Beautiful Kikuyu Names for Girls and Their Meanings

  

Wangari Maathai - Nobel laureate
Wangari Maathai - A Kikuyu Nobel laureate - wikimedia commons
The daughters of Mumbi

According to the Myth of Origin, God made Gĩkũyũ and placed him near Mount Kenya at a place called Mũkũrwe wa Gathanga God saw that he was lonely and gave him a wife, Mũmbi. Gĩkũyũ and Mũmbi were blessed with nine daughters, but no sons. The daughters’ names, arranged from the eldest to the youngest were as follows:

Wanjirũ, Wambũi, Njeri, Wanjikũ, Nyambũra, Wairimũ, Waithĩra, Wangarĩ, and the last one was Wangũi. These are the founders of the nine clans of the Kikuyu. The nine clans are listed bbelow,besides the name of the founder:

Wanjirũ -Anjirũ

Wambũi - Ambũi

Njeri - Aceera

Wanjikũ - Anjiku

Nyambura - Ambura or Ethaga

Wairimũ - Airimũ or Agathigia or Aicakamũyũ

Waithĩra - Athirandũ

Wangarĩ- Angarĩ or Aithe-Kahuno

Wangũi - Angũi or Aithiegeni


There was a tenth daughter who according to tradition was not counted due to an incestuous relationship. This tenth daughter is said to have been Wamũyũ and her clan is the Aicakamũyũ. The daughters were always said to be ‘nine and the fill’.

Women are collectively called 1. Aka, (this word is derived from the vverb "gũaka," to build. 2. andu a nja (people from outside 3. Atumia (those who remain silent. It is interesting that the term Mũtumia (woman - literally the one who remains silent) is the title for a man among the closely related Kamba.

The firstborn daughter is given the name of her paternal Grandmother and the second Daughter after her maternal grandmother. Subsequent girls are named after their paternal and maternal aunties alternately. In case the couple has more children than can be named after relatives that had lived, a little investigation is done among the relatives to know whose turn it is even if he had lived several generations ago and somehow lost his lineage. No one really dies permanently among the Kikuyu since he or she is likely to be reincarnated in his grandchildren or brother's and sister's children.

Traditionally, the role of a woman was to produce food from her farming activities, feed the family, and, during the building of huts, get her age mates to help her with thatching the roof.

The Kikuyu were Mmatriarchal—ower in the hands of women - before men finally overthrew them. Since the nine names are supposed to be perpetuated from grandparents to grandchildren, the names should have remained NINE. But the Kikuyu absorbed other communities and nicknames also entered the mainstream. The other names are listed below.


Other Kikuyu Names

1. Gakuhĩ - the short one

2. Kanyi ( a male name in Nyeri)

3. Mũkami – the one who milks the cows

4. Mũkina

5. Mũmbi - The potter and mother of the Kikuyu nation

This is just a glimpse into the full story. To read the complete article and explore all 10 curated pieces, Contact the author here: 

Preserving Kikuyu memory takes time, care, and community support. If this post added to your understanding, Buy Me a Coffee and help keep these stories alive.

I am an artist who also writes fiction. I speak English, Kikuyu, Kiswahili, some French, and some Lingala. I understand several Kenyan Bantu languages and a bit of the Nilotic 'dholuo' (Obama's father's mother tongue). I can play some guitar and piano but I spend more time reading and writing.

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