RICH CULTURE: Popular Yoruba Names And Their English Meanings

Yoruba, Hausa and the Igbo tribes are the 3 most common tribes in Nigeria today.

The natives of Yorubaland are in the habit of naming a child in order of place, circumstances surrounding his or her birth as well as in honour of an ancestor.

Listed below are few Yoruba names and their meanings in English Language.


Name                  Meaning

Ajayi——–A child born with face turned downwards

Aina——Is the female of Ojo(of the two names, Ijebu tribe uses Aina,it is proverbial that (Ijebu Kii je Ojo),”Ijebus never bear the name Ojo.”

Dada—–Children with knotted hair or dreads

Ilori——Conceived after a previous birth, before resumption of mensturation

Oke—–A child wrapped in a thin membrane at birth, (The Amniotic sac)

Taiwo—-The first to arrive of a twin

Kehinde—The last to arrive of a twin

Eta Oko—The third child in a Triplet

Ojo———-A male child that has his umbilical cord tied around his neck at birth.

Talabi——-A child born with the head and body covered with Caul like a masquerade

Oni———A baby whose incessant cry at birth suggest that he/she is in distress

Ige ——–A baby that came out of the womb with feet first

Idowu—–A child born after a set of twins.

Alaba——A child born after Idowu

Olugbodi—-A child born with the sixth finger

Erinle——–A child born with an umbilical cord around his wrist.