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African Girl Names: Queen Nzingha

Queen Nzingha is also known as the “Amazon Queen of Matamba”. Born in West Africa in 1583, she waged a 30 year war against the Portuguese, who attacked her brother’s kingdom whilst hunting for slaves for the slave trade. Initially, she was sent to negotiate for peace, and she was said to do so with incredible diplomatic skill, but when the peace deal eventually broke down, the 30 years war with the Portuguese began. However, Nzingha’s diplomatic skill was so great that she managed to negotiate an alliance with the Dutch Empire, which marked the first ever African-European alliance against a European oppressor. Although she was eventually forced into exile, she still managed to inspire her people due to her devotion for freedom and yearning for peace for her people. Even today, Nzingha remains a symbol of inspiration for the fight against oppression and for freedom. The meaning of the name Nzingha is disputed by scholars, but some believe it to mean “of the river”, whilst others believe it could mean “beauty and courage”.

Courtesy of François Villain/allthatsinteresting.com

African Girl Names: Queen Nzingha

Queen Nzingha is also known as the “Amazon Queen of Matamba”. Born in West Africa in 1583, she waged a 30 year war against the Portuguese, who attacked her brother’s kingdom whilst hunting for slaves for the slave trade. Initially, she was sent to negotiate for peace, and she was said to do so with incredible diplomatic skill, but when the peace deal eventually broke down, the 30 years war with the Portuguese began. However, Nzingha’s diplomatic skill was so great that she managed to negotiate an alliance with the Dutch Empire, which marked the first ever African-European alliance against a European oppressor. Although she was eventually forced into exile, she still managed to inspire her people due to her devotion for freedom and yearning for peace for her people. Even today, Nzingha remains a symbol of inspiration for the fight against oppression and for freedom. The meaning of the name Nzingha is disputed by scholars, but some believe it to mean “of the river”, whilst others believe it could mean “beauty and courage”.

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African Girl Names: Makeda

Probably better known to the world as the infamous “Queen of Sheba”, Makeda was the Queen of Ethiopia in 960BC. Makeda was attracted by stories of a famous Judean monarch, and legend has it that eventually undertook the long, gruelling journey from Ethiopia to Jerusalem so that she could meet this monarch, who was the great King Solomon. Makeda and Solomon were said to have instantly fallen in love, being so impressed with each other, and out of their marriage came a son, Menelik I. Queen Makeda is then claimed to have ruled over Sheba and Arabia as well as Ethiopia: This was a major accomplishment at the time, when society was even more patriarchal than it is today. She is said to have even built a new capital for herself, called Debra Makeda. Her legacy in Ethiopia continues well into the present day, with a copy of one of the Tables of Law that Solomon gave to their son, Menelik I, and the story of the “Queen of Sheba” is part of it’s national heritage and a source of great pride amongst Ethiopians. In fact, she is even mentioned in both the Bible and the Quran. The name Makeda is thought to mean “greatness” in Ethiopian.

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African Girl Names: Dihya

Arabs nicknamed her “al-Kahina” (meaning the “priestess soothsayer”), but her real name was said to be Dihya, which is said to mean “Handsome, leader of soldiers” in Urdu. When you read about her accomplishments as a Berber Queen, you realise why she was given these names. She led a Berber resistance to the great Arab expansion of Northwest Africa, which was then known as Numidia (modern-day Algeria). She reigned from the early to late 7th century. A number of legends surround her: One claims that in her youth, she freed her people from an evil tyrant by agreeing to marry him, and then murdering him on their wedding night! She was also supposed to have the gift of divination and prophecy. Other legends describe her as having long hair and a great size and her being a sorcerer. Perhaps her most remarkable legacy was that she had a natural gift for Ornithology, that supposedly shaped science and education in the Middle-East. Sadly, not much more is known of her personal life other than these many mysterious and fascinating myths. But myth or not, many look up to her still today for her great spirit of independence and her “never give in” attitude.

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African Girl Names: Cleopatra

Probably the most famous of all Africa royalty, Cleopatra was the Queen of Egypt from 69-30BC, and is famous for making an alliance with Julius Caesar to win control over the whole Egyptian Kingdom. The origins of the this legendary story however, are rather dark: She was forced to marry her younger brother, Ptolemy XII. As deplorable as this sounds, it was family custom at the time. It is said that her brother/husband was accidentally drowned in the river Nile, however considering the circumstances it seems equally as likely this was a murder/assassination. Perhaps surprisingly, she then married her even younger brother Ptolemy XIII, but for all intents and purposes, this was just a marriage of convenience that had purely political motives: In reality, Cleopatra was the mistress of Caesar and followed him back to Rome to live. When living with Caesar in Rome, she had a child named Caesarion (later named Ptolemy XIV), who was most likely his Caesar’s son. After Caesar was assassinated and Rome plunged into a brief but bloody civil war, Cleopatra returned to Egypt. However in 42BC, shortly afterwards, the Roman Marc Antony came to demand an explanation to why she had fled Rome. However, Antony quickly fell deeply in love with her, and Cleopatra knew full well that being the Pharoah’s daughter she could exploit this relationship to her political advantage. They were thus married in 36BC, but most Romans had feelings of great animosity and fear towards Cleopatra, so Augustus Caesar vowed to destroy the two lovers. In 31BC they were defeated off Actium and returned to Alexandria to try and mount a defence of Egypt. Sadly, they failed and were defeated again. Antony committed suicide in his despair, by falling on his own sword, and Cleopatra followed suit. Ultimately, despite her failure and tragic demise, her political ambitions and charming diplomacy have left a great mark on history and is legendary throughout the world. Indeed, even Shakespeare told the story in his work “Antony and Cleopatra”. Cleopatra is actually Greek name meaning, “Glory of her father”. Today the shortened version “Cleo” is popular throughout the word, in it’s shortened form meaning “Glory”, “Pride” or “Fame”, and can be both a male and female name.

