name
Fatou
FAH-too
ˈfɑːtuːListen
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Syllable breakdown
Fatou
Name meaning and origin
- Origin
- Mandinka (West Africa)
- Meaning
- the Mandinka and Wolof form of Fatima, the name of the Prophet Muhammad's beloved daughter, meaning one who weans or one who abstains, given throughout Muslim West Africa as an expression of deep devotion to the Prophet's family and to the ideal of feminine piety and endurance that Fatima embodies; in The Gambia and Senegal, Fatou is among the most commonly given female names and transcends ethnic boundaries, used by Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, and Serer families alike; the name carries enormous affective weight for Muslim families, connecting a daughter both to the universal Islamic heritage and to the specific West African Islamic culture shaped by centuries of Quranic education and Sufi brotherhoods
- Gender
- female
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