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Nnamdi

Igbo · First name · male · birth circumstance

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.

Source: Igbo reincarnation naming, cross-referenced across Wikipedia (Nnamdi) and the Guardian Nigeria Igbo-names guide

Other Igbo first names

Adaeze
From ada ("first-born daughter" — a standing every eldest Igbo daughter holds) + eze ("king"): "the king's first daughter" / "princess." Shortened to Ada.
Chiamaka
From Chi ("God") + a-ma-ka ("is more beautiful / splendid"): "God is beautiful / God is splendid." Shortened to Amaka.
Chibueze
A sentence name meaning "God is king" (Chi, God + bu eze, is king).
Chidiebere
From Chi + dị ("is") + ebere ("mercy, compassion"): "God is merciful." Shortened to Ebere.
Chidinma
A sentence name meaning "God is good" (Chi, God + di nma, is good). Also spelled Chidimma.
Chinedu
From Chi (one's personal god) + na-edu ("leads, guides"): "God leads / God is the guide." Shortened to Nedu.
Chinonso
A sentence name meaning "God is present" or "God is near" (Chi, God + no nso, is near), used for both boys and girls.
Chukwudi
From Chukwu (the supreme God) + dị ("exists, is"): "God exists / God is." Shortened to Chidi.
Chukwuemeka
A sentence name meaning "God has done exceedingly well" (Chukwu, God + emeka, has done well/greatly). Commonly shortened to Emeka.
Ifeoma
From ife ("thing") + ọma ("good"): "a good thing." Also used for boys in some areas.
Mgbeke
From mgbe ("time, day") + Eke: "on Eke day" — the female counterpart of Nweke, a girl born on Eke.
Ngozi
Igbo for "blessing." Can be short for Ngozichukwu, "God's blessing."
Nnaemeka
A sentence name meaning "father has done well" (nna, father + emeka, has done well/greatly).
Nneka
From nne ("mother") + ka ("is greater, surpasses"): "mother is supreme." A statement of a mother's standing in the family.
Nnenna
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.
Nweke
From nwa ("child") + Eke (the first of the four Igbo market days): "child of Eke" — a boy born on Eke day.
Obiora
From obi ("heart, mind") + ọ̀hà / ọ̀rà ("the community, the people"): "the heart of the people" — one the community holds dear. Shortened to Obi.
Okafor
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.
Okonkwo
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.
Uchechukwu
From uche ("mind, will, thought") + Chukwu ("God"): "God's will" / "what God intends." Shortened to Uche.
Ugochukwu
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.

More birth circumstance names, from other cultures

Lawal · Hausa
From Arabic "awal" (first), given to a first-born child; reflects the centuries-deep Islamic influence on Hausa naming.
Tanko · Hausa
A boy born after a run of daughters.
Nyongesa · Luhya
Given to a boy born on a Saturday.
Wafula · Luhya
Given to a boy born during the heavy-rains season, among the Ababukusu (a Luhya sub-group).
Oduor · Luo
Given to a boy born at midnight. It is one of the Luo names for the time of day a child was born; a girl is given the same name beginning with A.
Okoth · Luo
Dholuo for "born during the rainy season".
Leleito · Maasai
Given to a child born during a thunderstorm.
Roobaa · Oromo
"One who rains" — given for a birth during the rains.
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