1. Home
  2. TAGS

African Names for Boys

African names for boys include some of the very biggest names on the global stage in recent years: Barack, Mandela, Kofi, and — for rather different reasons — Kanye. Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has a particularly interesting name in terms of traditional African naming conventions: Kofi means "born on a Friday", while his middle name, Atta, means "twin". It remains common practice in parts of Africa to name babies according to time, day, order, or circumstances of birth. Other appealing African boy names with such meanings include the Yoruba name Kehinde ("second of twins") and the Akan name Kwame ("born on a Saturday").

See our full selection of African baby boy names, and the stories behind them, below. The top names below rank among the current US Top 1000 Baby Names and are ordered by popularity. Unique names rank below the Top 1000 and are listed alphabetically.

Kwaku

Meaning: Born on a Wednesday

Origin:Ghanaian, Akan, Twi
2361
Massai

Meaning: owner of land and farms

Origin:African tribe; also Italian
2392
Taye

Meaning: he has been seen

Origin:African, Ethiopian
4903
Djimon The meaning of Djimon is 'a powerful person'...
Origin:African, meaning unknown
6892