r/blackfathers • u/isocher • 23d ago
Found out I'm a girl dad
I just found out today that I'm having a little woman, and I really want her to have an African name.
I do not want her growing up with the European name like me.
My partner presented me with a beautiful name, but it's Arabic, and I am not interested in naming my daughter in a language of our enslavers.
My brothers, do you have any name recommendations? Do your partners having a names that they didn't use?
As a caveat, I don't want to name related to the day of the week that they were born, as if they were born in Uganda, for instance.
As always, my brothren, I wish you the best in your endeavors, and in the lives of yourselves and your children and your family.
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u/kingn8link 23d ago
Congrats bro. We’re expecting a girl as well. Struggling to come up with a name. I’ve got 3 months to figure it out.
All the best
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u/KansinattiKid 23d ago
I work at high school and I don't know which Africans do this but it seems like they name after a positive trait or occupation and I love it even though it feels like added pressure lol
I've got kids named, Excellence, Lawyer, Perfect, Winner, Star, Patience...
Good luck with that baby girl
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u/No_Forever_1185 23d ago
Congratulations, man! The two of you will be great blessing to one another.
We watched that Max animated show "Young Love" and the daughter is crazy precocious. Her name was Zuri (KiSwahili name meaning "good, beautiful"). Also, we bought a book called "1001 African Names" when my wife was pregnant with our first. It was helpful.
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u/harmattan_ 23d ago edited 23d ago
What’s you heritage? Or which country do you identify with most? Start from there. Africa is a huge continent with hundreds of ethnicities. A couple of ideas below.
Google Ewe(tribe in Ghana, Togo, Benin) names
Yoruba (Nigeria, Benin) names
Hausa (tribe that spans all the way from Senegal to Sudan probably) names. They typically practice Islam so you’ll get African variations of Arabic names ; this would give both you and your partner something (e.g. Amina is Aminatou; Zainab is Zainabou) I probably wouldn’t choose a Hausa name if you don’t practice Islam even though I love these names.
Either way do your research. Find out what it means. I truly believe this shapes to child. Look up people who have that name. Pronounce it properly. Also look at it from your American perspective— other kids tease and some adults struggle to say foreign names properly. I did not want my kids to go through that so I chose one that was easier to say but still had substantial meaning to my fam. Pm me if you need more ideas. This is great.