Somali
/soʊˈmɑːli/noun
A member of a Cushitic people of Somalia and neighboring regions, or the East Cushitic language they speak.
Did you know?The name is tied to a real ethnonym, but its deepest origin is still debated by historians and linguists, with proposed links ranging from a clan name to older regional forms rather than any magical meaning.
Etymological Timeline
Modern English
English
Somali
“The modern English name for the Somali people and language.”
19th Century
English
Somali
“Used in European colonial and scholarly writing as the ethnonym for the people of the Horn of Africa.”
19th Century
Arabic
ṣūmālī / صومالي
“A form used in Arabic for the Somali people, likely reflecting the ethnonym in regional usage.”
Earlier regional usage
Unknown
Somāl / Somālī
“A historical ethnonym or clan-based name in the Horn of Africa, exact source uncertain.”
Proto-history
Unknown
?
“The ultimate origin is uncertain and not securely established by scholarship.”