Often, these Maragoli form of baby names are the subject of memes and but of jokes. This is even as sons and daughters of Mulembe carry them as they are in our national identity cards. Today we say no to shaming. We are making lemonade from the lemons.
Among the Luhya, naming children after our ancestors or living relatives is a common custom. However, in recent times parents have gravitated towards only using the Luhya surnames. Often the Luhyanized first names, of English/ French / Greek or any other foreign tounge, that were common among our grandparents are droped.
The following list bucks this trend, reclaiming our heritage in so far as Maragoli baby names go. Because, if a Swahili speaker can have Yohanna as the Swahili version of John, why can’t mulogooli have Ephraim as Fraim?
More: See Our Wiki For Full A TO Z List of All Maragoli Girl Names
Cheeky Maragoli form of baby names for boys of English/French or any other foreign language origin
Beneti – Bernard
- Origin: French.
- Meaning: Brave bear.
- Alternative Maragoli spellings & variations: Benat, Penat.
Divisi – Davis
- Origin: Welsh, English.
- Meaning: Means ‘son of David’ or beloved.
- Alternative spellings and variations: Defis.
Daviti – David
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: Online thesaurus, urban dictionary, has the meaning of the name David as: “An amazing guy with a great personality, usually a very cute guy, with a great smile. A perfect husband. Romantic, and affectionate but knows when to stand up and be a man. Very protective of friends and family. The kind of person that will give you the shirt off his back. The kind of person with a great amount of courage and bravery.”
- Alternative Maragoli spellings & variations: Defit.
Fraim – Ephraim
- Origin: Hebrew.
- Meaning: Fruitful.
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: None.
Firib – Philip
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: From Greek word Philippos meaning “friend of horses.
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: Phillipo.
FUN FACT
Phillipo was the baptismal name given by the Quakers to a certain musombi man, husband to Zipporah whose son grew up to be the brobdingnagian father of Luhya politics Elijah Wasike Mwangale.
Gusika – Oscar
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “God spear, or deer-lover or champion warrior”.
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: Osika.
Jafeza – Japheth
- Origin: Hebrew.
- Meaning: “enlarged”. Japheth in the Bible is the second son of Noah said to be the ancestor of non-Semitic people of Europe and Northern Asia.
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: Jafet.
Joni – John
- Origin: English form of the Hebrew name lohannes.
- Meaning: lohannes means Yaweh is gracious.
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: The Swahili form of John Yohanna is also common among the Luhya.
Kefini – Kevin
- Origin: Angelicized form of the Irish name Caoimhín.
- Meaning: Kind, gentle, handsome + birth.
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: None.
In contemporary 21st century Kenyan society, the name Kevin has come to represent a generation (younger millennial and older generation x) and their idiosyncrasies – particularly the fleeting and plural nature of their relationships. Growing up Luhya, we found humorous ways to distinguish one from the other, given the popularity of this name among boys born between 1984 and 1994.
Bainito – Epainitus
- Origin: Unknown.
- Meaning: Unknown.
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: Painito.
Timona – Timothy
- Origin: Greek.
- Meaning: Honouring God.
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: None.
Samweri – Samuel
- Origin: Hebrew.
- Meaning: “name of God” or “God heard”
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: None.
Simioni – Simon
- Origin: Hebrew.
- Meaning: “listen” or “hearing”
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: None.
Kirioba – Cleophas
- Origin: Greek.
- Meaning: “glory to the father”
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: None.
Cheeky Maragoli form of baby names for girls of English/French or any other foreign language origin
Azibeta – Elizabeth
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “My God is an oath” or “My God is abundance
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: Sabeti.
Berisi – Peris
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Lovely and greaceful like an angel.
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: Beris.
Birisira – Priscilla
- Origin: English adaptation of the Latin name Prisca.
- Meaning: Ancient.
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: Birsila.
Biturisi – Beatrice
- Origin: English adaptation of French name Béatrice.
- Meaning: ‘She who makes happy’.
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: None.
Damara – Tamara
- Origin: Hebrew.
- Meaning: In Hebrew Tamar is the name given to the date fruit.
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: None.
Dokesi – Dorcas
- Origin: Greek.
- Meaning: Gazelle.
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: Dorika.
Eside – Esther
- Origin: Most probably Persian.
- Meaning: Star.
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: Esida.
Febe – Phoebe
- Origin: Greek.
- Meaning: “radiant, shining one”.
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: None.
Guresi – Grace
- Origin: Latin word for favor or thanks, gratia.
- Meaning: In English the word grace means: elegance and smoothness in movement; or, courteous goodwill; or God’s favor.
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: Gresi.
Kasarine – Catherine
- Origin: Greek.
- Meaning: Pure.
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: Kazurina, Kazarine.
Leunita – Leonida
- Origin: Greek.
- Meaning: Comes from the Greek word for lion leonidas.
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: None.
Mangurita – Margaret
- Origin: English variant of the French name Marguerite which comes from the old Persian word for pearl margārīta.
- Meaning: Pearl or cluster of blossoms.
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: Magareti.
Perepetwa – Perpetua
- Origin: Latin.
- Meaning: Perpetual, long lasting.
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: None.
Resiba – Risper
- Origin: Suggested to be English or French.
- Meaning: No consensus on the meaning of this name.
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: None.
Tereza – Theresa
- Origin: English form of the Spanish Teresa which comes from the Greek word therizein.
- Meaning: In Greek the word therizein means to gather, reap or harvest. Could therefore mean one who is resourceful and hardworking. One, who as the youth today say, ‘makes it rain’.
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: Teresia.
Tesi – Daisy
- Origin: English.
- Meaning: Old English word dægeseage, meaning “day’s eye”. When a baby girl’s parents name their child Daisy, they are possibly drawn by the stated charachteristics of the flower that goes by the name: innocence and purity.
- Alternative Maragoli spellings and variations: None.
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