Origin of names of towns in Kenya.A few examples

Origin of names of towns in Kenya.
A few examples

Origin of names of towns in Kenya.
A few examples

Unbeknown to many, most place names used today in Kenya are colloquial adaptions of the English language. A statement like ‘Carry your bag’ became Kariobangi and the famous Kariakor market was the parade grounds for natives as they were recruited into the KAR Carrier Corps in 1914. They even birthed an age group name in Meru – Kaaria! King’s Knot, probably the name of a colonial settler, became Kinoo as the Maasai evolved many names to their credit.

Limuru or Limoro, wherever it pops up, has a close relationship with troops of donkeys used or traded by the Maasai. Ilimur is donkey droppings in Kimasai. Embakasi, Mbagathi and it’s siblings are derived from the Maa Empa-rasite, another name for water. Enkare, the other Maasai word for water has been used widely as a prefix to many river names around the central Highlands and the Rift Valley – Ngare Ndare, Enkare Sosion and more…

One thing historians are yet to explain is the prevalence of Maa names spanning from the Nyambene hills in the North, all the way to Mt Elgon and down into the bushlands of Tanga-ya-Nyika… Is it possible that once upon a time, the Maasai were an Empire covering the whole of East Africa all the way to the Coast?

Finally, Roisambu was Royal Suburbs, Enaiposha is a lake, Nyahururu is a windy place, so is Naikurrū..the dry dusty devil winds the Kikuyu know as Nkoma cia aka! Thank god the Maasai landed there first otherwise Nakuru City would today be – The City of Devils…