Cameroonian Last Name Generator

A list of Cameroonian surnames, one family name per entry: Bamileke names like Kamga and Fotso, Beti names like Atangana and Essomba, Duala names like Ekwalla and Priso, Bassa names like Nyemb and Hagbe, and Grassfields names like Ngwa and Fru.

About Cameroonian last names

Cameroon has more than 200 ethnic groups, and a surname usually points to the part of the country a family's name comes from. Bamileke names from the West Region are the easiest to spot: Kamga, Fotso, Kenfack, Tagne, Dongmo, and the many names that open with Tch, such as Tchamba and Tchinda. Beti, Bulu and Ewondo names from Yaoundé and the south are full of open vowels: Atangana, Essomba, Owona, Ayissi, Mbarga.

On the coast, Duala and other Sawa families carry names like Ekwalla, Priso, Eboa and Bell, and Bassa names tend to be short: Nyemb, Hagbe, Mbock, Um. In the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest you meet Grassfields names such as Ngwa, Fru, Neba and Ndi, Nso names like Lukong and Wirba, and Manyu names like Agbor, Ayuk and Egbe. Bamum families from Foumban carry Njoya, Nsangou and Njikam.

In the mainly Muslim north, many families put the father's given name where a fixed surname would go, so Aboubakar, Oumarou and Hamadou are here as names found in that slot, and they are a small share of the list. Fixed, inherited surnames are fairly recent in much of Cameroon, and siblings sometimes carry different names. Every entry is one family name in one spelling, apart from the historic double name Manga Bell.

How to choose Cameroonian last names

• Choose the region before the name. Kamga or Dongmo suits a family from Bafoussam or Dschang, Atangana or Mbarga one from Yaoundé, Ekwalla or Priso one from Douala, and Ngwa or Fru one from Bamenda.
• Match the first name to the language of the region. French first names go with Bamileke, Beti, Duala and Bassa surnames, and English first names with Northwest and Southwest surnames such as Ndi, Agbor or Ayuk.
• Many Cameroonians carry two family names in a row. Join two entries from the same region, such as Kamga Fotso or Atangana Mbarga, when you want a fuller name.
• For a Bassa woman you can put Ngo, which means daughter of, in front of the family name, as in Ngo Nyemb or Ngo Mbock.
• Keep one spelling inside a family. Accents are often dropped in everyday writing, so Tchakounté may appear without its accent, but relatives would not mix the two forms in one document.

Frequently asked questions

What are some well-known Cameroonian last names?

Kamga, Fotso, Kenfack and Tagne are familiar Bamileke names, and Atangana, Essomba, Owona and Mbarga are familiar Beti names. On the coast you find Ekwalla, Priso and Bell, and in the English-speaking regions Ngwa, Fru, Ndi and Agbor.

Why do so many Cameroonian surnames begin with Tch?

Names such as Tchamba, Tchinda, Tchakounté and Tchami are strongly linked with Bamileke families of the West Region. The spelling is French: tch stands for the sound English writes as ch, so Tchamba starts like the English word chum.

Are names like Aboubakar and Oumarou really last names?

They are given names. In much of northern Cameroon a person is known by a personal name followed by the father's name, so Aboubakar, Oumarou, Hamadou and Bouba often stand where a surname would. The list includes a small number of them for that reason.

Do English-speaking and French-speaking Cameroonians have different surnames?

The surname follows the family's people and home area, not the official language. What changes is the first name: Ngwa, Neba and Egbe usually sit beside English first names, while Fotso, Essomba and Nyemb usually sit beside French ones.

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All 500 Cameroonian last names