African baby names

[LolaTheShowgirl]

A friend is due to give birth in a few weeks and still has not decided on a name. Both her and her DP are British born and of African origin (not sure which country from) and so have compiled a list of possible names and as i've told her the great advice mumsnetters offer, she's asked me to put the list to you for your opinions.

For boys:
Dakarai (Dak-are-eye)
Dumisai (Doom-is-eye)
Sundai (Sund-eye)

For girls:
Jendayi (Jend-eye-ee)
Kamali (Kam-ah-lee)
Shona (Show-nah)

From a personal POV I like

Dakarai and Sundai for boys and I like Kamali and Shona for girls - they are lovely names. I think they are the most self-explanatory pronunciations too and not too difficult to spell for the child to live with through school etc

oops added a line break in there - please excuse my rubbish typing!

dumisai and kamali

Does she have the meaning of the names, I know in South Africa they will have a significant meaning, for instance "precious one", "strong fighter" etc.

Thanks for your replies. My friend is becoming a member in the next few days so I will point her to your replies!

spacepuppy, they do all have meanings. Some I can't remember as she just gave me a quick rundown.
I remember Dakarai means 'child brings joy' or something similar and Jendayi means 'thankful'.

They were going for a non-African name at first but both their parents soon put a stop to that and told them that they've got to teach the child all about their ethnicity which is damn right I think!

Isn't it so exciting when a brand new little life is going to be brought into the world?

I like Shona but isn't it the name of a tribe (bit ignorant of African girls names) not hugely keen on any of the boys ones.

Dumisai and Kamali for me too. Lovely names.

Just thinking of how they'll get shortened too - inevitable at school - Kamali could become Kami or Kama and Dumisai shortens nicely to Dumi. (In fact, Dumi is quite a common name in Southern Africa.)

Yes Kew, I think it is the name of a tribe but they know it will be recieved well as a name over here which is where they plan to stay and bring up their children. It's quite a popular name in their area too.

Yeh but if kids see Dumi would they not assume it was "dummy" not "doomy" ?

Just thinking how cruel kids are regarding such things!

Friend discussed shortening of names with me and didn't seem bothered at all about it but what both parents are bothered about is their child being ones with odd/difficult to spell/pronounce names when he or she reaches school.

That's true, Lewis - but wouldn't they be more likely to hear it than see it?

Dakarai and Kamali.

Although I also really like Makhaya (as in Makhaya Ntini, South African cricketer)for a boy.

Oh, they must be of Zimbabwean heritage! You learn something new everyday!

I had to think about think quite carefully for DS a name which worked with his central asian heritgae but wasn;t going to cause a problem at school. As it turned out, Daniel was a common name in Kazakhstan and co-incidentally the name of my great grandfather so decision was easy (though not many people realise his name is ethnically appropriate IYSWIM)

i have a book of african names bought for dc5
throughout the pg we called him Tchecke and it really stuck - people started to love it
T'Boo was another I adored

don;t think its necessarily as simple as tribe = country in Africa. Most countries have a majority tribe but there are usually other tribes wihtint he countries and sometimes in quite large numbers. I think there are quite large numbers in Mozambique too (but no great expert)

I wonder if QoQ is around - she'd know about Zimbabwean names.

I nearly got a Scandwegian first name - but didn't - which I'm very grateful for, because 2 unspellable/unpronounceable names really would have done me in at school.

So I think your friends are absolutely right, Lola to go for names can be said ad spelled anywhere in the world.

Is their surname British or African?

T'Boo is lovely but don't think they would go for that!

Yes, I agree with Kewcumber - the country borders were set by colonials who didn't take tribal regions into account, so it's all very random.

I like Sundai and Kamali

both adorable imo

yes I'm here.

Shona is one of the two main tribal groups in Zimbabwe, Ndbele being the other.

Those names do sound "Southern African" - but I'm not sure they're Zimbabwean (unless they're Ndebele ones and more common in the South of Zimbabwe and I haven't come across them). They sound like (apart from Shona - which could easily be mistaken for the Scottish girls name LOL), they are possibly South African/Zambian.

Tatenda is the most common boys name meaning "thanks"/"give thanks" etc in Shona.

actually I suppose I should be more specific - I'm not entirely certain they are tribes - but they are the 2 main languages spoken

OOO Tatenda is a nice name!

I was just thinking re: bullying, that not even kids would get it messed up.

Take me for example - I was presented with a list of kids names to call out for reading the other day - on there was Tsungai. I really had a mental battle with myself about "do I pronounce it this way... or that" etc.

Just thinking that "du" said "doo" could get lost in translation quite often and therefore make the kid miserable cos no-one gets his name right!

It is a nice name though - just being a pessimist!