name
Fatou
fah-TOO
fɑːˈtuːListen
Hear it in a clear American voice. Slow it down to catch each syllable.
Syllable breakdown
Fatou
Name meaning and origin
- Origin
- Wolof (Senegal / The Gambia)
- Meaning
- the Wolof and West African form of Fatima — the Arabic name of Fatima bint Muhammad (605–632 CE), the beloved daughter of the Prophet Muhammad and wife of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth caliph; Fatima is among the most revered figures in Islam for both Sunni and Shia Muslims, honoured for her piety, her closeness to the Prophet, and the legacy of her sons Hasan and Husayn; the contraction to Fatou — losing the final syllables of Fatima — is characteristic of West African phonological adaptation of Arabic names, and Fatou has become the single most common feminine name in Senegal and The Gambia, used by Wolof, Mandinka, Fula, and Serer communities with equal frequency; its brevity and melodic quality have made it universally beloved, and it appears in the full compound form Fatoumata in Mandinka regions, or with family name additions like Fatou Diallo or Fatou N'diaye that identify the bearer's lineage
- Gender
- female
- Also spelled
- Fatou, Fatoumata, Fatima
Learn one new pronunciation a day
Get a word, name or idiom like “Fatou” in your inbox — daily or weekly, free. Unsubscribe any time.
Something wrong? Suggest a correction