African Names for Girls (53 Beautiful and Valuable Names)

Africa is a continent, contrary to many people’s understanding. It is a massive continent with about 1.2 billion people and 54 sovereign countries. Each country is likely to have different tribes and ethnic groups within it. With that many countries and peoples of varying backgrounds, can you imagine how difficult it would be to pick out the perfect African baby girl names?

While many African families choose to give their babies English names, many will also include names from their cultural backgrounds. This may be done in an effort to ensure that coming generations do not forget or lose track of their families’ roots. Other families choose African baby names because they like the meanings behind them. Still others will choose an African name for their baby because that is how naming has traditionally been done in the family over the generations.

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Choosing any baby names is difficult and arguably, you make it a little easier on yourself if you narrow it down to one country or even one continent. However, it is still a difficult task. That is why I have compiled this list of African baby girl names and their meanings to help you pick out the perfect baby name for your daughter.

Of course, given the very size of the continent, it might be next to impossible to document every single one but these are a few that I thought were both beautiful and had interesting and valuable meanings. African baby names are so special.

READ: Fantasy Names for Baby Boys that are both magical AND strong

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Why are African baby names so special?

To me, African baby names are special because if you are African, they tell people or give people a clue as to your cultural heritage or that of your ancestors before you say anything else about yourself. African names tend to carry some responsibility too as they will usually be specifically given because of the meanings behind them or the people in the family whom a baby is being named after.

Children given African names that come with such heavy meanings are expected to be able to live up to them and often even exceed expectations. See for example, Nkeiruka below (meaning ‘future is great’). A girl given that name will generally be expected to succeed in all facets of her life. It is a responsibility that many people treasure rather than feel the burden of.

Wonderful African Names for Girls

African female names are often burdened with the responsibility of being ‘great’. That can make them difficult to decide. Here are some wonderful options.

Baby Girl Name	Meaning	Origin
Aba	born on Thursday	Ghanaian
Abike	born to treasure	Nigerian
Abiola	born in honor or wealth	Nigerian
Adeola	crown of wealth	Nigerian
Adoma	grace, gracious	Ghanaian
Adwoa	born on Monday	Ghanaian
Afia	born on Friday	Ghanaian
Afrakoma	charming the heart	Ghanaian
Aizivaishe	God knows	Zimbabwean
Akinyi	born in the morning	Kenyan
Akua	born on Wednesday	Ghanaian
Alheri	grace	Nigerian
Ama	born on Saturday	Ghanaian
Amaka	precious	Nigerian
Bishara	good tidings	Kenyan
Bunmi	being my gift	Nigerian
Chidinma	God is beautiful	Nigerian
Chiedza	light and brightness	Zimbabwean
Chinwe	God owns	Nigerian
Chioma	favoured	Nigerian
Ebuka	God is great	Nigerian
Elohor	soft, meek, blessing	Nigerian
Esi	born on Sunday	Ghanaian
Ezinne	good mother	Nigerian
Firyali	extraordinary	Kenyan
Kidist	holy	Ethiopian
Madu	of the people	Egyptian
Makbel	freedom seeker	Ethiopian
Misozi	tears	Zimbabwean/Malawian/Zambian/Mozambican
Nhyiraba	child of blessings	Ghanaian
Nkeiruka	future is great	Nigerian
Nyasha	grace	Zimbabwean
Oghogho	happiness, joy	Nigerian
Owusuwaa	strong willed and determined	Ghanaian
Phindile	I did it again	South African
Ronke	something to care for	Nigerian
Selase	God has heard	Ghanaian
Selasi	in God’s hands	Ghanaian
Selassie	trinity	Ethiopian
Serwaa	noble person	Ghanaian
Shingai	to be strong and persevere	Zimbabwean
Sompa	good service	Ghanaian
Tariro	hope	Zimbabwean
Tele	abundance	Kenyan
Temi	mine, worthy of joy	Nigerian
Tendo	God is worthy of praise	South Africa
Tesfaye	my hope	Ethiopian
Tihitina	humility	Ethiopian
Uwani	my mother	Nigerian
Vimbai	having faith or trust	Zimbabwean
Visola	longings are waterfalls	Kenyan
Wairimu	daughter of a giant	Kenyan/Tanzanian
Wumpini	God’s gift	Ghanaian

I must say I love any African girl names meaning ‘grace’. Grace is just such a pretty name to me and somehow, every time I have encountered it in any other language, it has been just as pretty. African girl names meaning ‘grace’ in my list include Adoma and Alheri. See? Just as pretty.

So there you have it: a list of some of the most interesting and beautiful African baby girl names and their meanings. This list will continue to grow as I discover more wonderful and popular African baby names.