If you’re looking for Native American boy names, start with the story behind each name. Which language does it come from? Who has carried it? What can we learn about its meaning from the people and sources that document it?
The names in this guide come from distinct Indigenous peoples and languages, each with its own history and naming traditions. Where sources allow, I’ve included the specific language or community, the documented meaning, and a little context about how the name was used.
Some entries are names carried by people in the historical record. You’ll also find language notes that explain why a word sometimes shared on baby-name lists needs more context. If you’re considering a name for your child, learning where it comes from and how it’s used is a good place to start.
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Native American Names Starting With A
- Ado-Eete: “Big Tree.” Ado-Eete was a nineteenth-century Kiowa leader. The Smithsonian’s National Anthropological Archives also records his name as Adoetti.
- Ahtahkakoop: “Star Blanket.” The Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation identifies him as its earliest known chief and explains that his name is represented on the nation’s flag.
- Apiatan: “Wooden Lance.” The Smithsonian uses this translation in a portrait record for Apiatan, a Kiowa man. His name also appears as Ahpeahtone.
- Atsidi Sani: “Old Smith.” Atsidi Sani was an early Diné (Navajo) silversmith from the Canyon de Chelly area in what is now Arizona. He learned ironwork as a young man.
- Attakullakulla: “Wood leaning up,” according to the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography. He was an eighteenth-century Cherokee diplomat known to English speakers as Little Carpenter.
Language note: The Ojibwe People’s Dictionary records adik for “caribou” or “reindeer” and akandoo as a verb meaning “to lie in wait.” These are the dictionary forms closest to Ahdik and Akando in the original list. Their use as personal names needs a separate source.
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Native American Names Starting With B
- Bagone-giizhig: “Hole-in-the-Day.” Anton and David Treuer record this spelling for an Ojibwe leader who defended Ojibwe lands and livelihoods in the early nineteenth century.
- Bineshi: “Bird” in the name Minode’i Bineshi. Northern Michigan University records that Ernest St. Germaine, a Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe judge, received the name Bineshi from his mentor, who also carried it.
- Bizhiki: “Bison” or “buffalo” in historical Ojibwe usage. This was one of the names of Chief Buffalo, an Ojibwe leader from Madeline Island in Lake Superior. It also appears as Bichiki.
Language note: The Ojibwe People’s Dictionary records biidaaban as “dawn comes” or “it is daybreak.” A Wahnapitae First Nation newsletter documents Biidaaban as a name given to a girl in a naming ceremony. The Navajo word bidziil is documented with the meaning “he is strong.” Its use as a personal name needs a separate source.
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Native American Names Starting With C
- Catahecassa: “Black Hoof.” The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery uses this spelling for a Shawnee leader. His name also appears as Catecahassa in historical sources.
- Cochise: A name carried by a nineteenth-century Chiricahua Apache leader. Proposed Apache derivations differ, so the meaning is uncertain.
- Cuauhtémoc: “Descending eagle.” This Nahuatl name was carried by the last Mexica ruler of Tenochtitlan.
Language note: Citlali means “star” in Nahuatl. The dictionary supports that translation, while the original listing as a boy’s name needs a separate source…
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Native American Names Starting With D
- Dohäsan: A hereditary Kiowa name translated as “Little Mountain” or “Little Bluff,” among other renderings. A prominent nineteenth-century Kiowa chief carried it.
- Dull Knife: An English rendering of a nickname given by Lakota relatives to a Northern Cheyenne leader. His Cheyenne name is rendered in English as Morning Star.
Language note: Dakota means “ally” and is also the name of a people. That is more precise than the original gloss “a friend of all.”..
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Native American Names Starting With E
- Eda’nsa: “Melting ice from a glacier,” according to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, which traces the name to Tlingit. It was carried by a Haida chief also known as Albert Edward Edenshaw.
- Esh-ke-bug-e-coshe: Recorded in English as Flat Mouth. This historical spelling appears in a Minnesota account of a leader of the Pillager band of Ojibwe.
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Native American Names Starting With F
- Foke-Luste-Hajo: Commonly rendered in English as Black Dirt. A historical account gives the fuller gloss “black craggy clay.” The Smithsonian holds a portrait of the Seminole leader who carried the name.
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Native American Names Starting With G
- Goyakla: “One who yawns.” The National Park Service uses this spelling for the birth name of the Chiricahua Apache man known as Geronimo. The Smithsonian records Goyathlay for the same person. The original list gave two spellings as separate entries.
- Guud San Glans: “Eagle of the Dawn.” This is the Haida name of Robert Davidson, an artist known for his carving and printmaking.
