Kenya: Africa's variety show

What's in a Name?

Compiled by David Round-Turner

The influence of the Masai is reflected in the number of modern place-names which stem from their language, Maa. For example:

Nairobi means "the water which is cold" (enk-are na irobi). Long ago the Nairobi River was a clear running stream favoured by Masai herdsmen.

Amboseli, the famous National Park, is from em-posel, "salty dust" from the lake bed.

Donyo Sabuk, the small mountain national park, is "the big hill" or "mountain" (ol doinyo sapuk).

Keekorok, in the Maasai Mara, is "[the place of] black trees" (il-keek-orok), for the indigenous forest near the famous lodge.

Mara is "dotted", "patchy" or "chequered", from the patches of bush which give the land a dotted or spotted appearance.

Longonot, the extinct volcano to the south of the Nairobi-Naivasha road, is literally "it of the valleys" (o-loo-ngonot), a description of its slopes, scarred with valleys.

Naivasha, the great Rift Valley freshwater lake, is the anglicised version of na-iposha, "that which is heaving", explained by the sudden storms which can turn the placid waters into a churning mass of waves.

Nakuru is "that which is bare (grassless)" (na-kurro), not the misconceived and popular "a place of swirling dust devils".

Menengai, the crater that overlooks the town and the national park, is "the place of dead spirits" (ol-menengani). Legend has it that many people died in a battle here; their voices and the sound of lowing cattle can be heard at night.

Loitokitok is from ol-o-itokitok, "the bubbling spring".

Uaso-Nyiro is "the brown river" (e-uaso ng'iro). 0l Tupai, the lodge in Amboseli, is "the place of palms" (Phoenix reclinata).

It has been suggested that Samburu is derived from o-sampurumpuri, "butterfly", but the more likely meaning is from e-sampur, a small bag once carried by Samburu women. The Samburu people call themselves il-pusi-kineji, literally "they of the grey goats" or il-oo-ibor-kineji, "they of the white goats".

Swahili is the source for many place-names, especially at the coast:

Shimoni, the deep sea fishing centre is Swahili for "the place of caves", where slaves were kept before shipment to Zanzibar.

It is said that Mombasa is derived from the Arabic nabas, meaning to "speak in public", implying that the settlement was a meeting place for trade and gossip. From around the middle of the 16th century it was known as Kisiwa ya Mvita, "island of war". Today the Swahili name for Mombasa is still Mvita.

Likoni, across the channel from Mombasa, means "at the landing place" and Mnarani, on the north coast, is "the place of the lighthouse", or "minaret", from Swahili mnara.

Malindi was known by that name when Vasco da Gama landed there in 1498. The name possibly stems from the Swahili kilindi, "a place of deep water".

Tsavo, the vast national park, probably means "a place of slaughter" from the Kamba language, according to Col Patterson of Maneaters of Tsavo fame.

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