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Kikuyu

East Africa

The Kikuyu are Kenya’s largest ethnic group, settled in the highlands around Mount Kenya (which they call Kirinyaga) since roughly the 17th to 19th centuries. They led the Mau Mau uprising against British colonial rule beginning in 1952, one of the pivotal movements in Kenya’s path to independence.

Did you know?

In Kikuyu tradition, Mount Kenya (Kirinyaga, 'mountain of whiteness') is the dwelling place of the supreme being Ngai, and the mountain is said to mark the spot where Ngai gave the first man, Gikuyu, his homestead.

Proverbs (4)

Love Wisdom Truth Respect

On the way to one's beloved, there are no hills.

For someone going to the person they love, no hill is an obstacle. The source describes a suitor who visits his beloved's home again and again and is expected to overcome every difficulty in his way.

A wise person is the one who listens to counsel.

Being wise means listening to advice, not just knowing a lot already. Don't brush off the counsel of parents, elders, or your community's council too quickly.

The case of good persons must be judged in the same way as that of bad ones.

Judge everyone by the same standard, whether they are well liked or not. Otherwise it isn't judgment, just favoritism.

Only after a cow dies do people realize how much milk it gave them.

While the cow lives, its milk is taken for granted; its worth is seen only once it is gone. The proverb speaks of people recognizing, too late, how much someone gave to their lives.

Names (12)

All Kikuyu names ›

First names

Kikuyu for "the reincarnated one", traditionally given when a child is believed to carry the spirit of a deceased relative.

Kikuyu for "the happy one".

"The one who returns" — the male counterpart to Njoki, in the same reincarnation-naming tradition as the existing Kariuki: given when a child is believed to carry back a departed relative's spirit, often a grandfather's name passed to a grandson.

Kikuyu for "she who shapes" or "molder", also the name of the mythic first mother of the Kikuyu people in their origin story (with Gikuyu as the first father).

Kikuyu for "shepherd", from the verb kũrĩĩthia ("to herd").

One of the two alternating generation-set names in traditional Kikuyu political organisation (Mwangi and Irungu, each holding authority for roughly a generation before passing it to the other) — also widely used as an ordinary personal name.

Kikuyu for "the one who has returned" or "the resurrected one".

From mbura ("rain"). One of the nine daughters of Gikuyu and Mumbi in the Kikuyu origin story.

Linked to irimũ ("ogre, giant"). One of the nine daughters of Gikuyu and Mumbi in the Kikuyu origin story.

Kikuyu for "zebra". One of the nine daughters of Gikuyu and Mumbi in the Kikuyu origin story, each the founder of a traditional clan.

From ngarĩ ("leopard"). One of the nine daughters of Gikuyu and Mumbi in the Kikuyu origin story. Borne by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai.

One of the nine daughters of Gikuyu and Mumbi in the Kikuyu origin story — sources disagree on the name's literal meaning, so none is asserted here.

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