Eastern African Submitted Surnames

Eastern African names include those from Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. See also about African names.

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Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.

Abdi Somali, Ethiopian, Eastern African, Muslim, Arabic

Abdullahi Persian, Arabic, Somali, Nigerian, Eastern African
From the given name Abdullah or Abdullahi.

Abebe Amharic, Ethiopian
Means "flower" in Amharic.

Aboudi Jewish, Eastern African

Abukar Somali
The name Abukar is of Somali origin and means "Father of the unique"

Abwao Swahili (?)

Adamu Amharic, Swahili, Hausa
From the given name Adamu (see user-submitted name).

Adgo Ethiopian

Aguer Dinka
the name was mainly given to boys of the Dinka tribe ,mainly in the Upper Nile state of South Sudan. meaning is unknown but is synonymous with "tree"

Ahamada Comorian
From the given name Ahamada.

Ahishakiye Rwandan
AHISHAKIYE is a both male (most) and female name which means "Whenever God want" and is originally from Rwanda. It is a familiar name in the East African countries speaking Kinyarwanda and Kirundi such as Rwanda, Uganda, RDC, Burundi and Tanzania... [more]

Ahmedin Amharic
From the given name Ahmedin.

Akello Eastern African
A Lou surname that originates from the name of a male ancestor, Okello or Akello. The ancestor was so named as he was a child born after the birth of twins. Lou personal names were given based on a circumstance of birth.

Akiiki Tooro, Nyoro, Alur, Acholi
The pet name of Elizabeth of Toro.

Alex Eastern African

Alhassan Arabic, Somali, Urdu
From the given name Al-Hasan.

Aliya Ethiopian

Ally Eastern African

Amani Tigrinya
From the given name Amani (see user-submitted name) meaning "faith" in Tigrinya. It is possibly related to Arabic Iman or Swahili Imani, also meaning "faith".

Ame Eastern African

Amooti Tooro, Bunyoro, Alur, Acholi

Archangel Eastern African
From the given name Archangel.

Arjwana Eastern African
Eastern African

Ashenafi Ethiopian
Winner

Axmed Somali
Somali form of Ahmed.

Ayenew Ethiopian

Baharia Swahili

Banchu Eastern African, Ethiopian, Amharic

Baraki Ethiopian, Amharic
From the given name Baraki, meaning "one who blesses" in Amharic. It is possibly related to Arabic Barak 2 and Hebrew Baruch, also meaning "blessed".

Bayou Ethiopian

Bayu Ethiopian

Beatrice Eastern African

Ben Ali Arabic (Maghrebi), Comorian
Maghrebi transcription of Arabic بن علي (bin Ali) meaning "son of Ali 1". A notable bearer was Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (1936-2019), who served as the president of Tunisia from 1987 to 2011.

Birhane Amharic, Ethiopian

Breezy Eastern African

Britney Kikuyu

Buk Eastern African

Chalo Bemba, Eastern African

Chepchumba Kalenjin
Matronymic surname meaning "daughter of Chumba".

Christine Eastern African

Cilmi Somali

Dawit Ge'ez, Amharic
From the given name Dawit.

Degene Ethiopian

Derbie Ethiopian

Deressa Eastern African, Amharic
From the given name Deressa.

Deresse Amharic, Ethiopian
From the given name Deresse or Deressa.

Dhadho Swahili, Tibetan

Dinagde Oromo

Dualeh Somali
Meaning unknown.

Edesa Ethiopian

Ekochu African, Eastern African

Elmi Somali

Elyas Ethiopian, Filipino, Malay
Form of Elias, latinized version of the Hebrew Eliyahu, "My God is Yahweh", found in Ethiopian, Filipino and Malay populations. See also the first names Elias, Elijah.

Emily Eastern African

Fussy German, English, Eastern African

Gaaxnuug Somali

Gebreyes Ethiopian

Gebrselassie Amharic, Ethiopian

Gero Amharic

Ghirmai Eastern African

Haile Ethiopian
Meaning "power" or "might".

Hailemariam Amharic, Ethiopian
Combination of Haile and Mariam.

Harun Arabic, Somali, Urdu, Bengali
From the given name Harun.

Hassan Arabic, Urdu, Bengali, Dhivehi, Filipino, Tausug, Maranao, Somali (Arabized)
From the given name Hassan.

Hassani Persian, Arabic, Swahili
From the given name Hassan.

Hawa Arabic, Somali, Urdu, Bengali
From the given name Hawa.

Hilina Ethiopian

Hughana Eastern African

Ikochu African, Eastern African

Ikocu African, Eastern African

Iman Arabic, Urdu, Somali, Bengali, Persian
From the given name Iman.

Ismail Arabic, Urdu, Bengali, Dhivehi, Somali (Arabized)
From the given name Isma'il.

Jabo Rwandan

Jacqueline Eastern African

Juma Swahili, Arabic
From the given name Juma.

Junior Eastern African

Justine Eastern African

Kahinu Eastern African, Ge'ez, Amharic, Tigrinya, Swahili, Somali, Malagasy
Means "clergyman" in several Eastern African languages, originally denoting someone who was a clergyman (see the given name Kahinu).

