Imani

[TwoTonTess]

Like or not? Someone said it was 'chavvy' on another forum.

it is lovely.. but I did just do an "oovavoo" from shooting stars !![sorry]

Too close to Iman.

Sorry, it does sound a bit chavvy to me - too much like Armani!

I was thinking it sounded like a perfume.

Someone called Imani would wear this body spray

A bit close to Armani for me, but not a name a kid would get ridiculed for

There is a little girl at DD's nursery called Imani, I think its a lovely name!

Sorry - it's naff IMO.

Not keen, it's a bit too 'made up name' for me.

Lovely if you are Asian or Arabic, anything else it's just try too hard.
Isn't David Bowie married to a model called Imani?

Only if your roots are in East Africa. Otherwise it will be perceived as made-up or chavvy.

prefer either iman or amani

Sorry, I would also view it as 'chavvy'

David Bowie's wife is Iman.

Iman means "faith" in Arabic. What does Imani mean, if anything?

Agree with the previous posters - nice if you have African/ Arabic origins. If not, then no no no no!!

How about Amara ??

CoteDAzur Imani also means 'faith', in Swahili.

I teach an Imarni of White British origin, which always seems to induce a snigger. . . .

For me it would be a definite no no. Unless it was linked to my culture.

Percy - re "Imani also means 'faith', in Swahili"

I am guessing that you looked this up from an internet baby website, because that is where all Arabic meanings somehow become "Swahili"

Iman means faith. Muslim faith, to be precise. If you are anything but Muslim, I would avoid it.

Imani probably means something slightly different. You need to ask a native speaker of Arab.

CoteDAzur actually this is where I found it. Nothing to do with names.

I have a funny feeling that this Christian academy in Pittsburgh, USA found the "Swahili" meaning from an internet baby name website. You know, the same ones that say Amina and Layla are Swahili names, for example.

It is actually quite hilarious that a specifically Christian establishment would call themselves a word that is used to mean Muslim faith

Google translate confirms it.

According to Wikipedia "some Swahili vocabulary is derived from Arabic through more than twelve centuries of contact with Arabic-speaking inhabitants of the coast of southeastern Africa."

You will now tell me that Wikipedia is not an authoritative source, and of course I know that, but this seems perfectly plausible to me.

What we need is someone with knowledge of Swahili to confirm or refute it.

Will this do? :)

www.kamusi.org

I know a lovely girl (Indian heritage) called Imani. I think it sounds very pretty and feminine. Why is mumsnet often so negative about name variety? Shouldn't we be encouraging MORE name variety? Makes life more interesting (and easier).