WACAYS IYO BADHAADHA — Somali Names, for Boys and Girls

A name is not a word, it is an inheritance

« Magacu ma aha eray keliya ee waa kayd » — a name is not only a word, it is something held in trust. That is the idea on which Wacays iyo Badhaadha opens, the dictionary of Somali given names by Baydan Casooweh Dhabar.

Every Somali name carries the trace of what brought it into being: a circumstance of the birth, a hoped-for trait of character, a season, a star, a tree, a blessing addressed to the child. Collected and then explained one by one, these names form a living memory of the Somali language and culture.

What the book contains

• More than 1,500 authentic Somali given names, in alphabetical order, for boys and girls.
• For each one, its meaning and origin, together with the variant forms of the name.
• A preface on the passing on of the abtirsiin, the genealogical chain through which every child learns where they come from.
• An etymological glossary linking the names to the words of the language they derive from.
• The poem Soomaali Baan Ahay and notes on Somali cultural heritage.

A few entries

Barwaaq : Barwaaqo ku noolow. — « Live in abundance. »

Qansax : Wiil lagu magacdaray geedka qansax. — A boy named after the qansax tree.

Bariise : Wiil dhashay arooryada hore. — A boy born in the early hours of the morning.

Bilaw : Wiilka curadka ah. — The firstborn.

Who this book is for

For Somali families, in the diaspora as much as at home, who are looking for a name for their child and want to know its exact meaning; for those who want to understand their own name; for teachers, researchers and lovers of the Somali language; and for anyone with an interest in onomastics and the oral heritage of the Horn of Africa.

Erayga qoraaga — a word from the author

Sida ay yidhaahdaan curadyadu : « Magac fooyo kuma baxo ! ».
Magacu ma aha eray keliya ee waa dhaxal,
Waa xidhmo, silsilad isu xidha qofka iyo dadkiisa.
Dhaqankooda, raadkooda iyo sooyaalkoodaba.

Dad kasta waxay leeyihin hab magac-bixin oo muujinaya aqoonsigeeda iyo raadkeeda.
Dadka madax-bannaan, magac u bixintu ma aha wax fudud, waa gudbin dhaxal, af iyo sooyaal.

Buuggan magaciisu waa « Wacays iyo Badhaadha », ma aha ururin magacyo oo keliya, waa xasuus nool ; had iyo jeer u hibbeeyay awowayaasheen (halkii roon).
Waxaad ka heli doonta in ka badan 1500 oo magac Soomaali dhab ah, wiilal iyo gabdho, mid walba leh faahfaahintiisa iyo macnihiisa.

Details