking his “surname” from his dad. This prevents the mom & Kazuki from having different “surnames.” But you will have to understand and explain where the names came from and the decisions dad made to get there. Otherwise, this will ring culturally hollow and indicate a lack of research.
Typically intercultural parents try to
come up with a first name that is pronounceable in both languages,
go with a name that is the dominant language of where they live, or
compromise and pick one parent’s language, depending on the circumstances.
Option 1 and possibly 3 requires figuring out which language is the father’s first language. Unfortunately, because of the aforementioned national ubiquity of Haile, you will have to start from scratch here and figure out his ethnic group, religion (most are Ethiopian Orthodox and some Sunni Muslim), and language(s).
But then again, writing these characters knowledgeably and respectfully also requires figuring out that information anyway.
~ ~ ~
Names and naming practices are so, so diverse. Do research into the culture and language before picking a name, and never go with only one source.
~ Mod Rina
#asks#language#languages#linguistics#east africa#african#immigration#ethiopian#names#naming#research#resources#writeblr#character names#character name ideas#rina says read under the cut. read it
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this game is a joke
#zeno's art#genshin impact#natlan#i dont even know her name#but shes just so pale#paler than most white people i know in real life#and shes supposed to be like ambiguously african or something#idek#i dont play this game lel
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Ever notice how everytime there's an ignorant person using the excuse of "it's the American education system's fault" it's almost always pertaining to information about other cultures/ethnicities or countries, usually ones designated as not "White" (ex: that Africa isnt a country, that Mexico has cities) and not things like. Science or Math.
#this cannot be both the 'i was a gifted kid' site and the 'i can't name a single African country' site#some of you bitches are lying
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goofysona :p
#is he wearing glasses? are his eyes just big and square? Yes :) 👍🏾#I technically have a dog fursona now so yay#also i guess people on tumblr dont know but salem is what i mostly go by IRL#its pronounced 'saa-lim' not 'say-lum' btw. its the same name but africans just pronounce it different i guess#also also one thing that killed me while trying to design him is that the goofy movies characters all have the same/similar hair type.#and the only reference i had for my hair type was the one time goofy wore an afro wig. so yeah thats great#👽 my art#a goofy movie#an extremely goofy movie#goofsona#goofysona#goofy movie#extremely goofy movie#persona#fursona#anthro#dib ocs#digital art#digital drawing#fanart#my art#artist on tumblr#black artist#black art#my persona#oc: salem
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Shout out to one of my favorite bugs, Giant African Armored crickets, this color/pattern specially, their eyes are goofy. No thoughts head empty
#thanks to that one on tiktok named Frederick i think he was cute#acanthoplus discoidalis#giant african armored crickets#armored crickets#armored bush crickets#insects#bugs#bugs tw#tw bugs#insects tw#tw insects#crickets
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golden african emperor butterfly (nudaurelia dione) | source
#stim#butterflies#golden african emperor butterfly#insects#sfw#bugs#yellow#pink#brown#white#nudaurelia dione#hands#nature#wings#animals#silk moths#ishy gifs#postish#i couldn't find another common name for this one#and i've seen golden emperor used for others#so i'm not sure if this is the actual common name#forgive me for that if it isn't and also please let me know how you've heard them referred to
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name moodboard for “hafsa” for @arestoucries
#a true work of art//moodboard#sparks of creativity//my work#moodboard#aesthetic#mb#desert#desert oasis#ancient egypt#Egyptian aesthetic#middle eastern aesthetic#middle east aesthetic#adventurecore#naturecore#north african aesthetic#north africa#african aesthetic#african moodboard#do you not know that a man is not dead when his name is still spoken//name mb#speaking through another//request
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Tolu Coker Ready-To-Wear F/W 2024
#Fashion#tolu coker#fw24#ready to wear#rtw#2024 fashion#runway#african fashion#if anyone knows who the model is PLS let me know bc I can’t find their name anywhere
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Nyambura means of rain. These ladies are loyal and loving to those around them. They generally make good wives and smile less often, at least genuinely
Read more: https://www.tuko.co.ke/354993-best-kikuyu-female-names-meaning.html
#nyambura#kenyan#kemetic dreams#african names#rain#kikuyu#kikuyu names#kikuyu name#origin of names#origin of name#east african language#East African#good wives
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if youre satisfied with this amount of rep i'll be happy for you and if you want vastly more from hoyo especially concerning skin tone i will completely agree with you but if you're non latam/african/indigenous american/pacific islander, i'm side eyeing so hard if you start making excuses for genshin's colorist ass
#you cannot possibly say 'latam has pale people' when one of the teaser characters is literally named after a yo.ruba god. hes#african and you're making him like. suntanned. don't cherry pick for the love of fucking god#consequences of me seeing my most beloathed post that says 'just blame ccp' and 'stop with this discourse already im so tired of it'#brother in christ you can't tell people whos cultures are being screwed over by natlan and genshin to stop expressing their frustration#imo 'just blame ccp' sounds like a diff version of 'shut up' bc there's v little possibility of anything changing just because you complain#ramblings!#anyways if you're still playing this game and are from irl cultures that are natlan inspo good luck out there in this goddawful discourse
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feral
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"Skip! Skip, listen to me! Think about what you're doing!"
The raptorial shriek he got in response was not the kid he knew.
Her deep brown irises were narrowed to animalistic slits, teeth bared as she tried to wrestle him out of the sky. She was looking for a meal, and she had found one.
"You're better than this, Skip, snap out of it!"
He couldn't take his eyes off hers; the silver accents of her uniform bottoms and the primal look in her eyes was harrowing. To become feral was like a disease, starting slow until it overtook your mind completely. He had seen many synths succumb; not even the highest-ranking Diamonds were immune to it.
But his kid...
They spiralled towards the dusty grassland below. Not sixteen hours ago they were skipping rocks, the pastime that had borne her name, and now she didn't know him.
She warned him, she warned him days ago, he knew it. He had joked and she did not laugh.
"Skip, please!"
#art#mirny's art#critiques are welcome#stormbite#stormbite oc#hi yes i've been reading stormbite#i binge-read the whole series in about a week#easily my favourite book series this year#so here's a pair of ocs their names are skiprock and omen#i love them#african harrier-hawk#black harrier
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It feels unfair to ridicule that Russian family who fled to the mountains for half of the 20th century and missed any news of world war 2 when we got people with smartphones and access to unlimited human knowledge at their fingertips not knowing Yugoslavia is gone
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Everyone tell me something nice from your day im having a real bad one dose me up with mundane joy
#i think for me todays nice thing was the little girl who very excitedly told me about her pet giant african land snail named baked potato#like so many people today were so needlessly cynical and cruel and bigoted but hey#somewhere out there is a tiny child with so much love in her heart for weird little creatures#thats some hope
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local gymnogene doing sick parkour
what a beast
#my bird photo commentary has greatly dipped in quality#her name is coco#everyone say hi coco#bird of prey#birdblr#bird photography#birds#bird#bird watching#gymnogene#harrier#hawk#african harrier hawk
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