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Yoruba

West Africa

The Yoruba, numbering more than 50 million worldwide, are centered in southwestern Nigeria and neighboring Benin and Togo. Their shared identity grew out of the ancient city of Ile-Ife, considered their spiritual homeland, and later the Oyo Empire, which became the largest Yoruba state through its trade wealth and powerful cavalry.

Textile & art tradition

Adire is indigo-dyed by Yoruba women using resist techniques: oniko (tied raffia) and eleko (hand-painted cassava starch), both blocking dye to leave patterned white against deep blue.

Did you know?

Yoruba is a tonal language: the same word spelled without tone marks can carry different meanings entirely, which is why written Yoruba proverbs always carry accent marks over vowels.

Proverbs (6)

Leadership Patience Truth Wisdom Respect

An elder cannot be present in the market and let the head of a young baby twist to one side.

An elder who sees a baby's head twisting to one side in the market is expected to act. The proverb makes elders responsible for stepping in wherever a misunderstanding could turn unpleasant, and for clearing it up.

Whoever delays their meal will not necessarily find it spoiled.

Food that is eaten late has not spoiled for the waiting. The proverb says that it is better to be patient than to rush into things.

The chicken sweats, but its down hides it from us.

In the proverb's image, the chicken sweats like anyone else, but its feathers keep us from seeing it. Most people are carrying more than shows on the outside.

It is a light rain that chases a child indoors; it is a raging torrent that shakes the raffia palm to its roots.

What sends a child running indoors is nothing to a grown palm, yet the palm has its torrent too. Hardship is measured against the one who bears it, and everyone, however strong, meets a force that can shake them.

Anyone who wears a crown has outgrown childhood.

Wearing a crown brings weight as well as status, and there's no going back to childhood. Authority comes with the expectation that you have truly grown into it.

The leopard's stealthy gait is not a result of cowardice; it is simply stalking its prey.

A leopard moves quietly because it is calculating, not because it is afraid. From outside, the same behavior can mean opposite things, so don't mistake someone's calm for weakness just because it isn't loud.

Names (33)

All Yoruba names ›

First names

From àbí- ("born") + bọ̀ ("bringing") + ọlá ("wealth, honour"): "born bringing wealth" / "I came with honour." Used for boys and girls. Shortened to Bimbo or Bola.

From a ("we") + bí ("give birth") + (sí) ("into") + ọlá ("wealth, honour"): "born into wealth / nobility." Shortened to Biola. Borne by M. K. O. Abiola, acclaimed winner of Nigeria's annulled 1993 election.

From adé ("crown") + kún ("fill") + ilé ("house"): "the crown fills the house." A royal-lineage name, given in families connected to traditional rulership.

From adé ("crown") + ní ("have") + ìkẹ́ ("care, esteem"): "the crown is to be cherished." Linguistically Adéníìkẹ́; contemporary spelling drops one vowel. Shortened to Nike.

From adé ("crown") + ọlá ("wealth, honour"): "crown of honour" or "royalty brings honour." Given to both boys and girls, more often girls. Shortened to Ola.

From adé ("crown") + wá ("come") + ilé ("home"): "the crown has come home." Like other adé- names, it marks a family tied to traditional rulership.

The female counterpart of Ojo: a girl born with the umbilical cord around her neck. Among the Ijebu, Aina is used for boys instead of Ojo.

Given to the child born after Idowu — continuing the special run of names that begins with a set of twins (Taiwo and Kehinde), then Idowu, then Alaba. Usually a girl's name.

From baba ("father") + tún dé ("come again"): "father has returned." Traditionally given to a boy born after the death of his father or grandfather, understood as that man's return to the family. Shortened to Tunde.

Given to a child born with thick, curled hair already covering the head, a birth feature traditionally left uncut.

Given to the child born immediately after a set of twins, regardless of sex: a distinct, recognized position in Yoruba birth order.

Given to a child born in breech position (feet or buttocks first, rather than head first): a recognized birth-circumstance name distinct from a name chosen for personality or hope.

Given to the second-born of twins. Despite arriving second, Kehinde is traditionally considered the elder of the two, having sent Taiwo out ahead to test whether the world was safe to enter.

Given to a boy born with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. An àmútọ̀runwá name — one held to be fixed before birth by the circumstances of the birth itself, not chosen.

From ọlá ("honour, wealth") + tún dé ("come again"): "honour has returned." Given in the hope the child brings honour to the family, or that a late ancestor's standing is reborn in them. Shortened to Tunde.

From ọlá ("wealth, honour") + wá ("come") + ilé ("home"): "honour has come home." Expresses a wish for prosperity to settle with the family. Shortened to Wale.

From olú ("God, Lord") + ṣẹ́gun ("conquer," itself ṣẹ́ "do" + ogun "war"): "God is victorious" / "God has conquered." Also spelled Oluwasegun. Shortened to Segun.

From olúwa ("Lord") + fẹ́ ("love, want") + mi ("me"): "the Lord loves me." Shortened to Femi or Olufemi.

From olúwa ("Lord") + ṣe ("do") + oun ("thing"): "the Lord has done (something good)." Also read as "thank God," since ẹ ṣeun is the everyday phrase for thank you. Shortened to Seun.

Given to the first-born of twins, regardless of the child's sex. In Yoruba belief, Taiwo is sent out first by the second twin, Kehinde, to see what the world is like. The literal meaning is close to "the first to taste the world."

From ìyá / yè ("mother") + tún dé ("come again"): "mother has returned." Given to a girl born shortly after the death of her paternal grandmother, understood as that grandmother reborn. Related name: Iyabo.

Last names

From adé ("crown") + bá ("meet") + ayọ̀ ("joy"): "the crown meets joy." Shortened to Bayo.

From adé ("crown") + yẹ ("befit") + mi ("me"): "the crown befits me." A royal-lineage praise name adopted as a family name.

From a ("we") + yìn ("praise") + dé ("arrive"): "we gave praise when he arrived." A name for a child whose birth was greeted with thanksgiving, carried on as a family name.

From ayọ̀ ("joy") + dé ("arrive") + ilé ("home"): "joy has come home." Shortened to Ayo or Dele.

From bàbá ("father") + ní ("has") + ọlá ("wealth, honour"): "the father has honour" / "father is wealth." Shortened to Lola.

From bà mí ("help me") + kọ́ ("build") + ilé ("house"): "help me build a house." Read as a wish for settled, rooted family life, often after a founding generation's hardship or wandering. Shortened to Kole.

From Ifá (the òrìṣà of divination and destiny) + yẹ ("befit") + mi ("me"): "Ifá befits me." Marks a family tied to Ifá divination.

From Ògún (the òrìṣà of iron, war and metalwork) + bí ("give birth") + yìí ("this one"): "Ògún gave birth to this child." A family name marking a lineage that served Ògún.

From Ògún + yẹ ("befit, be worthy of") + mi ("me"): "Ògún befits me." Same òrìṣà-lineage pattern as Ogunbiyi; the -yẹmí ending also appears in Adeyemi and Oluwafemi.

From ikú ("death") + san ("repay, compensate") + ìyà ("suffering"): "death has repaid the suffering." Given to a child born after grief in the family, and kept as the lineage name.

From ọlá ("honour, prosperity") + ń rìn ("is moving") + iwájú ("ahead"): "honour moves forward" / "prosperity is advancing." Shortened to Nre or Waju.

From ọlá ("honour, wealth") + yí ... ká ("surround") + mi ("me"): "honour surrounds me." Shortened to Yinka.

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