Senegalese Last Name Generator

A list of 303 Senegalese surnames, one family name per entry: names that are often Wolof like Diop and Ndiaye, often Serer like Diouf and Sène, often Pulaar like Sow and Kane, often Diola like Badji and Diatta, and often Soninke or Mandinka like Dramé and Cissokho.

About Senegalese last names

In Senegal a family name often hints at the people a family comes from, though never as a rule. Diop, Ndiaye, Fall, Guèye and Mbaye are heard most among Wolof speakers, and Diouf, Sarr, Faye, Sène and Ngom among the Serer. Pulaar-speaking families of the Senegal River valley and the south carry Sow, Ba, Ka, Sy, Ly, Kane and Baldé. From the Casamance come Diola names such as Badji, Diatta, Sagna and Sambou, and Manjack names such as Mendy and Gomis. Mandinka and Soninke families carry Cissé, Touré, Dramé and Camara, and Ndoye and Paye are old Lebou names of the Dakar peninsula.

Surnames also carry a custom of friendly teasing that Wolof calls kal. Families with paired names, Ndiaye and Diop above all, are joking cousins who may mock each other on sight and are expected to take it well.

Spellings here are the French-based ones used in Senegal: Ndiaye, Diop and Diallo, where The Gambia writes Njie, Jobe and Jallow. The list also holds names of Cape Verdean and Bissau-Guinean origin such as Da Silva, Correa and Preira, old Saint-Louis and Gorée names such as Valantin and Carpot, and a few of Lebanese origin such as Bourgi. It has 303 entries and is not padded to a round number.

How to choose Senegalese last names

• Choose the home region before the name. Diop, Ndiaye or Fall suits a family from Dakar, Thiès or Louga, Diouf or Sarr one from the Sine-Saloum, Sow, Kane or Ly one from the Fouta Toro, Badji, Diatta or Sambou one from Ziguinchor, and Baldé or Mballo one from Kolda.
• Do not read faith or background from a surname. Given names in Senegal are Muslim, Christian or traditional whatever the family name, so pick the first name for the person you have in mind.
• Keep one spelling inside a family. Accents are often dropped in everyday writing, so Cissé and Sène may appear without them, but relatives would not mix forms such as Coulibaly and Koulibaly in one document.
• Many married women in Senegal keep their own family name and write the husband's after it. Two entries in a row, such as Thioune Diatta, make a believable double name.
• For a character from The Gambia use the English-based spellings on the Gambian page. The same families write Njie for Ndiaye and Ceesay for Cissé across the border.

Frequently asked questions

What are some common Senegalese last names?

Ndiaye, Diop, Fall, Sow, Faye, Guèye, Ba and Diouf are names you meet again and again in Senegal. Others that turn up everywhere are Sarr, Seck, Niang, Sy, Diallo, Cissé and Mbaye.

Does a Senegalese surname tell you someone's ethnic group?

It gives a hint and no more. Diouf and Sène are often Serer names, Badji and Diatta often Diola, Sow and Kane often Pulaar, but families marry across groups and move. Names such as Cissé, Touré, Thiam and Sy are carried by families of several peoples, so a surname proves nothing about a person's ancestry.

Why are Senegalese and Gambian surnames spelled differently?

The two countries write the same family names by different rules. Senegal follows French spelling and The Gambia follows English, so Ndiaye becomes Njie, Diop becomes Jobe, Diallo becomes Jallow and Touré becomes Touray. This list keeps the Senegalese forms.

What is kal, the joking tie between surnames?

Kal is a custom of joking kinship. People whose family names are paired, such as Ndiaye and Diop, tease each other freely, often about who eats too much rice, and nobody is supposed to take offense. Similar joking ties link whole peoples, such as the Serer with Pulaar speakers and with the Diola.

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All 303 Senegalese last names