How popular is the baby name Lumumba 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 Lumumba.

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Popularity of the baby name Lumumba


Posts that mention the name Lumumba

How did “African Names for Your Children” influence baby names?

List of African names in "Jet" magazine, 1971
List of African names in “Jet” magazine, 1971

In September of 1971, Jet magazine published a one-page article that ended up having a strong influence on U.S. baby names. It was called “African Names for Your Children.”

The intent of this…[i]s to give some African names with their meanings to our readers who may be interested in understanding or giving their babies some African names. The following are some of the common and interesting African names.

The article featured just 20 names overall, but half of them ended up seeing increased usage as baby names in the U.S., including eight (!) debuts in the U.S. data.

  • Adwoa – not in the data yet in the early ’70s
  • Akpan – never in the data
  • Ayanna – debuted in 1971
  • Azikiwe – debuted in 1971
  • Diallo – debuted in 1971
  • Ete-ete – never in the data
  • Ima – no movement in the data
  • JaJa – debuted in 1971
  • Kwabeneone-hit wonder in 1971
  • Kwame – increased in usage ’71/’72
  • Lumumba – debuted in 1971
  • Machumu – never in the data
  • Nkenge – debuted in 1971
  • N’namdi – not in the data yet in the early ’70s
  • Okon – never in the data
  • Rudo – never in the data
  • Rufaro – never in the data
  • Sekou – increased in usage ’71/’72
  • Shango – debuted in 1971
  • Shangobunmi – never in the data

Ayanna is an interesting case because, later the same year, it became a celebrity baby name (Ayanna was one of the children of Dick Gregory). This one-two punch of influences gave the name a huge boost in 1971. Ayanna was the top girl-name debut of 1971 and currently ranks 9th on the list of highest girl-name debuts of all time.

Similarly, Diallo was the top boy-name debut of 1971, and ended up ranking 29th on the list of highest boy-name debuts of all time. My guess is that most Americans pronounce the name dee-ah-loh, but the original pronunciation is jah-low. It’s a very common surname in West Africa (where it’s spelled Jalloh).

Finally, discovering this article helped me realize that Lumumba debuting in 1971 actually had little to do with Patrice Lumumba, as I’d assumed years ago. (Though no doubt Patrice was still an influence on some level.)

Of all the names above, which one do you like best?

P.S. In the later ’70s, Ebony magazine also published a list of African names. Their list had a similarly strong impact on U.S. baby names.

Sources:

African nations as baby names

Africa

During the ’60s and ’70s, a slew of Africa-inspired baby names debuted in the U.S. baby name data. These included traditional African names (e.g., Abayomi, Ayanna), names taken from African and African-American public figures (e.g., Lumumba, Levar), and — the focus of today’s post — African place names, particularly country names.

Here are all the African country/region/kingdom names I’ve spotted in the SSA data so far. (I didn’t omit Chad, even though it coincides with the English name Chad.)

NameDebut yearPeak usage
Chad191413,400 baby boys in 1972
Tunisia1943 (due to WWII)39 baby girls in 1974
Rwanda19515 baby girls in both 1951 & 1973
Kenya1952894 baby girls in 1973
Sahara1964248 baby girls in both 2006 & 2007
Rhodesia196612 baby girls in 1977
Mali196765 baby girls in 2008
Tanzania196838 baby girls in 1992
Africa196976 baby girls in 1972
Biafra1969 (due to Biafra being in the news; the Biafran War lasted from 1967 to 1970)5 baby girls in 1969; one-hit wonder
Ghana19697 baby girls in 1969
Tanganyika196916 baby girls in 1972
Nubia196983 baby girls in 1969
Ashanti19702,945 baby girls in 2002 (due to the singer)
Uganda197312 baby girls in 1973
Algeria19746 baby girls in both 1993 & 1995
Libya19748 baby girls in 2011
Zaire1974316 baby boys in 2017
Egypt1975266 baby girls in 2017
Nigeria197558 baby girls in 2000
Niger19769 baby girls in both 1976 & 1977
Somalia197743 baby girls in 1993
Zimbabwe1981 (maybe inspired by the Bob Marley song “Zimbabwe“?)5 baby boys in 1981; one-hit wonder
Sudan19825 baby boys in both 1982 & 1995
Eritrea1991 (due to Eritrea being in the news; the Eritrean War of Independence ended in 1991)5 baby girls in 1991; one-hit wonder
Asmara1993 (due to Asmara being in the news; it became the capital of independent Eritrea in 1993)13 baby girls in 2013
Morocco200519 baby boys in 2017

Only five of the above did not either debut or see peak usage during the 1960s/1970s.

Source: SSA

Image: Adapted from Africa (satellite image) (NASA)

Babies named after Patrice Lumumba?

Congolese politician Patrice Lumumba (1925-1961)

I posted about Patrice Lumumba the other day. One thing I forgot to mention was that his surname has been used as a first (and middle) name in this U.S. on occasion.

Lumumba’s assassination was in ’61, but it wasn’t until the early ’70s that the name Lumumba was used frequently enough to make the SSA’s baby name list:

  • 1977: unlisted
  • 1976: 6 baby boys named Lumumba
  • 1975: 10 baby boys named Lumumba
  • 1974: 7 baby boys named Lumumba
  • 1973: 7 baby boys named Lumumba
  • 1972: 11 baby boys named Lumumba
  • 1971: 8 baby boys named Lumumba [debut]
  • 1970: unlisted
  • 1969: unlisted

This usage corresponds to the period after the U.S. Civil Rights Movement.

(Also, one of Malcolm X’s six daughters, Gamilah, born in 1964, was given the middle name Lumumba.)

Image: Patrice Lumumba (public domain)