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African Girl Names: Seh-Dong-Hong-Beh

A leader of the Dahomey Amazons, her name means “God Speaks True”. In 1851 she led a 6000 strong all-female army against the Egba fortress of Abeokuta. The Egba had European cannons because they were essentially a vassal kingdom of the French colonial powers, protecting French interests in the region that is now Benin. Despite only being equipped with spears, swords and bows, the Amazon’s prevailed, but took massive casualties, with only 1200 out of the 6000 women warriors surviving the battle. Fast forward some 40 years to 1892, and King Behanzin of Dahomey (Benin) was now at full-scale war with the French colonists over trading rights. He and Seh-Dong-Hong-Beh lead a combined force of 12,000 troops into a great battle with the French, with 2,000 of this number being Amazon female warriors. This time they had rifles as well as swords and spears, however the French this time bought machine guns and heavy cannons, but despite this overwhelming technological superiority, the Amazon contingent of the army attacked the French when their troops were attempting to cross a river. They inflicted heavy casualties on the French and then the Amazon’s charged and engaged in hand to hand combat with the French, who were quickly forced to retreat. A few days later the French found a bridge to cross the river and defeated the Dahomey and Amazonian army after a fierce fight, and the Amazons burned fields, villages and cities rather than let them fall into French hands, but it only delayed Dahomey being absorbed fully into a French colony. However, Seh-Dong-Hong-Beh is still known in Benin as something of a folk-hero, and her army of female warriors that made up the Amazonian army have gone down in history, showing the just how powerful and capable women can be in war and battle.

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African Girl Names: Candace Empress of Ethiopia

Few know it, but the Empress of Ethiopia, known as Queen Candace (meaning “beautiful” or “shining”) at the time, in 332BC, was one of the greatest military tacticians in history. Nothing is a bigger testament to this than the story of Alexander the Great: During this time, Alexander was on his great conquest of the known-world at the time, but when he reached the borders of Ethiopia, he halted his armies: He did not even attempt to go to battle with the great Candace, such was her reputation. And losing to a woman at the time would’ve been seen as a great embarrassment in such a patriarchal society. Candace had previously fought against great Arab invasions, but she lead the African resistance and drove the Arab invaders as far back as modern day Tripoli in Libya, into the Mediterranean sea. She was a hardcore nationalist, and was not motivated by any religious belief, just the desire for freedom and liberty. Some say she may have had Jewish leanings, or followed the old Carthaginian religion (which has similarities), but regardless her motivation was based on uniting Africans under one banner to ensure sovereignty and liberty for African people. This lack of religious vigour has been suggested as a driving factor in her effectiveness at bringing a united front against invaders. She was so successful that it made some Arabs highly sceptical about whether or not Africa could ever actually be taken at all. It would actually take another 1000 years for the Arabs to begin their conquest of northern Africa, so Candace, the Empress of Ethiopia left a huge mark on African history. Without her leadership history would’ve played out very differently.

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African Girl Names: Hatshepsut, Queen of Kemet

Hatshepsut ruled from 1503-1482BC, and was undoubtedly one the greatest rulers of Ancient Egypt (known as Kemet at the time) of all-time. She was known as a warrior-queen, and this extended equally to internal power struggles as well as external ones as she cunningly vied for political power within the Kemetic hierarchy. She depicted herself in as many masculine attributes as possible in an obsession to become revered in hundreds if not thousands of years to come. She exerted her claim to throne as soon as her brother Thutmose II died. By this point, she had already eradicated almost all opposition to her ascension, and so her exercised her power freely in all areas of the kingdom, from fighting in foreign campaigns, expanding the Kemet territory into Nubia, the Levant and Syria, to extensive building and commercial ventures. She even built a great navy, advanced for the time, to both protect expanding commerce and for war. She re-established, old trade routes that were lost and broken during the Hykos occupation of Egypt. Along with this, she built famous temples such as the Temple of Pakhet, which combined Bast and the war goddess Sekhmet, in an area that bordered the north and south division of their cults. An underground temple – cut into the rock cliffs on the east side of the Nile was named the Speos Artemidos by the Greeks when they occupied Egypt during the Ptolemaic Dynasty. They saw the goddess as equivalent to their hunter goddess Artemis. She had twin Obelisks – the tallest in the world at the time – erected at the entrance to the temple of Precinct of Mut, the ancient great goddess of Egypt. In addition, she is known for building numerous temples and the entrance to what is now known as the Valley of the Kings near modern-day Luxor. All these accomplishments are a phenomenal testament to her legacy and solidifies her as one of the greatest female rulers of all-time.

