The name Kimana is a girl's name of Native American origin meaning "butterfly". Kimana and is often added to lists like American Names for Girls and discussed in our forums with posts like "Drop your least fav name GIRLS".
From the experts:
Kimana, the name of a resort in the foothills of Mountain Kilimanjaro in Kenya, would make an exotic path to the nickname Kim.
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16 names similar to Kimana
These 16 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Kimana. If you didn't find an alternative name that you like better than Kimana, try our name generator. It allows you to go beyond the similarities of a name, which can provide a lot of inspiration!
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KimiGrace Says:
indiefendi2 Says:
I was in elementary school with a Kimana. I think her name is cool.
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I like this name a great deal; it's very pretty and was on my shortlist for a little bit. However, anyone considering it should be aware that it DOESN'T mean 'butterfly' in Shoshone as Nameberry and many other name sites list (and I rather wish they would update this listing along with a couple others). The Shoshone word for butterfly is 'aipputoonkih' - a rather drastic departure! I know because I went out of my way to email a linguist who studied Native languages, and that's what she told me. The word 'kimama' is a variant of 'kimimela,' which IS the Lakota Sioux word for 'butterfly,' so someone may just have mixed up the N and M and plunked the Shoshone tribe in there at some point. It may have roots in another language or culture, and as I said, it's lovely - but it isn't Shoshone. Be careful and do your research. Even Nameberry isn't right all the time, and there are an unusual number of inaccuracies with 'Native American' baby names.