What your Baby’s Name Says about You

We are slowly moving away from the traditional naming patterns where kids would automatically inherit a grandparent’s name.

Personally, I initially wanted a name that was similar to my daughter’s dad, Kennedy, so I chose Kendy. However, most of my family felt that it was too similar to the meru ‘Kendi’. I went back to the drawing board and Nia finally came to mind while sitting in the hospital nursery. I was feeling quite hopeless at the time but looking at her would give me a renewed fighting spirit. Thus the birth of ‘Nia’. Upon googling, I found out that it also means ‘bright’ in Welsh. I tend to think of my little girl as my ‘bright purpose’.

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Other Mums also shared their naming stories with Mums Village:

Lydia, aged 27, has a very beautiful daughter named Zuri Zunaira. She says that she wanted a tribe-neutral name since she and her fiance are from different Kenyan tribes. Zuri is Swahili for good. In French, Zuri also means white and good. She also liked it because it’s short and ‘sounds cute’. Caleb, Zuri’s dad, drew inspiration from his Arabic friends for the name Zunaira. Zunaira means flower of paradise which he felt was a description befitting his wonderful daughter. Lydia couldn’t agree more!

Michelle, a mother of two, named her son Kito and daughter Binti. She wanted Swahili names because her husband is Tanzanian. She felt that these names would pay homage to his Swahili heritage. Kito means precious stones. Binti on the other hand simply means daughter or young girl.

Brenda, aged 24, has an amazing two year old son named Tari. She got her inspiration from the Russian word Tsar which is a title used to designate supreme rulers. Brenda got creative and dropped the ‘s’ and added an ‘i’ at the end. Voila! Tari was born! How royal.

Mwende is expecting her first child soon. She and her husband Steve have already picked out a name for the baby; Jason Tando. Mwende says that she has always loved the name Jason. In Greek mythology Jason was the leader of the Argonauts. Steve chose Tando because it means loved one in Zulu. He says his wife and son are the most important and loved people in his life.

Cynthia named her son Maleek because the baby’s dad grew up in Mombasa and always loved the name. According to thenamemeaning.com, Maleek means ‘King’ or ‘owner’.  Martha and  her husband believe strongly in the power of names when it comes to the impact on the child’s life and personality. For that reason they named their sons Ngatha meaning virtue, Tendo, meaning ‘Man of Action.’

Explore names for your baby on MumsVillage Baby Name Finder.