Nama
/ˈnɑːmə/noun
A member of a traditionally pastoralist Khoekhoe-speaking people of Namibia and South Africa, or their language.
Did you know?Nama is an endonym—the community’s own name—rather than a label originally imposed by outsiders, though its deeper linguistic connections remain debated.
Etymological Timeline
Precolonial period
Nama
nama
“A self-designation traditionally glossed as “people” or “human beings””
18th Century
Dutch
Nama
“A name used in colonial records for the Nama people”
19th Century
German
Nama
“The Nama people and their language in southwestern Africa”
Late 19th Century
English
Nama
“An ethnonym for a Khoekhoe-speaking people of Namibia and South Africa”
Modern English
English
Nama
“The Nama people, their language, or something relating to them”
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