The Christening
Nzinga
Nzinga (pronounced n-ZIN-ga) is a girl name of Kimbundu / Kikongo origin, used in Angola, DR Congo. It means “Queen of Ndongo and Matamba, a figure of 17th-century resistance.”
- Origin
- Kimbundu / Kikongo
- Region
- Angola, DR Congo
- Gender
- Girl
- Variants
- Njinga
More names that mean “Figures historiques”
- Aksel — 7th-century Amazigh king (Kusayla); his name is associated with the leopard
- Béhanzin — The last great king of Abomey, who resisted colonial conquest (“the shark king”)
- Dihya — Amazigh warrior queen of the Aurès, 7th century
- Enitan — The one who carries a story
- Gaya — Numidian king, father of Massinissa
- Makeda — The Ethiopian name of the Queen of Sheba
- Mansa — King, sovereign — the title borne by Mansa Musa
- Massinissa — First king of a unified Numidia, 2nd century BC
- Pokou — Founding queen of the Baoulé people (18th century), heroine of the sacrifice at the Comoé river
- Rolihlahla — The one who pulls the branch — figuratively, the one who shakes up the established order. Nelson Mandela’s birth name
“Nzinga” comes from Kimbundu / Kikongo culture (Angola, DR Congo). Every African country has its own tale in 54 Tales of Africa, our illustrated collection.
Discover the tale from Angola