Kamau is a male name of
Kenya
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
n origin that may refer to:
It is primarily a masculine name in the Kikuyu, belonging to the Bantu group who migrated from the Congo region. The name was given to a group of young men who went through initiation together. The group was called Rika. The initiation process involved circumcision, training and mentoring to help transition from childhood to manhood. The young men in the group would take up their initiation group's name as a given name (Ritwa ria Rika) as a form of association, but would still keep their original name. Thus the man's original name may be Wambugu, but he may choose to use his Rika name Kamau. As a result, men usually had two or three names (Given/birth name, Initiation name and Nickname).
Though the tradition is not practiced, the name is passed on through the naming system in a family from the ancestor who had received the name through the initiation to the next generation. As a result it is now used as a birth/given name inherited from a relative and to many it has become a family name.
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Bruce Kamau
Bruce Kamau (born 28 March 1995) is a professional soccer player who plays as a winger for Adelaide City. Born in Kenya, he has represented Australia at youth level.
Early life
Born in Kenya, Kamau moved to Australia at age 4. He attended Rost ...
, Kenyan-born Australian footballer
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Gibson Kamau Kuria
Gibson Kamau Kuria (born 3 March 1947 in Mahiga Location, Othaya Division, Nyeri District) is a Kenyan lawyer and a recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award for 1988.
Early education
Kuria started his formal education at Mahiga ...
, lawyer and human rights activist
* Daniel Kamau, Kenyan writer
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Ian Kamau,
Canadian
Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
hip hop and spoken word artist
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James Maina Kamau, Kenyan politician from
Nairobi County
Nairobi City County is one of the 47 counties of Kenya. With an estimated population of 5,454,000 in 2024, it is the third-smallest in area of the counties, yet the most populous. It also serves as the capital of Kenya. The county entity was ...
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Jamleck Irungu Kamau, Kenyan politician from
Murang'a County
Murang'a County is one of the counties of Kenya's former Central Province (Kenya), Central Province. Its largest town and capital is Murang'a, which was referred to as Fort Hall during the colonial era. The county is inhabited mainly by, and i ...
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Johnstone Kamau Ngengi, birth name of
Jomo Kenyatta
Jomo Kenyatta (22 August 1978) was a Kenyan anti-colonial activist and politician who governed Kenya as its Prime Minister from 1963 to 1964 and then as its first President from 1964 to his death in 1978. He played a significant role in the ...
, first Kenya president.
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Kamau Brathwaite
Edward Kamau Brathwaite, CHB (; 11 May 1930 – 4 February 2020), was a Barbadian poet and academic, widely considered one of the major voices in the Caribbean literary canon.Staff (2011)"Kamau Brathwaite." New York University, Department of Co ...
, poet and writer from Barbados
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KAMAUU, American singer and rapper
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Michael Kamau, Kenyan cabinet secretary for Transport and Infrastructure
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W. Kamau Bell
Walter Kamau Bell (born January 26, 1973) is an American stand-up comic and television host. He has hosted the CNN series '' United Shades of America'' since 2016, and hosted FXX television series '' Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell'' from 20 ...
, American stand-up comic
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Kenyan names
Bantu-language surnames