Senegalese Name Generator

Senegalese names look the way they do because of three layers: Islam, French spelling and the country's own languages. Roughly 95 percent of Senegalese are Muslim, so most first names are Arabic names in Wolof or Pulaar pronunciation, written with French orthography. Muhammad becomes Mamadou, Mouhamadou or Modou; Ibrahim is Ibrahima; Aisha is Aïssatou or Aïcha; Fatima is Fatou, Fatoumata or Fatimata; Khadija becomes Khady, Khadidiatou or Kadiatou. Prefix names are a giveaway that a name is Senegalese rather than from elsewhere in West Africa: Pape, Serigne, Cheikh, El Hadji and Baye for men, Ndèye, Mame, Sokhna and Adja for women, often forming compound first names like Pape Alioune, Ndèye Fatou or Mame Diarra.

Surnames signal ethnic group and region. Diop, Ndiaye, Fall, Gueye, Seck, Mbaye, Thiam and Diagne are Wolof names from the Dakar-Thiès-Saint-Louis heartland; Sow, Ba, Diallo, Sy, Barry and Baldé are Pulaar/Toucouleur names from the Fouta and Fouladou; Faye, Diouf, Sène, Sarr, Ndour and Dione are Serer names from the Sine-Saloum; Diatta, Sagna, Badji, Goudiaby, Coly, Mendy and Diédhiou are Diola names from Casamance; Cissé, Touré, Konaté and Sissoko point to Mandinka or Soninke roots in the east.

Christian Senegalese, mostly Serer and Diola, commonly pair French saints' names like Jean-Baptiste, Augustin or Marie-Thérèse with those same Serer and Diola surnames.