Discover Beautiful African American Names

Place name—county in England and sixteen places in the United States.

Form of Aloysius, a form of Louis: Famous warrior (al-oh-WIH-shus—French; Late Latin).

No meaning available

“The river that swallows all rivers” (African origin, widely adapted)

“Bright army” (German origin)

Unique modern name

“Valley of the River Kent” (English origin, adapted)

Powerful protector (German); surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

Great spearsman or marksman; spearlike or pointed (Irish Gaelic).

Variation of “Xavier,” meaning “new house”

Form of Niall: Champion (Irish Gaelic).

Form of William: Resolute protector (Old German).

From the cliff land; land near the steep bank (Old English); surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

Form of Leslie: Garden of hollies; gray fort (English; Gaelic; Scottish).

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

No meaning available

Learned (se-KOO—Guinea).

Form of Anthony: Inestimable, priceless one; worthy of praise (Latin).

“Champion” (Irish origin)

“Red-haired” (English origin)

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).

Created name from African-American culture.

No meaning available

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.

Dweller at the rocky meadow (Old English); surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

“Overseer” (English origin)

“Hero” (English origin, popularized by musician Pharrell Williams)

No meaning available

“Honor and respect” (Yoruba origin)

“Champion” (Irish origin)

Hero in good health, or from the hall (Old English).

Unique blend

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

Valley enclosure or settlement (English); surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

Dweller near the crane in a woodland clearing (English); surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

Man of rank (Irish).

Form of Festus: Meaning and origin unknown. In the New Testament, the procurator of Judea through whom Paul made his famous appeal to Caesar.

Prefix (meaning “son of”) of a surname or family name given for a first or middle name (Irish; Scottish).

“Servant of God” (Arabic origin)

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

Unique African American name

No meaning available

No meaning available

No meaning available

“Ruler with spear” (German origin)

Blend of “Ri” and “Shawn”

Lord (Amharic, Ethiopia).

Form of Bacchus: In Roman mythology, the god of wine and revelry (Roman).

French origin, meaning “lawyer,” adapted in African American culture

Nobleman (mar-KEE—French; MAR-quis).

Form of Quincy: Dweller at the fifth son's estate (Old French); surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

No meaning available

Son of Fire, the name of a Celtic pagan god (Gaelic); surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

Unique African American name, meaning “beloved”

No meaning available

No meaning available

The god of divination; a tool for removing pulp of green calabash; good luck, gain (ee-FEH, EE-fay—Yoruba, Nigeria).

Created name from African-American culture.

“Broad clearing” (English origin)

Form of Benjamin: Son of the right hand (Hebrew; Old Testament).

Created name from African-American culture, a form of Troy: At the place of the curly-haired people (Old French).

Modern blend, popular suffix

Good, wise man; prophet of Islam (Arabic, North Africa; Islam).

No meaning available

“Oarsman” (French origin)

No meaning available

Arabic origin, meaning “faith”

“Mill town” (English origin)

No meaning available

Father is exalted (EE-bra-heem—Hausa, Nigeria).

Red-haired person (Welsh); surname or family name given for a first or middle name:

Form of Chapman: Merchant (Middle English; Old English).

Meaning and origin unknown.

Like a horn (Latin).

Word name—the French word tres (tray): Three.

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

“Hollow” (Irish origin, adapted)

Divinely strong (German).

Unique blend, with roots in “Zaire”

Form of Isaac: He laughs (Old Testament; Hebrew).

No meaning available

Dweller at the willow ford. (Old English).

Created name from African-American culture.

Dweller near the wide riverside meadow or from the wide island in the river (Old English); surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

English form of Leroy: King; person given the title of king for his royal bearing or for the part played in a religious pageant (French).

No meaning available

“Great hill” (Scottish origin)

Fearless person, brave one; comforter, bringer of consolation (Muslim; Swahili, East Africa).

No meaning available

“Good” (French origin)

Form of Emmett: Industrious, strong (Old German).

Blend of “Da” and “Marcus”

Charming, clever, beguiling (English).

From the Scandinavian country Denmark (Old Norse).

Form of Anthony: Inestimable, priceless one; worthy of praise (Latin).

Mercy; saved from the water, referring to the biblical Moses (Egyptian; Swahili, East Africa; Wolof, Senegal).

“Wild garlic island” (Scottish origin)

Form of Terence: Smooth, polished one; tender (Latin).

Dear friend (English); surname or family name given for a first or middle name.

Dangerous undertaking.