# Is M'Boto a real African name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 28, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mboto-a-real-african-name/526807 "2010-01-28T20:45:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Doubting\_Robert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e495f1/32.png) [@Doubting\_Robert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doubting_Robert)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mboto-a-real-african-name/526807/1 "2010-01-28T20:45:15Z")
I could probably save myself a lot of time if I asked all the questions I need answered at once (in different threads). Oh, well … . In a story I am writing, I have a character whose grandfather imigrated to the USA from somewhere in sub-Saharan Africa in the late 22nd century. The last name I chose for my character was M’Boto. However, after a little research, the only people I found named M’Boto were fictional characters. One was in a politically incorrect cartoon. So, is M’Boto a real African name? I would like to use a name which is not connected to any scancal, political controversy, etc. Robert ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mboto-a-real-african-name/526807/2 "2010-01-28T21:00:56Z")
It looks like you get more hits, some of them apparently for real people, if you remove the apostrophe. I know it looks unpronounceable to most English speakers, but that’s just a matter of not being used to it. ---
**Author:** ![Doubting\_Robert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e495f1/32.png) [@Doubting\_Robert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doubting_Robert)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mboto-a-real-african-name/526807/3 "2010-01-28T21:29:26Z")
Thanks, **Chronos**. Searching for M’Boto brought back various entries with different punctuation between the “M” and “B.” It never occurred to me that I was not seeing anything with no punctuation there. So my character is now Mboto. Great! ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mboto-a-real-african-name/526807/4 "2010-01-28T21:34:02Z")
O’bama (is he really Irish?) has a half brother Abongo “you can call me Roy” Obama. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mboto-a-real-african-name/526807/5 "2010-01-28T21:57:06Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > O’bama (is he really Irish?) has a half brother Abongo “you can call me Roy” Obama. Can… not… resist… [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/EADUQWKoVek/hqdefault.jpg "Barack Obama is IRISH!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EADUQWKoVek) and the original [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4Xkw8ip43Vk/hqdefault.jpg "Theres no one as Irish as Barack OBama- Corrigan Brothers") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Xkw8ip43Vk) ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mboto-a-real-african-name/526807/6 "2010-01-28T23:03:46Z")
> [@Doubting\_Robert](#): > > So, is M’Boto a real African name? You have to remember that Africans have African names (duh). [African languages](http://africanlanguages.com/index.html) are very different to European ones. If your character came from the Nama tribe, for example, [good luck with trying to figure out an accurate name](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khoekhoe_language). If you want some other names, you could try a [baby name generator](http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com/african-names-17.html) and get a word that might mean something (eg Masomakali means Sharp Eyes in [Nyakyusa](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyakyusa)). Of course, if it’s just one name in one story, it doesn’t really matter. But if Mr Masomakali were ever to meet a Mr Masopakyindi, he could be from the same town, but Mr Matsimela would be from [somewhere else entirely](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basotho). ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mboto-a-real-african-name/526807/7 "2010-01-28T23:20:05Z")
Doesn’t such an apostrophe usually denote an click? I have a Shona friend from Zimbabwe whose surname is N’Cube, where the ’ is a “tick” sound made with the tip of the tongue. According to her I’m the only non-African person she knows who can say it right. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mboto-a-real-african-name/526807/8 "2010-01-28T23:32:45Z")
Depends on the language. In Khoekhoe, for example, you could write Xapes ke ǀúí tsekám ǁóaka kxàí-máá tsiíp ke ǂxam xam-à kàrósn ʼoo ǃxóóǀxáapi “ǀóm ǁxáítseǃ ǀóm ǃnórótse! xam ǁ’oatseǃ xápú kxáótseǃ” tí, !xóóǀxáapi tóá tsií kè míí "amʼaseta ke ra ǂóm saáts maá ǀúrún hòán xaa ʼa ǀaísa ǃxáisà. I think there’s five different clicks in there. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mboto-a-real-african-name/526807/9 "2010-01-29T06:11:53Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Doesn’t such an apostrophe usually denote an click? Usually, it’s a glottal stop - not quite a click, more of a … voiced pause? Like in Hawai’i > [@](#): > > I have a Shona friend from Zimbabwe whose surname is N’Cube, where the ’ is a “tick” sound made with the tip of the tongue. According to her I’m the only non-African person she knows who can say it right. Ncube isn’t really a Shona surname, though, it’s actually an[Ndebele](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Ndebele_language#Click_sounds) one, the click being a dead giveaway. [Shona](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shona_language#Alphabet_and_pronunciation) doesn’t have any clicks in the way languages like Nama, !Kung and Xhosa & Zulu do. It’s usually spelled Ncube, though, just the fact that it’s a “c” means it’s a click. