Ousmane is a French-Arabic surname and male given name common in West Africa. It is derived from the Arabic name Uthman through Osman. People named Ousmane include:
The Mandinka or Malinke are a West African ethnic group primarily found in southern Mali, The Gambia, southern Senegal and eastern Guinea. Numbering about 11 million, they are the largest subgroup of the Mandé peoples and one of the largest ethnic-linguistic groups in Africa. They speak the Manding languages in the Mande language family, which are a lingua franca in much of West Africa. Virtually all of Mandinka people are adherent to Islam, mostly based on the Maliki jurisprudence. They are predominantly subsistence farmers and live in rural villages. Their largest urban center is Bamako, the capital of Mali.
Cissé is a common West African name of Soninke origin, and the meaning of Cissé is the white horse in the same language.
Traoré or Traore is a surname of Manding origin, as written in French orthography, which is common in Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Guinea. In anglophone West Africa the name is often spelled Trawally.
Touré is the French transcription of a West African surname. The name is probably derived from tùùré, the word for 'elephant' in Soninké, the language of the Ghana Empire. The clan existed as kings of Zaghari on the middle Niger before the Moroccan invasion of Ghana. A theory of their origin holds that the Touré are descended from the "Roum," pre-Arab North African soldiers, and local women.
Diarra is a French translation of the clan name Jara used in West Africa, as a hangover from the French colonial empire in that region. It originates from the Bambara language word jara, meaning lion, synonymous with waraba. The Kingdom of Diarra existed from the 7th Century until the 19th Century. The name is also frequently used with reference to the 18th to early 19th-century Bambara Empire in Ségou, Mali, which was ruled successively by Ngolo Diarra, his son Mansong Diarra, and then his son Da Diarra.
Abdoulaye is a West African masculine given name and surname. It is equivalent to the Arabic names Abdallah or Abdullah, given name of Muhammad's father. People with this name include:
Diawara may refer to:
Amadou is the Francophonic-orthography variant of the Islamic name Ahmad, commonly used in West Africa. Amadou is interchangeable with the forms Ahmadu or Amadu in non-Francophone African countries.
Ba, Bâ, and Bah are potentially related West African surnames, usually of Fula origin. In the Fula culture of Mali and Senegal, the surname Diakité is considered equivalent.
Ismaël is a given name or surname, and may refer to:
Maïga is a name or title that is extensively found among the Songhai nobility, denoting descent from Askia Muhammad I and Sonni Ali Ber. The name Maiga is a commonly used surname among the Songhai people in Mali, Niger, and other West African countries with a significant Songhai population. Additionally, the name is occasionally used as a given name.
Diallo is a French pronunciation of a Fulani surname of Fula origin. It is one of several common surnames used among the Fula.
Mamadou is a common given name in West Africa among predominantly Muslim ethnic groups such as the Mandé and Wolof people. It is a variant of the Arabic name Muhammad.
Diakité is a family name of Fula origin.
Boubacar is both a surname and a given name, which is a West African variant of Abu Bakr.
Adama is a Hebrew given name meaning earth or soil, and a Hindu surname.
Lamine is a given name and a surname. Lamin is the local name for Al-Amin. Notable people with the name include:
Idrissa is a masculine given name. Notable people with the name include:
Souleymane is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: