Kwame is an Akan masculine given name among the

Akan people The Akan () people are a kwa languages, Kwa group living primarily in present-day Ghana and in parts of Ivory Coast and Togo in West Africa. The Akan speak languages within the Central Tano languages, Central Tano branch of the Potou–Tano la ...

(such as the

Akuapem Akuapem may refer to: * Akuapem people, an ethnic group of Ghana * Akuapem dialect, their language * Akuapem Kingdom Akropong is a town in South Ghana and is the capital of the Akuapim North District, a district in the Eastern Region of South ...

, Ashanti,

Akyem The Akyem Kingdoms (also known as Greater Akyem, Akim, Great Akim, or Akan Grande) were prominent Akan people, Akan kingdoms in precolonial Ghana, consisting of the three related states of Akyem Abuakwa, Akyem Kotoku, and Akyem Bosome. Located in ...

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by the nickname Bono ( ), is an Irish singer-songwriter and activist. He is a founding member, the lead vocalist, and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Bono is known for his impassioned voca ...

and Fante) in

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

which is given to a boy born on

Saturday Saturday is the day of the week between Friday and Sunday. No later than the 2nd century, the Romans named Saturday ("Saturn's Day") for the god Saturn. His planet, Saturn, controlled the first hour of that day, according to Vettius Valens. T ...

. Traditionally in Ghana, a child would receive their Akan day name during their

Outdooring In Ghana, an Outdooring ( Ga: ''kpodziemo''; , Ewe language “vihehedego”) is the traditional naming ceremony for infants. Traditionally this ceremony occurs eight days after the child is born where parents bring their newborn "outdoors" and gi ...

, eight days after birth. According to Akan tradition, people born on particular days exhibit certain characteristics or attributes. Kwame has the appellation "Atoapoma" or "Oteanankannuro" meaning "combat ready". The day naming tradition in Ghana extends to folk characters such as

Anansi Anansi or Ananse ( ; literally translates to ''spider'') is a character in Akan religion and folklore associated with stories, wisdom, knowledge, and trickery, most commonly depicted as a spider. Anansi is a character who reflects the culture ...

and deities. Traditional Akan religion states that God created himself on Saturday and is therefore also named "Kwame".

Origin and meaning of Kwame

In the Akan

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

, day names are derived from deities. Kwame originated from Koyame and the Akan day name God. The name Kwame means extremes in fortune, health and spirituality; versatile, idealistic and intuitive. Males named Kwame are reputed to be talented and good problem solvers.

Male variants of Kwame

Variant spellings include Kwamé, Kouamé, Kwami, Kwamena, and Kwamina, according to the various Akan subgroups. It is spelt Kwame by the

and Ashanti subgroups, while the Fante subgroup spell it as Kwamena or Kwamina.

Female version of Kwame

In the Akan culture and other local cultures in Ghana, day names come in pairs for

males Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilisation. A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to ...

and

females An organism's sex is female (symbol: ♀) if it produces the ovum (egg cell), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete (sperm cell) during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females and male ...

. The variant of the name used for a female child born on Saturday is Ama.

Notable people with the name

The most well-known bearer of the name was

Kwame Nkrumah Francis Kwame Nkrumah (, 21 September 1909 – 27 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He served as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast from 1952 until 1957, when it gained ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of Ghana and a founder of

Pan-Africanism Pan-Africanism is a nationalist movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous peoples of Africa, indigenous peoples and diasporas of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atla ...

– mainly due to whom the name spread also to non-Ghanaians. People with this name include: *

Kwamé (American rapper) Kwamé Holland is an American rapper, singer and record producer from East Elmhurst, Queens, New York. Starting as a rapper in the late 1980s, he later saw success as a producer. Biography In 1989, Kwamé released his debut album, '' Kwamé t ...

Kwame (Australian rapper) Rich Amevor (born 6 September 1997), known professionally as thatboykwame (and previously as Kwame), is an Australian rapper and record producer. He has released four EPs: ''Lesson Learned'' in 2017, ''Endless Conversations'' in 2018, ''Please, ...

Kwame Alexander Kwame Alexander (born August 21, 1968) is an American writer of poetry and children's fiction. Personal life and education Alexander was born in Manhattan, New York, and grew up in Virginia. His father was a scholar and book publisher and hi ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

author *

Kwame Ampadu Patrick Kwame Ampadu (born 20 December 1970) is an Irish football coach and former player who is an assistant coach for Columbus Crew under Wilfried Nancy. He previously was an assistant coach for Monaco. A midfielder, Ampadu featured for club ...

, Irish footballer *

Kwame Anthony Appiah Kwame Akroma-Ampim Kusi Anthony Appiah ( ; born 8 May 1954) is an English-American philosopher and writer who has written about political philosophy, ethics, the philosophy of language and mind, and African intellectual history. Appiah is Prof ...

, a Ghanaian-

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

philosopher of semantics and racism *

Kwame Awuah Kwame Awuah (born December 2, 1995) is a Canadian professional association football, soccer player who currently plays for Loudoun United FC in the USL Championship. He plays as a midfielder and left-back. Club career Early career Awuah played ...