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African Girl Names: Amina, Queen of Zaria

Anima was a great queen of Zazzua, which today is a province of modern-day Nigeria known as Zaira. She was born during the reign of King Zazzau Nohir, and it is widely accepted by scholars that she was the granddaughter of him. After the Songhai empire collapsed to the west, the Zazzua dominated the trans-Saharan trade. It’s wealth came from the trade of leather, cloth, kola, salt horses and imported metals. At age sixteen, Amina became the heir apparent to her mother Queen Bakwa, who was the ruling Queen of Zazzura by that time. Her mother’s reign was known as a peaceful era and one of trade, commerce and prosperity. However, Amina had a natural fascination with military skills, and chose to learn them alongside the responsibilities that came with running councils and diplomacy. Queen Bakwa died in 1566, and the crown passed to Bakwa’s younger brother Karama. At this point, Amina had emerged as the leading warrior of Zazzua cavalry. Her military achievements brought her great wealth, power and a rise in status. Karama eventually died after a 10 year reign, and then Amina finally became queen of Zazzua. Only 3 months later she set off on her first military expedition and she would continue to be at war right up until her death, making her a true warrior-queen. She reigned for an impressive 34 years, and expanded the Zazzua into a small empire. She did not always opt for annexation of neighbouring territories, however, and often would more often try and convince rulers to become vassal-states of Zazzua instead, avoiding prolonged warfare and unnecessary deaths. Amongst her over achievements include pioneering the use of earthen city wall fortifications, which became a defining feature of Hausa city-states ever since. Every military camp she set up, she ordered a defensive wall to built around each. Later, towns would grow within these walls, making conquering territory fast and efficient. Even today, some of these walls are still standing, and are known as “ganuwar Amina”, meaning “Amina’s walls”. She is fondly remembered as “Amina, Yar Bakwa ta san rana”, which means “Amina, daughter of Nikatau, a woman as capable as a man”. Amina itself means “Trustworthy” or “Safe One”, from Arabic. It is the number 1 ranked name in Bosnia and Herzegovina (with the variation being “Emina”), and is also popular in various different forms in Indonesia (“Aminah”) and Turkey (“Emine”).

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African Girl Names: Majaji

Another great warrior queen, Majaji (meaning “goddess of the rain”), lead the Lovedu tribe, which was a part of the great Kushite Empire, which spanned across much of what is today the modern day nation of Sudan. The Kushite Empire was at war with the Roman Empire for centuries, but the Kushite Empire finally fell in 350AD. Numerous assaults were made by the Roman’s when the Kushite Empire moved it’s capital to Meroe. However each time, Majaji lead her warriors into battle armed with shield and spear and managed to repel them time and time again. Although the city of Meroe finally fell in 350AD, Majaji led the last stand and they fought to the last: It is believed that Majaji died on the very walls of Meroe as a martyr and inspiration to future rulers descended from the royal house of Kush: Great female leaders such as Cleopatra, as well as the great Candace, Empress of Ethiopia, who drove Arab invaders back into the Mediterranean sea 2 decades later. Her death was an inspiration to African resistance movements ever since, and thus her courageous last stand at Meroe was not at all in vain.

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African Girl Names: Nyabinghi

Nyabinghi – meaning the “hidden queen” – is a bit different to the other Queens, leaders and princesses discussed, because she fought and made an impact outside of Africa. She was also known as Queen Muhmusa or Queen Tahtahme. She was born in Ghana, and was known as ‘Nanny of the Maroons”: In Ghanaian folklore she was said to have come to Jamaica with the sole intent to become a high priestess and a leader of her people. She led eastern Maroons (meaning “gone back to the wild” in Spanish) in Moreton, Jamaica, and made an alliance with another group led by the Cudjoe people. Over time, the Jamaica Maroons – as they were come to be known as – were the first people to force the English to sign a treaty with their subjects, on Mach 1st, 1738. The lands given to them in the treaty formed the basis for the Maroon’s survival. It was also one of the first incidences where slaves were freed before Emancipation and the full abolishment of slavery. One of the communities freed and granted independence under the treaty was named “Nannytown” after Nyabinghi herself. And “Maroon country” was so feared by the English and other colonial powers that it became known as the “Land of Look-Behind”. Nyabinghi was so influential that she inspired the underpinnings of the Rastafarian religion, that still has around 500,000 followers from Jamaica to Ethiopia to this day.