Kaloki Kikuyu

Kamugisha Eastern African

Kansiime Kiga
The surname of a certain Anne.

Kayla Eastern African

Kemba Eastern African

Khalif Somali
Somali form of Khalifa.

Kimachu Eastern African, Swahili

Kitumaini Central African, Swahili
Means "little hope" in Swahili, a diminutive of tumaini meaning simply "hope". It is mostly found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Koko Arabic (Egyptian), Eastern African

Lebna Ethiopian
Means "spirit, essence" in Amharic.

Lubega Eastern African

Luyimbazi Eastern African
This name is given to males belonging to 'Nkima' (Monkey) clan in Buganda kingdom, Uganda.

Lyambo Eastern African

Madhubuti Swahili
A notable bearer is Haki R. Madhubuti, a writer.

Magombo Swahili, African, Swazi (Rare)
Meaning unknown, possibly related from the fore name of the same name. It means "leaves" (verb) in Swahili.

Magondu Kikuyu

Makonnen Eastern African, Amharic
Derived from the given name Makonnen.

Makory Eastern African

Manfred Eastern African

Mariam Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Bengali, Somali, Amharic
From the given name Maryam.

Mathenge Swahili

Maxamed Somali
Somali form of Muhammad.

Maygan Eastern African

Mbabazi Eastern African
A Bantu Uganda surname meaning 'grace' or 'kindness'.

Mekonnen Eastern African, Amharic
Variant spelling of Makonnen.

Melaku Ethiopian, Amharic
From the given name Melaku, meaning "the angel" in Amharic. It is possibly related to Arabic/Hebrew Malak and Turkish Melek 2, also meaning "angel".

Melgiste Ethiopian

Mengiste Ethiopian

Metito Eastern African

Mikal Ethiopian
The Origin of Mikal comes from the Hebrew meaning... [more]

Mohamed Arabic, Dhivehi, Somali (Arabized)
From the given name Muhammad.

Moshi Eastern African

Msuya Swahili

Muddy Eastern African

Munaye Ethiopian

Munisi Eastern African
Found in Tanzania.

Munissi Eastern African
Variant of Munisi.

Mutia Eastern African, Maasai
A Kenyan Maasai surname known mostly in the West as the name of a certain fictitious escarpment, which appears infrequently in old Tarzan Films.

Mutoni Eastern African

Namkoisse Central African, Eastern African (Rare)
Meaning unknown.

Naomi Melanesian, Nigerian, Swahili

Nassir Ethiopian

Nazari Swahili

Nkalubo Ganda

Nkurunziza Eastern African
Burundian surname meaning "good news". It is also the most common surname in the country.

Noor Arabic, Urdu, Somali, Bengali, Persian
Variant transcription of Nur.

Nuur Arabic, Somali
From the given name Nuur.

Nyong’o Luo
Best known as the surname of a certain Lupita.

Odhiambo Eastern African, Luo
East African surname derived from the given name Odhiambo meaning “born in the evening”.

Omar Arabic, Somali (Arabized), Filipino, Maguindanao, Maranao, Tausug
From the given name Umar.

Omer Eastern African

Onyango Luo

Opira Eastern African

Oryema Eastern African

Osas Somali
Variant of Ossas

Ossas Somali

Ouko Luo

Pi Eastern African

Psymon Eastern African

Ramadhan Arabic, Urdu, Somali, Persian, Bengali, Dhivehi
From the given name Ramadan.

Raphael Eastern African

Rebecca Eastern African

Rikke English, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Scottish, Irish, Japanese, Korean, Greek, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Yiddish, Spanish, Hebrew, Russian, Arabic, Arabic (Egyptian), Old Celtic, African, Romanian, Serbian, Croatian, Estonian, Slovak, Slovene, Latvian, Portuguese, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Hindi, Persian, Turkish, Swahili
From given name Rikke

Saabir Somali

Saed Arabic, Somali, Persian, Urdu, Sindhi, Bengali, Punjabi, Dhivehi
From the given name Sa'id.

Sagwa Eastern African

Said Arabic, Somali, Urdu
From the given name Sa'id.

Sayyid Swahili, Muslim
From the Arabic honourific title سَيِّد (sayyid) which means "master, lord, prince, mister".

Seeka Eastern African

Seifu Ethiopian

Selassie Ethiopian, Amharic, Western African
Possibly means "trinity" in Amharic. A notable bearer was Haile Selassie (1892-1975), the regent and emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974.

Sinema Haitian Creole, Swahili, Turkish
The name Ireally doesI mean "Movie Theater" ("Cinema"). Other related words: "Picture, Charades, Bilet."

Suruma Kiga
Suruma is a Kiga surname. Ezra Suruma is a notable person with that surname.

Tasifa Amharic
Means “hope” in Amharic.

Taye Ethiopian

Tedros Eastern African, Amharic, Ge'ez, Arabic (Egyptian), Coptic
From the given name Tedros.

Teketeke Eastern African, Southern African

Tesfamariam Ethiopian
Meaning "Mary hope", from 'tesifa' (hope), and 'mariyami' (Mary).