Fante
/ˈfæn.teɪ/noun
A member of a major Akan people of coastal Ghana and the related variety of Akan spoken by them.
Did you know?Fante is not merely an ethnic label: it also identifies a major Akan language variety traditionally written with a Latin-based alphabet, while the name’s deeper origin remains uncertain.
Etymological Timeline
Precolonial period
Akan
Fante/Fanti
“Ethnonym used for the Fante people; the original internal derivation is uncertain.”
17th Century
European records
Fante or Fanti
“European observers began recording the name for a coastal Akan polity and people in present-day Ghana.”
18th Century
Dutch and English
Fantee/Fanti
“Colonial records used several spellings for the people and their language.”
19th Century
English
Fanti/Fantee
“English-language writing continued to use variant forms in descriptions of the Gold Coast.”
Modern English
English
Fante
“The standardized modern form for the people and their Akan language variety.”