Discover Beautiful African American Names

Son of life; man of religion (Scottish); surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

No meaning available

No meaning available

Form of Romanus: Man from Rome (French; Latin).

“Dark-skinned” (Latin origin)

Form of Jordan: Descender (Hebrew); also a female name.

No meaning available

Created name from African-American culture.

Created name from African-American culture, an adaptation of Makeba, in honor of the late South African singer and activist, Miriam Makeba.

Meaning and origin unknown.

Form of Ozni: Hearing (OZ-ny—Old Testament—grandson of Jacob; Hebrew).

From the French Sylvestre and the Latin Silvester: Dweller from the forest.

“Mountain” (modern American origin)

Form of Augustine: Exalted one, imperial, revered (Latin).

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

Commander, leader, ruler; prince (ah-MEER-ee—Swahili, East Africa).

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.

“Fair” (Irish origin)

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

Salvation of God (Old Testament—prophet; Hebrew).

Dweller at the hall or manor house (Old English).

Kingly (Swahili, East Africa).

Well-known and noble (Latin).

No meaning available

Variation of “Armando,” meaning “army man”

Spanish form of Stephen or Steven: Crowned one (Greek).

No meaning available

“Land” (German origin)

Rebel (Hebrew; Old Testament).

“Free man” (Latin origin)

“Golden town” (French origin)

Place name—The original name of ancient Ethiopia; the name of an Ethiopian city from the first to the eighth centuries CE.

No meaning available

Form of Bert: Shining brightly; glorious one (Old English).

Variation of “Theron”

“Son of James” (English origin)

Blue jay (Old French).

Form of Kenneth: Handsome one (Irish Gaelic).

“Wise, intelligent” (Arabic origin)

From the lake between the towns (English).

Form of Dorian: Name created by writer Oscar Wilde for his title character in The Portrait of Dorian Gray—thought to be influenced by inhabitants of Doris (Dorians), a mountainous region of Greece (English).

“Broad meadow” (Irish origin)

“Ellis’s town” (English origin)

From the estate of the keen one’s family (Old English); surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

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

“Northerner” (French origin)

Form of Arvin: Friend of the people (German).

“Thin, lean” (Scottish origin)

Form of Henry: Ruler of a home or private property (Old German).

No meaning available

Combination of “Le” and “Marcus”

Pre-eminence (Hebrew; Old Testament—father-in-law of Moses).

Form of Shirrell: From the parish of Cherhill or Shirwell; clear spring (Anglo-Saxon). Surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

No meaning available

Form of Clayborne: Boundary marked by clovers; brook near a clay bed (French; German; Old English).

Dark skinned (French); surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

“Land of the spear” (French origin)

“Land of the noble” (Irish origin, popularized in African American culture)

Nobleman, chief (Old English).

Prudent, discreet, wise (Irish Gaelic).

Form of Judah: Praise (Hebrew; Old Testament).

Rocky fortress; sky fortress (Old English); surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

“Holy” (Arabic origin)

Form of Ananiah: Jehovah has given (ah-nah-NI-ahs—New Testament; Hebrew).

Form of Terrell: Ruler of thunder (Old English); rooted in Thor, the mystical Norse god of thunder.

“Hill settlement” (English origin)

No meaning available

Form of Budd: One whose body is thick (Old English); surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

Slavic origin, meaning “declaration of peace”

Combination of “Ca” and “Mari”

Created name from African-American culture, a form of Ron, a form of Ronald: Mighty power (Old Norse).

Blend of “Ra” and “Quan”

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

Created name from African-American culture, a form of Rasheed or Rashid: Rightly guided (Arabic, North Africa).

Form of Gregory: Vigilant; watchful one (Greek; Latin).

Our God, our Lord (Yoruba, Nigeria).

“Of the sea” (Spanish origin, adapted)

No meaning available

No meaning available

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

From the beautiful mountain (Old French).

“Woodcutter” (English origin)

Blend of “Dan” and “-trell” suffix

Beloved man (Anglo-Saxon); surname or family given for a first or middle name.

Dweller at the white cliff (English).

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

Unique modern name

Form of Quincy: Dweller at the fifth son’s estate (Old French).

Modern African American name with a unique sound

Form of Thomas: Twin (Aramaic; Greek; New Testament).

Mild, gentle, merciful (Latin).

No meaning available

No meaning available

“Valley” (French origin)

Dweller from the island of Lelli, Lealla—Lindsey, Lincolnshire, England (Anglo-Saxon); surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

“To be pampered” (Yoruba origin)

English form of Homeros: Pledge; security (Greek).

Combination of “La” and “Monte”

Government (Amharic, Ethiopia).

Strong (Fulani, West Africa).