The Christening
Pokou
Pokou (pronounced po-KOU) is a girl name of Baoulé origin, used in Côte d’Ivoire. It means “Founding queen of the Baoulé people (18th century), heroine of the sacrifice at the Comoé river.”
- Origin
- Baoulé
- Region
- Côte d’Ivoire
- Gender
- Girl
- Variants
- Abla Pokou
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
- Nzinga — Queen of Ndongo and Matamba, a figure of 17th-century resistance
- Rolihlahla — The one who pulls the branch — figuratively, the one who shakes up the established order. Nelson Mandela’s birth name
“Pokou” comes from Baoulé culture (Côte d’Ivoire). 54 Tales of Africa: Côte d’Ivoire Special brings together one tale per ethnic group — Akan, Gour, Krou, Mandé.
Discover the Côte d’Ivoire Special