In Ethiopia, nobody has a family name. What you take for a surname is actually the father's first name, so it changes with every generation. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is called Abiy, son of Ahmed. Here are 40 Ethiopian names, an explanation of this naming system, and why almost all of these names are sentences.
A country without family names
This is the most puzzling feature for an outsider, and it has very concrete consequences.
- The second name is the father's first name. A man called Dawit Tesfaye is Dawit, son of Tesfaye.
- The name changes with every generation. Dawit Tesfaye's son will be called So-and-so Dawit.
- Women do not change their name when they marry. Since the second name is their father's, there is no reason for it to change.
- Brothers and sisters share the same second name, but their cousins do not.
This system, known as patronymic, is also found in Iceland and was once common in much of the world. In Ethiopia it is still the norm, which regularly causes difficulties with foreign administrations that look for a family name where there is none.
Names that are sentences
Amharic, a Semitic language related to Arabic and Hebrew, can condense an entire clause into a single word. Most Ethiopian names are therefore statements.
| Element | Meaning | Names |
|---|---|---|
| Haile | The power of | Haile Selassie, “power of the Trinity” |
| Gebre | Servant of | Gebremariam, Gebrehiwot |
| Wolde | Son of | Woldemariam, Woldegiorgis |
| Tesfa | Hope | Tesfaye, “my hope” |
| Bereket | The blessing | Bereket |
| Kidist | Holy | Kidist |
The name of the last emperor is the best illustration: Haile Selassie means “power of the Trinity.” It was not his birth name, by the way, which was Tafari.
Names drawn from nature and virtues
| Name | Meaning in Amharic |
|---|---|
| Selam | Peace |
| Hiwot | Life |
| Almaz | The diamond |
| Tigist | Patience |
| Genet | Paradise, the garden |
| Abeba | The flower |
| Abebe | “He has bloomed,” masculine |
| Fitsum | Accomplished, perfect |
| Senait | The good one, the virtuous one |
You already know one of these words without realizing it: the capital, Addis Abeba, means “new flower.” The name Abeba comes directly from it.
The Christian heritage
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is one of the oldest in the world, and the country claims a biblical lineage going back to the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon. Hence a repertoire of biblical names in their own distinctive forms.
- Dawit: David.
- Yohannes: John.
- Tewodros: Theodore, borne by a 19th-century emperor.
- Yonas: Jonah.
- Rahel: Rachel.
- Hanna, Sara, Ruth, Marta: used in forms very close to their English equivalents.
- Bethlehem: given as a girl's name, which often comes as a surprise.
These names are written in the country's own script, Ge'ez, a syllabary of more than two hundred characters that has been in use since antiquity and that Ethiopia has never abandoned in favor of the Latin alphabet.
40 Ethiopian names
For a boy
Abebe, Bekele, Tesfaye, Getachew, Haile, Kebede, Mulugeta, Dawit, Yohannes, Tewodros, Menelik, Girma, Solomon, Abiy, Bereket, Fitsum, Nahom, Yonas, Samuel, Robel.
For a girl
Almaz, Tigist, Selam, Hiwot, Meron, Bethlehem, Genet, Mahlet, Rahel, Eden, Feven, Marta, Senait, Bitania, Kidist, Aster, Abeba, Hanna, Sara, Ruth.
The ones that work best in France
- Selam: five letters, “peace,” soft and easy to read.
- Eden: already well established in France, unisex.
- Meron: short, melodious, with no spelling traps.
- Dawit: the Ethiopian form of David, instantly understandable.
- Aster: rare and elegant, with the flower behind it.
Things to anticipate: Getachew and Mulugeta, whose spelling will systematically have to be spelled out, and above all the naming system: an Ethiopian family living in France will have to deal with forms that require a fixed family name.
To broaden your search, see our guide to African names for girls. And since Ethiopia was home to an ancient Jewish community, the Beta Israel, our guide to Jewish names sheds light on part of this biblical repertoire.
Frequently asked questions
Do Ethiopians have a family name?
No. The second name is the father's first name, so it changes with every generation. Abiy Ahmed means Abiy, son of Ahmed. Women do not change their name when they marry, since that name is their own father's.
What does Haile Selassie mean?
“Power of the Trinity.” It was not the birth name of the last emperor of Ethiopia, who was called Tafari, but the name he took at his coronation.
What does Addis Abeba mean?
“New flower,” in Amharic. The girl's name Abeba, “the flower,” comes directly from it, as does the boy's name Abebe, “he has bloomed.”
What script are Ethiopian names written in?
In Ge'ez, a syllabary of more than two hundred characters that has been in use since antiquity. Ethiopia has never replaced it with the Latin alphabet, unlike most African countries.
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