Bible Names in Swahili: John Is Yohana, Mary Is Mariamu | 29 Names With How to Say Them

Christmas is about six weeks away, and somewhere a Sunday school teacher is writing a nativity cast list. In Swahili, that list begins with Mariamu (Mary) and Yusufu (Joseph).

Many Bible names have had Swahili forms for generations. You'll hear them in churches across East Africa, and in Swahili-speaking families all over the world. Whether you're naming a baby, planning a church play, or just curious what your own name sounds like in Swahili, here are 29 of them, with how to say each one.

29 Bible names in Swahili

Every Swahili vowel is its own sound (a, e, i, o, u), and the stress falls on the second-to-last syllable, shown in capitals. Names marked Hebrew roots, via Arabic began in Hebrew; Swahili took its form of them from Arabic.

Two names share one Swahili form: the Swahili Bible uses Yakobo for both James and Jacob.

Hebrew roots, Arabic route

Hebrew and Arabic are sister languages: both belong to the Semitic family. The Old Testament begins with the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, and the Torah is far older than the Qur'an. So names like Mary, Joseph, Moses, Abraham, David, Solomon, Noah and Eve began as Hebrew names.

Arabic uses these names too, in its own forms, and that is the form Swahili took. That's why Joseph is Yusufu, close to the Arabic Yusuf, rather than something nearer the English. The name is Hebrew; the road it took into Swahili was Arabic.

That shared history is part of what makes these names special. In a Swahili-speaking classroom, a Christian child and a Muslim child can both be called Yusufu, a name that began in Hebrew thousands of years ago.

Five ways to use them this Christmas

1. Write the nativity cast list in Swahili. Mariamu, Yusufu, and the children's own names in their Swahili forms. Read it aloud at the start of rehearsal.
2. Make each child a name card. Type their English name into Your Name in Swahili. It shows the Swahili form, then prints it on a free name card. No email needed.
3. Practise the sounds together. Clap on the CAPITAL part: mah-ree-AH-moo, yoo-SOO-foo. Children love finding their stress beat.
4. Read the Lord's Prayer in Swahili. Our free bilingual picture book Baba Yetu has the Swahili and English on every page.
5. Ask a grandparent. Many Swahili-speaking families have a Bible name somewhere in the family tree. Ask whose it was, and why it was chosen.

Questions parents ask

What is John in Swahili?

John is Yohana, Mary is Mariamu, Joseph is Yusufu and Peter is Petro. Many Bible names have long-used Swahili forms. Some came into Swahili through religion, because the Bible and the Qur'an share them.

What are James and Jacob in Swahili?

Both are Yakobo. The Swahili Bible uses Yakobo for James and for Jacob.

Why do some Bible names sound Arabic in Swahili?

Names like Mary, Joseph, Moses and Abraham began in Hebrew, in the Torah, the oldest part of the Bible. Hebrew and Arabic are both Semitic languages, and Arabic uses these names too. Swahili took its forms of them from Arabic, which is why Mary is Mariamu and Joseph is Yusufu.

Keep going

Find your own name in Swahili with Your Name in Swahili, browse 100 Swahili names with their meanings, or read the full Swahili names guide.

Krismasi njema! or Heri ya Krismasi! Both are used during Christmas.