Chinonso

From ada ("first-born daughter" — a standing every eldest Igbo daughter holds) + eze ("king"): "the king's first daughter" / "princess." Shortened to Ada.

From Chi ("God") + a-ma-ka ("is more beautiful / splendid"): "God is beautiful / God is splendid." Shortened to Amaka.

A sentence name meaning "God is king" (Chi, God + bu eze, is king).

From Chi + dị ("is") + ebere ("mercy, compassion"): "God is merciful." Shortened to Ebere.

A sentence name meaning "God is good" (Chi, God + di nma, is good). Also spelled Chidimma.

From Chi (one's personal god) + na-edu ("leads, guides"): "God leads / God is the guide." Shortened to Nedu.

From Chukwu (the supreme God) + dị ("exists, is"): "God exists / God is." Shortened to Chidi.

A sentence name meaning "God has done exceedingly well" (Chukwu, God + emeka, has done well/greatly). Commonly shortened to Emeka.

From ife ("thing") + ọma ("good"): "a good thing." Also used for boys in some areas.

From mgbe ("time, day") + Eke: "on Eke day" — the female counterpart of Nweke, a girl born on Eke.

Igbo for "blessing." Can be short for Ngozichukwu, "God's blessing."

A sentence name meaning "father has done well" (nna, father + emeka, has done well/greatly).

From nna m ("my father") + dị ("lives, is alive"): "my father lives." Traditionally given to a boy born after the death of his father, grandfather or great-grandfather, believed to be that man returned. Borne by Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nigeria's first president.

From nne ("mother") + ka ("is greater, surpasses"): "mother is supreme." A statement of a mother's standing in the family.

From nne ("mother") + nna ("father"): "father's mother." Given to a girl born after the death of her paternal grandmother, held to be that grandmother returned — the Igbo counterpart to Nnamdi.

From nwa ("child") + Eke (the first of the four Igbo market days): "child of Eke" — a boy born on Eke day.

From obi ("heart, mind") + ọ̀hà / ọ̀rà ("the community, the people"): "the heart of the people" — one the community holds dear. Shortened to Obi.

From oko ("young man, boy") + Afọ (the third Igbo market day): "a boy born on Afọ." Also Nwafor. One of the most common Igbo surnames today, from this naming.

From oko ("young man, boy") + Nkwọ (the last of the four Igbo market days): "a boy born on Nkwọ." The name of the protagonist of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart.

From uche ("mind, will, thought") + Chukwu ("God"): "God's will" / "what God intends." Shortened to Uche.

From ugo ("eagle," and by extension honour, distinction, a crown) + Chukwu ("God"): literally "God's eagle," understood as "the crown / glory of God." Shortened to Ugo.

An Ewe sentence name meaning "he/she has redeemed me".

From Mawu (God) + ena (has given): "God has given".

From Ghebre/Gebre ("servant of") + Mariam (Mary): "servant of Mary" — one of the most productive naming patterns in Tigrinya, pairing Gebre- with a saint's name.

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.

From anda ("increase, multiply"): "they have increased" — the family has grown with this birth. Used for boys and girls.

From anda ("increase, multiply"), present tense: "they are increasing" — the family keeps growing. The counterpart of Andile. Used for boys and girls.

"He has bloomed", related to abeba ("flower"). Borne by the marathon runner Abebe Bikila, the first Black African Olympic gold medallist.

From alem ("world") + -u ("his"): "his world" — the child is the parents' whole world.