How popular is the baby name Makeba in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Makeba.

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Popularity of the baby name Makeba


Posts that mention the name Makeba

Where did the baby name Shindana come from in 1970?

Portion of a Shindana doll advertisement (for Tamu specifically) in Ebony magazine (November, 1971).
Portion of a 1971 Shindana advert

The intriguing name Shindana appeared in the U.S. baby name data for a total of three years:

  • 1975: unlisted
  • 1974: 6 baby girls named Shindana
  • 1973: unlisted
  • 1972: unlisted
  • 1971: 6 baby girls named Shindana
  • 1970: 5 baby girls named Shindana [debut] – all 5 in California
  • 1969: unlisted
  • 1968: unlisted

Where did it come from?

Shindana dolls, which were manufactured by Shindana Toys.

Shindana Toys was founded in 1968 as a division of Operation Bootstrap, located in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. Operation Bootstrap was a job training center formed in the wake of the Watts riots (mid-August, 1965).

Black-owned and Black-operated, Shindana Toys was one of the first companies to make black dolls with ethnically correct features. The name of the company means “compete” in Swahili.

Though their very first doll was called Baby Nancy (introduced in 1968), many of their other dolls — such as Malaika (1969), Talking Tamu (1970), and Baby Zuri (1972) — had Swahili names. These Swahili names were “defined on the doll’s boxes or accompanying literature.” Malaika means “angel,” Tamu means “sweet,” and Zuri means “beautiful.”

Here’s the U.S. usage of each of these names (for baby girls) during the late ’60s and early ’70s:

 MalaikaTamuZuri
197443366
1973592610
19727255.
197156465*
19703713.
196977*.
19688*..
1967...
*Debut

[It’s curious to me that each of these names debuted a year before the corresponding dolls were introduced. Haven’t been able to figure that one out yet…]

Shindana Toys ended up producing over 30 black dolls (along with other types of toys and games). The company reached peak productivity in the mid-1970s, but slowed down after that, and finally ceased operations in 1983. Today, Shindana dolls are sought-after collectibles.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Shindana?

Portion of a Shindana doll advertisement (for Baby Nancy specifically) in Ebony magazine (1971).
Of course I had to throw in a pic of Baby Nancy. :)

P.S. If you know of any of the other Swahili names used for Shindana dolls, please comment! I couldn’t find a definitive list online.

Sources:

P.S. “Malaika” was also a song made famous by Miriam Makeba.

Where did the baby name Makeba come from in the early 1960s?

South African singer Miriam Makeba (1932-2008)
Miriam Makeba

The baby name Makeba started appearing in the U.S. baby name data in the early 1960s:

  • 1966: 8 baby girls named Makeba
  • 1965: unlisted
  • 1964: 5 baby girls named Makeba
  • 1963: 5 baby girls named Makeba
  • 1962: 5 baby girls named Makeba [debut]
  • 1961: unlisted
  • 1960: unlisted

It saw peak usage in the early 1970s.

Where did it come from?

South African singer Miriam Makeba, who was born near Johannesburg in 1932 to a Xhosa father and a Swazi mother.

Miriam Makeba began singing professionally in the early 1950s. In the late ’50s she met famous Jamaican-American singer Harry Belafonte, who introduced her to American audiences. Her fame grew (both in the U.S. and in Europe) during the ’60s, and she became “the first African artist to globally popularize African music.”

Her first name at birth was actually Zenzile, nickname Zenzi. (The English name Miriam was adopted later for career purposes.) According to Makeba, the name Zenzile means “you have no one to blame but yourself” or “you have done it to yourself.”

But “Zenzile Makeba” wasn’t her full name. Her full name was Zenzile Makeba Qgwashu Nguvama Yiketheli Nxgowa Bantana Balomzi Xa Ufun Ubajabulisa Ubaphekcli Mbiza Yotshwala Sithi Xa Saku Qgiba Ukutja Sithathe Izitsha Sizi Kkabe Singama Lawu Singama Qgwashu Singama Nqamla Nqgithi.

Why so long?

The reason for its length is that every child takes the first name of all his male ancestors. Often following the first name is a descriptive word or two, telling; about the character of the person, making a true African name somewhat like a story. This may sound most unusual to Americans, but it is the custom of my people.

I haven’t had any luck tracking down the etymology of Makeba, but I know the name came from Miriam’s mother, Nomkomendelo Christina Makeba. The name Nomkomendelo means “the one whose father was commandeered” (as she was born on the day her father was forced to join the British army to help fight the Second Boer War).

What are your thoughts on the name Makeba?

Sources:

P.S. Here are a few more names inspired by the Second Boer War…