Names That Mean Native

Rapper Tupac Amaru Shakur was named after 18th century Peruvian revolutionary Túpac Amaru. There was also a 15th century Incan ruler whose name was an extension of the Quechua Topa or Tupa, and the Tupaq spelling is also used. Tupac is a prime example of a one-person name, used for almost no babies, though that could change. Some singular celebrity or character names only become widely-used only long after the fame of the original bearer, when the association of the name with that bearer begins to fade.

A feminine name in Choctaw culture.

Kimimila is a trending choice among parents with Lakota heritage. It's especially popular in South Dakota, where many Lakota live today.

Hurricane is a wild weather name. The best-known male named Hurricane is Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a middleweight boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder and immortalized by the 1975 Bob Dylan song Hurricane.

The Cree are a Native American tribe local to Canada. Their name has seen a modest amount of use for both boys and girls in recent years, as has spelling variant Kree.

More commonly a male given name, but Esarosa is used for girls as well and it is no wonder why — this name has lots of potential and nickname options galore.

Wakinyan is a traditional name from the Lakota tribe and language, in which it means "thunder". Today, parents with Lakota heritage have been reviving Wakinyan and other names for their children.

A rare and lovely Nahuatl name, which literally means "quetzal feather" – a quetzal is a beautiful green bird native to Mexico, Guatemala and South America. The word is figuratively used to refer to something precious or beautiful, making this a lovely option for a wished-for baby girl.

In the Navajo language, sháńdíín is the word for "sunshine". At its peak, the name Shandiin was used for 12 baby girls in 2003 and 2005.

This phonetic spelling of Quetzalli — a rare and lovely Nahuatl name, which literally means "quetzal feather" after the quetzal bird — was given to around the same number of baby girls as the original in 2022 (a few dozen).

This name was historically given to Choctaw men.