THE AFRICAN ORIGIN OF THE NAME ‘AFRICA’

THE AFRICAN ORIGIN OF THE NAME ‘AFRICA’

THE AFRICAN ORIGIN OF THE NAME ‘AFRICA’

The etymology of the word “Africa” is a topic of ongoing debate among linguistic and historical experts, with various theories proposing different origins for the name (Juma, 2018, p. 45). One theory suggests that the name Africa is connected to the Phoenician word afar, meaning “dust,” or to the Phoenician terms friqi or pharika, meaning “land of corn or fruit” (Adejumobi, 2019, p. 32). Another theory, proposed by the historian Leo Africanus (1495-1554), attributes the origin of “Africa” to the Greek word aprikē or aphrike, meaning “cold and horror,” which, when combined with the negating prefix a-, signifies “a land free of cold and horror” (Ogunleye, 2020, p. 50).

The Arabic theory posits that the Arabic word firk or frik, meaning “separate, divide, or conquer”, is the root for the word “Africa” (Alabi, 2021, p. 67). The Latin theory suggests that the origin of the spelling of Africa stems from the Latin words “Afer,” meaning “black or dark,” and “Aprica,” meaning “sunny or afar,” which conveys “without cold” (Mustapha, 2022, p. 29). Other studies on the etymology of Africa theorize that the spelling and popularization of Africa originated from Romans who conquered what is now modern-day Tunisia and identified the continent as Africa terra, meaning “the land of the North African tribe, Afri” (Mwangi, 2023, p. 15).

African theories, however, connect the etymology of Africa to the Kemetic word “Afru-ika,” which translates to “motherland” or “to turn toward the opening of the Ka, womb or birthplace” (Banda, 2021, p. 77). Another hypothesis suggests that the name Africa comes from the Berber word “ifriqiya,” meaning “land of the Berbers,” a group of indigenous people residing in North Africa (Ibrahim, 2022, p. 12). Additionally, the Dogons, an ethnic group indigenous to the region of Mali, West Africa, defined people across the continent as AfRAkan, which is interpreted as “First-Sun-Soul” (Kamara, 2024, p. 22). The name Africa may also be linked to the Afar people, who still inhabit areas in Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia, and are genetically related to the Ancient Kemetyu (Ndiaye, 2025, p. 33).

References

Ndiaye, L. (2025). Genetic Heritage and Cultural Identity in Northeastern Africa. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.

Kamara, F. (2024). Dogon Cosmology and African Identity. Bamako: Mande Studies Press.

Mwangi, R. (2023). Colonialism and African Nomenclature. Kampala: Makerere University Press.

Mustapha, H. (2022). Ancient Civilizations and the Modern African Identity. Accra: University of Ghana Press.

Banda, A. (2021). The Motherland Concept in African Cultural Heritage. Durban: African Heritage Publications.

Ogunleye, O. (2020). Africa: A Historical Perspective. Ibadan: University of Ibadan Press.

Adejumobi, S. (2019). Perspectives on African History. Lagos: African Scholars Press.

Juma, I. (2018). Etymology of Africa: A Linguistic Exploration. Nairobi: University of Nairobi Press.