NW

NWAABUNIKE [Nwa abughi n'ike (Nwa aburo n'ike) =A child is not begotten by sheer strength.]

Interpretation: Your power has little to do with the conception of a child. A child's conception and birth are not through physical strength, but by divine intervention.

DWV: NWABU, NWAABU

Gender: Male

NWABUEZE: [Nwa bu eze = The child is king]

Interpretation: The name is used metaphorically to show that having a (male) child is like being bestowed with a kingdom. Or, it may be the arrival of the child crowns the achievement of the parents, made them king and queen. In fact, having a child in Igboland is like crowning one’s existence.

Gender: Male

NWABUUFO [Nwa bu ufo = A child is light}

Interprete: A (male) child means the beginning of a new lineage, or the continuation of the lineage.]

DWV: NWABUUFO, BUFO, UFO

Gender: Male

NWACHUKWU [Nwa Chukwu = Son of God]

Interpretation: This is the ultimate statement of Igbo believe in God. This name reveals why the Igbo did not question the concept of Christ being the son of God: We are all children of God.

DWV: NWACHUKU, WACHUKWU, WACHUKU,

Gender: Male

NWABIARANORO [Nwa biara noro = May the child that came stay]

DVW: NWABIARA, NWABIAROANUNORO

Gender: Female

NWABIRIKWE

NWABUUFOOBI [Nwa bu ufo obi = A child is the light of a lineage]

NWANNEKA [Nwanne ka (aku)= A brother/sister is greater (than wealth)]

Interpretation: In this name, we see not only the premium placed on relations but also the Igbo value of motherhood. The child of one’s mother is a brother or sister, because only a mother can account for the fatherhood of a child. But this does not degrade kinship [Umunna] as is evidenced in Umunnabuike. 

is name needs no introduction. It is a statement of fact. In Igbo societies, the mother is everything; everyone has one irreplaceable mother.

Gender: Strictly female.

NWAOGOURE [Nwa ogo ure = A child of grace and charm]

NWAOGU[Nwa ogu = A child of war (time)]

NWAOKORO: [Nwa okoro = Son of a male youth]

DWV: NWOKORO, NWOOKORO

NWAORA [Nwa ora = A child of the community]

Interpretaion: A child is a community’s to raise. For a parent to dedicate their child to the community might be a direct result of the help they got from their families and friends. To avoid any ambiguities, some parents specify that they are making a philosophocal statement in Nwa bu nwa ora [A child belongs to the community.]

DWV: NWABUNWAORA NWAOHA, NWOHA,

Gender: Male

NWAOZUZU

NWAURE [Nwa ure = A child of great charm.]

DVW: NWURE, WAURENNA, WURENNA, URE [see also URENNA]

NWAWULUMARU [Nwa wulu m aru = The child that washed my body.]

Interpretation: In an instance I know, the mother of this child had waited for quite a while for a second child. In fact, the husband had gone ahead and married another wife, when it appears the woman was past it. Eventually, a female child came calling. Hence, it is either this female child wiped away the societal shame of the mother’s conceptual difficulties, or she has just cleaned out her uterine stable--since it is inconceivable that another child would come. In other instances, a name-giver can use this name to mean that a child has opened a closed gate by “washing” the uterine congestion and paving the way for many more babies.

DWV: NWAWULU, NWASARAMAHU[a version that is most likely to be used in southern Igbo to conform with the so-called Owere dialect], NWASARA

Gender: Female

NWAZANEKE [Nwa za n’Eke  = The child who answered the call of Creator]

Interpretation: I have a female first cousin who bears this name, but I never thought about the meaning until I started compiling Igbo names. In typical Umuaga (Udi LGA) dialect, this names means “may the child please answer” - probably a plea of a mother who has been beckoning on her Chi for a child. Alternatively, it might mean a child born on Eke day, the first day of the Igbo week [even though I am yet to hear of Nwaza(lu)nankwo, or Nwazanorie]. However, since my exposure to the concept of Eke as the deity of creation, I am more inclined to believe that this name means a lot more than a mother’s personal plea for a child.

Gender: Female

NWOKEDI [Nwoke di (mma) = It is good to have a male child]

DWV: NWOKEDIMMA, NWOKEDIEGWU

NWOGU [Nwa ogu = A righteous child]

DWV:  NWAOGU, NWORGU, WORGU, WOGU

NWOSU [Nwa osu = Son of deity depositary]

DWV: NWAOSU, NWEOSU, WOSU,