Hello Jennifer!

My husband and I recently welcomed our son into our family in a nontraditional way.  He is a refugee from Africa, 17 years old.  I am curious about the meaning of his name, Hakizimana.  He is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, although he lived in a refugee camp in Rwanda from 6 months on.  He speaks Kinyarwanda, which is spoken in Rwanda, but I don’t know if his name is part of that language or another.  He goes by the name “Hakim” now in America, which means wise, but I’m not about to tell a teenage boy that his name means Wise.  I would love to tell him what Hakizimana means though.  Thank you for your help!

Kellie

Hi Kellie,

What a wonderful addition to your family!  According to my research, Hakizimana was originally an Egyptian name, but prevalent in Rwanda. It means “God Saves Everything.” I have added it to our site.

Sincerely,

Jennifer

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Jennifer Moss (she/her) is the founder of BabyNames.com, author of The Baby Names Workbook, and Producer of The Baby Names Podcast. Jennifer is widely regarded as the leading expert on popular baby name trends and the naming process, serving as the authoritative source on the subject for national and international media.

Jennifer entered the tech arena in the 80s as a software developer and database architect, and became a pioneer in the Internet industry. In addition to operating BabyNames.com, Jennifer owns a web development agency in central California.