Discover Beautiful African American Names

Form of Adolphus, a Swedish form of Adolph: Noble wolf; noble hero (Old German).

Created name from African-American culture, a form of Felix: Happy; fortunate, lucky one (Latin).

Meaning and origin unknown.

“Land of the spear” (French origin)

No meaning available

No meaning available

Form of Wilbert: Resolute, brilliant one (Old German).

“Hero” (English origin)

“Sun child” (Hebrew origin)

“Noble” (variation of Marquis)

Meaning and origin unknown. Name of enslaved black men in the late 18th century.

Little dear or beloved one (French).

No meaning available

Youthful, springlike, born in the spring (Latin).

“King” (Malian origin)

Form of Ezekiel: Strength of God; God will strengthen (Hebrew; Old Testament—prophet for whom a book in the Old Testament is named).

Created name from African-American culture, a form of Andre: Strong, manly (Greek).

“Defender of the people” (Greek origin)

Household administrator (Scottish, from Middle and Old English); surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

Created name from African-American culture, a form of Sam: To hear (Hebrew).

Descender (Hebrew); also a female name.

No meaning available

Brave; bravery is his prize (Muslim—popular in Sudan; Arabic, North Africa).

Unique African American name

No meaning available

James spelled backward

No meaning available

“Wise, intelligent” (Arabic origin)

Modern blend, popular suffix

Variation of “Quinton,” meaning “fifth”

Form of Emlen, a form of Emlyn: Common Welsh name of unknown meaning (EM-lin).

Created name from African-American culture.

Latin origin, meaning “tender, gracious,” used widely

Form of Zachariah: Jehovah has remembered (Hebrew; Old Testament).

Form of Abram: Exalted father (Hebrew; Old Testament—Abraham’s name before God changed it). Name found among enslaved men in the South during the mid-nineteenth century.

“Field of roses” (Dutch origin)

Wheelmaker (Old English).

Jasper stone (Old French).

Form of Hugh: Intelligence; spirit (Old English).

“Ruler’s counselor” (Scottish origin)

Form of Yoseph or Joseph: He shall add (YOO-suf—Arabic, North Africa; Hebrew; Swahili, East Africa).

Form of Levell: Beloved ruler (Old English); surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

“Dark” (Irish origin)

Weaver (Old English); surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

Horse (BAH-ree—Mende, Guinea; Mende, Sierra Leone).

Meaning and origin unknown. Name found among free black men who lived and worked in eighteenth-century New England.

God is my judge (Hebrew; Old Testament—major prophet).

Form of Mackeggie or Mackaggie: Son of Adam (Scottish Gaelic). Surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

Giver (Hebrew; Old Testament—prophet who rebuked King David).

Player of the rote—an early medieval stringed instrument (Old French); surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

Form of Gyantwaka: By what one plants, the planter (gy-an-twak-ah—Iroquois, Native North American).

No meaning available

Ellis's town (English). Surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

Unique blend of “De” and “Quandre”

No meaning available

“Little redhead” (Irish origin)

Created name from African-American culture, a form of Vaughn: Small one (Old Welsh).

No meaning available

Form of Vaughn: Small one (Old Welsh).

Wise one; wisdom (Greek).

Bold one; dog; one with a bold stance and faithful affection (Old Testament—a leader of the the Israelites; Hebrew).

Meaning and origin unknown.

Form of Clifford: From the cliff ford; one who dwells at the ford near the cliff (Old English); surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

Form of Ratcliff: Red cliff or riverbank (English); surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

From the field estate or town in the garden (English).

“Bringer of good news” (Arabic origin)

Created name from African-American culture.

Form of Philip: Lover of horses (Greek).

No meaning available

Unique modern name

No meaning available

“Young warrior” (English origin)

Brilliant raven; he shall be famous (English; German).

No meaning available

Form of Ezekiel: Strength of God; God will strengthen (Hebrew; Old Testament—prophet for whom a book in the Old Testament is named).

“Great Lord” (Welsh origin, popularized in African American culture)

Form of Ellsworth: From the estate of a noble one (English).

No meaning available

“Industrious ruler” (German origin)

Our God, our Lord (Yoruba, Nigeria).

Patient, tolerant; one who overlooks the fault of others (Muslim).

Form of Niall: Champion (Irish Gaelic).

No meaning available

No meaning available

Form of Jerrold, a form of Gerald: Rules by the spear (German).

Form of Oliver: Kind, affectionate one (Old Norse; Scandinavian).

One wearing a curly hairstyle (English; Scottish); surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

Created name from African-American culture, a form of Youkioma: Almost perfect (Hopi, Native North American).

Grain thresher; dweller near the grain-winnowing fans or marshlands (Middle English).

Form of Stephen, a form of Stephanos: Crowned one (Greek).

Created name from African-American culture.

Jonis's settlement (Scottish); surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

Form of Stephanos: Crowned one (Greek).

Modern African American name

Dweller from the colony by the lake or pool—Lincoln, a city in Lincolnshire, England; surname or family name given for a first or middle name. Surname of the sixteenth president of the United States (Abraham Lincoln).

Dweller in the clearing by the temple (English); surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

Form of Cleophas: One who comes to give a speech (Aramaic; New Testament); one of two disciples who encountered Jesus on the Road to Emmaus.

Living; generous; form of Zeus, chief of the Olympian gods (Greek). Name found among enslaved black men in eighteenth-century New England.

English origin, meaning “heather-covered hill”

Meaning unknown (Gan, Togo).