(born 1995),

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 ...

soccer player *

Kwame Brown Kwame Hasani Brown (born March 10, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player who spent 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Selected first overall by the Washington Wizards in the 2001 NBA draft, Brown was ...

former basketball player *

Kwame R. Brown Kwame R. Brown (born October 13, 1970) is an American politician in Washington, D.C., who was an at-large member of the council from 2005 to 2011 and chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia from 2011 until his resignation in June 201 ...

(born 1970), American politician *

Kwame Dawes Kwame Senu Neville Dawes (born 28 July 1962) is a Ghanaian poet, actor, editor, critic, musician, and former Louis Frye Scudder Professor of Liberal Arts at the University of South Carolina. He is now Professor of English at the University of N ...

, Ghanaian poet currently living in America, managing editor of the

Prairie Schooner ''Prairie Schooner'' is a literary magazine published quarterly at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln with the cooperation of UNL's English Department and the University of Nebraska Press. It is based in Lincoln, Nebraska and was first publi ...

literary journal *

Kwame Evans Jr. Kwame Gumo "KJ" Evans Jr. (born August 2, 2004) is an American college basketball player for the Oregon Ducks of the Big Ten Conference. High school career Evans attends Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida. He transferred to Montverde from Ba ...

(born 2004), American basketball player *

Kwame Harris Kwame Harris (born March 15, 1982) is a Jamaican professional player of American football who was an offensive tackle for six seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Stanford Cardinal, when he won the M ...

(born 1982), former American football player * Kwame Holman, American producer, correspondent, and congressional correspondent * Kwame Kenyatta, an American politician *

Kwame Kilpatrick Kwame Malik Kilpatrick (born June 8, 1970) is an American former politician who served as the 72nd mayor of Detroit from 2002 to 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented the 9th district in the Michigan House of Repre ...

, former mayor of Detroit, Michigan *

(originally Francis Nwia Kofi Ngonloma), a Ghanaian politician (and for a time Life President) and one of the founders of Pan-Africanism *

Kwame Onwuachi Kwame Onwuachi (; born November 11, 1989) is an American chef based in New York City, New York. He has opened or owned several restaurants including Shaw Bijou, Kith and Kin, and Tatiana. A published author and restaurateur, he also appeared as a ...

, American chef *

Kwame Raoul Kwame Raoul (, born September 30, 1964) is an American lawyer and politician who has been the 42nd Attorney General of Illinois since 2019. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Raoul represented the 13th district in the Illinois Senate fro ...

, Illinois Attorney General * Kwame Somburu (Paul Boutelle), an American socialist political activist *

Kwame Tucker From their first match in 2006 to their final match in 2009, 37 players represented the Bermuda cricket team in One Day Internationals (ODIs). A One Day International is an international cricket match between two representative teams, each having ...

, a Bermudian cricketer *

Kwame Ture Kwame Ture (; born Stokely Standiford Churchill Carmichael; June 29, 1941November 15, 1998) was an American activist who played a major role in the civil rights movement in the United States and the global pan-African movement. Born in Trinid ...

, an American civil rights activist *

Kwame Vaughn Kwame Donte Vaughn (born May 31, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for PVSK Panthers. He is a tall point guard-shooting guard. He finished his college basketball career at Cal State Fullerton. High school Vaughn attended Skyli ...

(born 1990),

American basketball The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league that governs most levels of basketball in the United States. Basketball is the second most popular sport in the United States (counting amateur levels), after American ...

player for

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa () is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football, Basketball, Weightl ...

in the Israeli Basketball National League *

Kwamena Bartels Peter Kwamena Essilfie Bartels (born 27 October 1947) is a Ghanaian politician and former government minister of the New Patriotic Party. Biography After graduating from Mfantsipim School in 1968, Bartels was admitted to the University of Ghana, ...

, a Ghanaian politician and former government minister of the

New Patriotic Party The New Patriotic Party (NPP; ) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right and Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative political party in Ghana. Since the democratisation of Ghana in 1992, it has been one of the two dominant parties in Ghanaian ...

* Kwamena Ahwoi, a Ghanaian politician who served as Minister for Local Government and Rural Development from 1990 to 2001 and Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1997 * Kwamina Ropapa Mensah, a Ghanaian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays for

Nashville SC Nashville Soccer Club is an American professional soccer club based in Nashville, Tennessee. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team spent two seasons in the USL Championship before joining ...

in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

Osei Kwame Panyin Osei Kwame Panyin was the ruler of the Ashanti Empire from 1777 to 1801, holding the title of List of rulers of Asante, Asantehene. His reign was marred by uprisings, which would eventually lead to his suicide in 1803 to prevent an Ashanti civil wa ...

, eighteenth-century leader of the Ashanti Confederacy, in what is southern and central Ghana today *

Paul Kwame Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo P ...

, Ghanaian footballer

References

Fictional character

* Kwame (Captain Planet), a fictional character in the animated television series ''Captain Planet and the Planeteers'' * Kwame, a fictional character in British television series

I May Destroy You ''I May Destroy You'' is a British black comedy-drama television series created, written, co-directed, and executive produced by Michaela Coel for BBC One and HBO. The series is set in London with a predominantly Black British cast. Coel stars ...

. {{given name Given names Ashanti given names Akan given names Masculine given names