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Ten African-Derived Names in the United States
American names come from all over the world – but did you know about these 10 African-derived names in the USA? Eddie Osborne explains.
Biddy Mason, a Los Angeles pioneer leader.
I’m guessing that you may be among the millions who watched Alex Haley’s TV mini-series, Roots, back in the day. If so, you’ll likely recall the episode in which the central character, Kunta Kinte, was whipped mercilessly for refusing to answer to the name Toby. As the lashing continued to the point where it appeared that Kunta might lapse into unconsciousness or death, you probably were among those viewers who shouted at the screen, “Hell, just say the name! It’s no big deal.”Which would’ve missed the point altogether. It was a big deal. To a continental African, one’s name is no mere label to be cast aside at will. It is a meaningful expression of a person’s identity. To deny one the use of his or her name is to negate the bearer’s personhood so that s/he ceases to exist psychically. And this is precisely what planters sought to accomplish by depriving their African captives of their names and replacing them with European ones. Thus, symbolically alienated from their African identity, the enslaved would more easily be made to accept their new status as slaves.The prevailing view among scholars and laypersons alike is that African names, like African languages, died out under slavery in the United States. The reality is that, though the use of African names was curtailed, an unbroken underground tradition of employing African names survives to this day. Some have pretty much retained their original forms, whereas others offer no hint of their African origin, either because they have been “masked” by similar-sounding European names, because their forms changed as a result of having been misunderstood, or because they masqueraded as nicknames.The following are ten examples of the hundreds of African-derived names that survive among African Americans, and others, in the United States:1. BayBay: This male nickname occurs among African Americans in both rural and urban areas of the country. BayBay appears to be an Anglicization of Bebey, a surname found in the West African nation of Cameroon. It was used in this manner by the late Cameroonian musician Francis Bebey.2. Biddy: Though rare nowadays, Biddy formerly was a fairly common name among Black women. Perhaps its best-known bearer was Biddy Mason (1818–1891), a California entrepreneur and philanthropist. Born Bridget, she later became known as Biddy, a name that she retained for the rest of her life. Biddy may derive from Kikongo bidibidi, “a bird.” Another possibility is that it comes from Fulfulde biddo, “child,” a term in that language which may be coupled with other words to designate the young of humans, animals, and plants, as in biddo kokoji, “the fruit of the coconut palm.” In other words, “coconut.”3. Bo: This survival occurs among some Black males in the southern United States as both a free-standing nickname and occasional given name. Examples are Bo Diddley and Bo Jackson, the names, respectively, of the late blues musician and the former football great. Bo might derive from Vai bo or bobo, used to refer to a male when his real name is unknown; from Fante Ebo, a name for a male born on Tuesday; or from Vai and Temne bo, which may translate as something like “friend.”4. Bubba: This nickname occurs among both Whites and Blacks. Among the former, Bubba has the limited meaning of a Southerner, particularly one who fits the “redneck” stereotype. Among blacks, however, Bubba continues to be used pretty much as it was in its African homeland. There it occurs as an occasional male given name, as a nickname, and as an informal honorific term (meaning something like “brother,” “daddy,” or “friend”) used to address older male friends and relatives. Those West African languages with correspondences that perform at least some of these functions include Yoruba baba (“father”), Hausa bàbbā (“chief”), Fula baaba (“father”), Susu bab (“father”), and Serer (babā (“father”). Among these groups, as among U.S. Blacks, the term may occur as a free-standing name (as in Baaba Maal, the name of a Senegalese musician) or, as among the Yoruba, in combination with other forms to create the name of a male child believed to be the reincarnation of a deceased relative (e.g., Babatunde, “Father comes again”).5. Buddy: As they had in Africa, early Fulfulde-speaking captives in the United States continued the practice of addressing their male elders not by name but rather by badi, a respectful term meaning “uncle.” Over time, the term became buddy, and its meaning shifted to something like “close friend” or “companion,” as in “my buddy.” Eventually, buddy came to serve as a nickname and occasional given name, functions which it retains to this day (e.g., Buddy Miles, Buddy Guy, Buddy Rich, and Buddy Ebsen).6. Cudjo: Originally a male given name in the United States, Cudjo seldom is used as such these days. The name has a long history as a family name however, being used mainly among the Oklahoma and Texas descendants of Seminole Freedmen, runaways from South Carolina and Georgia, who, in the mid-1800s, were forcibly removed from Florida along with their Seminole allies. Notable bearers of the name are the families of brothers Lance and Lawrence Cudjo, leaders of a Freedman’s band in the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma. It also survives in the name of one of the islands lying off the southeastern coast of Florida — Cudjo Key. Cudjo derives from similar forms of ɛ-dadin, or “day names,” used among the Fante (Kudjo), Ewe (Kojo), and Asante (Kwadwó) peoples of Ghana and Togo for males born on a Monday.7. Cuffe/Cuffie/Coffee: Another West African ɛ-dadin, or “day name,” that survives as a family name in some African-American communities (including among a band of Seminole Freedmen in Oklahoma) is Kofi, Anglicized variously as Cuffe, Cuffie, Cuffee, and Coffee. Among the Asante, Fante, Ewe, and Ga peoples of Ghana and Togo, Kofi is given to a male child born on a Friday. The name (in its various Anglicized forms) was a commonly used surname in the 18th-century United States, perhaps its most notable bearer being Paul Cuffee (sometimes rendered Cuffe). Born in Massachusetts in 1759, Cuffee became a wealthy shipowner and abolitionist and pioneered the back-to-Africa movement, which saw a number of people repatriated to the continent.8. Mingo: This surname occurs among some Blacks in Georgia, Florida, the Carolinas, and perhaps other areas of the South. Possible sources include the Bamileke surname Mingo and the Tshiluba male name Mingo (also Minga).9. Peewee: This nickname usually is used for a person of relatively small stature. People bearing the nickname Peewee include musicians Pee Wee Crayton and Peewee Kirkland; actor Peewee Herman (born Paul Reubens); and football great Peewee Reese (Harold Peter Henry). Peewee also is used in reference to small, non-human things, as in “peewee football” (a ball for small children). The word likely derives from Fon kpevi, “small,” but another possibility is Kikongo mpivi, meaning “orphan.”10. Sonny: This nickname (and its variant Son) long has been a popular one among both Blacks and Whites. Notable bearers include bluesmen Son House (Edward James House) and Son Seals (Frank Seals), boxer Sonny Liston (Charles Liston), and Sonny (born Salvatore Phillip Bono) of the vocal duo Sonny & Cher. Sonny might derive from similar forms in several West African languages, including Sonny, Sonni, Sunni, Sani, Sanneh in Bamanan, Mandinka, Songhai, Yoruba, and Hausa, or the Vai and Kikongo personal names, respectively Soni and Nsoni. E. Osborne is a Miami-based freelancer whose work has appeared in publications ranging from Essence and Writer’s Market ’85 to the now-defunct Sepia and Encore American & Worldwide News. This article first appeared in Medium.
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