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mboto-a-real-african-name/526807/10 "2010-01-29T06:37:11Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Usually, it’s a glottal stop - not quite a click, more of a … voiced pause? Like in Hawai’iNcube isn’t really a Shona surname, though, it’s actually an[Ndebele](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Ndebele_language#Click_sounds) one, the click being a dead giveaway. [Shona](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shona_language#Alphabet_and_pronunciation) doesn’t have any clicks in the way languages like Nama, !Kung and Xhosa & Zulu do. > > It’s usually spelled Ncube, though, just the fact that it’s a “c” means it’s a click. Wow. Now that was interesting. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mboto-a-real-african-name/526807/11 "2010-01-29T08:44:53Z")
For anyone who knows _Blackadder_, the first thought will be Mboto Gorge… > [@](#): > > [Blackadder] was hailed as the ‘Hero of Mboto Gorge’ in 1892, where he had faced “ten thousand Watutsi warriors armed to the teeth with kiwi fruit and dry guava halves”. He even saved the life of Douglas Haig (later Field Marshal Douglas Haig) when he was nearly killed by a pygmy woman with a sharpened mango. From Wikipedia: [Edmund Blackadder - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Blackadder) It was a viciously sharp mango… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mboto-a-real-african-name/526807/12 "2010-01-29T17:43:09Z")
I don’t know anyone specifically named MBoto, but the MXxxx is a construction used for last names by the Hehe tribe in Tanzania. Sometimes the leading M sounded as “em” and sometimes as a cross between the mu in mud and the me in met. Hmm. Looks like Bizango Mboto from Zaire was a [1999 All-Africa games](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_at_the_1999_All-Africa_Games)bronze winner in Heavyweight boxing. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mboto-a-real-african-name/526807/13 "2010-01-29T19:23:14Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Ncube isn’t really a Shona surname, though, it’s actually an[Ndebele](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Ndebele_language#Click_sounds) one, the click being a dead giveaway. [Shona](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shona_language#Alphabet_and_pronunciation) doesn’t have any clicks in the way languages like Nama, !Kung and Xhosa & Zulu do. > > It’s usually spelled Ncube, though, just the fact that it’s a “c” means it’s a click. Jeez, everyone knows that! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mboto-a-real-african-name/526807/14 "2010-01-30T20:53:28Z")
You also mentioned that the grandfather which passed on the name lived in the late 22nd century, so it could stand to reason that the name doesn’t have to match a real family name today, as it could come into existence in the future, for example if someone living in the days between now and then decides to change their name for whatever reason and decides to come up with a new name based on languages that are known at that time, or mutates their name from something else due to linguistic drift or immigration to a culture that speaks a different language? (are you up to creating a conlang that could represent a future evolution of Zulu, or a creole based on a mixture of Amharic and Swahili?) so I would think that it would be passable to come up with something that could conceivably evolve out of languages and cultures that are found in Africa or that might form in or move to Africa in the future. Does your grandfather character come out of a specific linguistic or cultural group (for example, a Kenyan whose native language is Swahili?) If your story is SF, the sky’s the limit as exotic and novel content is expected. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mboto-a-real-african-name/526807/15 "2010-02-01T17:55:37Z")
Some African-American comedian was on Comedy Central, talking about growing up in the ghetto in the 70’s. He relates this story: one day he was walking down the street and he saw his friend Willie sitting there. COMEDIAN: Hey Willie! WILLIE: Yo my name ain’t Willie man. That’s my slave name. Don’t call me by that slave shit. My new name is M’butu Yata. -Some pretty girls walk by.- GIRLS: Hey Willie! WILLIE: Yo ladies, what’s up? ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mboto-a-real-african-name/526807/16 "2010-02-01T23:16:40Z")
[quote=“MrDibble, post:9, topic:526807”] > [@jjimm](#): > > Doesn’t such an apostrophe usually denote an click?/quote]Usually, it’s a glottal stop - not quite a click, more of a … voiced pause? Like in Hawai’i Well, not quite: [ul] [li]It’s true that the apostrophe is used in some written languages, or transliterations into the Latin alphabet thereof, to represent a glottal stop.[/li][li]A glottal stop isn’t voiced. It’s the unvoiced consonant you hear in the middle of the English word “uh-uh”.[/li][li]There’s no apostrophe in “Hawaiʻi”; it’s a typographically distinct character called a [ʻokina](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okina). However, the ʻokina does represent a glottal stop in Hawaiian.[/li][/ul]