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Native American Names Starting With H
- Hiawatha: A name associated with the founding of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Historical sources record several forms and offer different translations, so the meaning is uncertain.
- Hosteen Klah: The Heard Museum records Left Handed as an alternate name for this Diné artist. The Smithsonian also documents him as a sand painter.
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Native American Names Starting With I
- Insula: Recorded as Red Feather in the Smithsonian’s archive of Gustavus Sohon’s drawings. The archive identifies him as a chief and records Michelle as his baptismal name.
- Ité Omáǧažu: “Rain-in-the-Face.” This Lakota name was carried by a nineteenth-century leader whose account of the name is shared by the Aktá Lakota Museum.
- Itzcóatl: “Obsidian Snake.” The Nahuatl Dictionary documents it as a masculine personal name and identifies Itzcóatl as a ruler of Tenochtitlan.
Language note: Ishi means “man” in Yahi. The Hearst Museum explains that this is what people called him because his personal name was never publicly shared.
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Native American Names Starting With J
- Junaluska: An English spelling of a Cherokee name that ethnographer James Mooney recorded as Tsunu’lahûñ’ski, with the gloss “he tries, but fails.” Junaluska was an Eastern Cherokee leader.
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Native American Names Starting With K
- Kezhegowinninne: “Man of the sky,” also interpreted as “one who is exalted.” The Dictionary of Canadian Biography records this Ojibwe name for the chief and teacher also known as David Sawyer.
- Kintpuash: “Strikes the Water Brashly,” according to The Oregon Encyclopedia. Kintpuash was a Modoc leader from the Lost River area, also known as Captain Jack.
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Native American Names Starting With L
- Lalawethika: “The Noise Maker.” The National Park Service records this as the birth name of the Shawnee religious leader later known as Tenskwatawa, who also appears under T.
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Native American Names Starting With M
- Maȟpíya Lúta: “Red Cloud.” This was the name of an Oglala Lakota leader whose life is documented by the Aktá Lakota Museum.
- Matotope: “Four Bears.” The State Historical Society of Missouri identifies him as a Mandan chief in an illustration by George Catlin, who recorded the name as Mah-To-Toh-Pa.
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Native American Names Starting With N
- Nawahjegezhegwabe: “The sloping sky.” This Ojibwe name was carried by a chief also known as Joseph Sawyer, the father of Kezhegowinninne.
- Noodin: Recorded as Nodin (The Wind) in research on Ojibwe treaty history. The Ojibwe People’s Dictionary gives noodin as “the wind blows” or “it is windy.”
Language note: The original list included Nashoba, “wolf.” Historical records document it in longer Choctaw names, including a form translated as Walking Wolf.
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Native American Names Starting With O
- O-to-has-tis: Recorded as Tall Bull in a treaty text reproduced by Montana’s Indian Education for All programme. This is the spelling used there for the Cheyenne name listed as Otoahhastis in the original post.
- Ouray: The name of a nineteenth-century Tabeguache Ute leader. Historical sources document the bearer, while the original translation “the arrow” is uncertain.
- Ousamequin: “Yellow Feather.” He was a Pokanoket Wampanoag leader also known by the title Massasoit, which the Smithsonian describes as “supreme sachem.”
- Owaneco: A name carried by the eldest son of Uncas, who succeeded him as Mohegan sachem. The Colchester Historical Society records that he was named after his grandfather. The meaning is uncertain.
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Native American Names Starting With P
- Pecos: “Peanuts,” according to the National Park Service’s biography of Quanah Parker. Pecos was Quanah’s younger brother.
- Pitaresaru: “Chief of Men” or “Man Chief.” The Encyclopedia of the Great Plains records this Pawnee name and the alternate spelling Petalesharo.
Historical note: The leader commonly called Powhatan had the given name Wahunsenacawh, listed under W below.
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Native American Names Starting With Q
- Quanah: “Fragrant.” This Comanche name was carried by Quanah Parker, the son of Peta Nocona and Cynthia Ann Parker.
- Qwatsinas: “Spirit of the Raven,” as recorded in a memorial for Chief Qwatsinas. He was a Nuxalk hereditary chief also known as Edward Moody.
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Native American Names Starting With R
- Red Horse: The English name recorded for a Miniconjou Lakota chief whose drawings of the Battle of the Little Bighorn are held by the Smithsonian.
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Native American Names Starting With S
- Satank: “Sitting Bear.” A Kiowa glossary records the name and explains its bear element.
- Satanta: “White Bear.” The same glossary records this as a distinct Kiowa name with the same bear element.
- Sequoyah: The name of the Cherokee creator of the Cherokee syllabary. A dictionary hosted by the Cherokee Nation’s language programme records Jiskwaya with the gloss “the Sparrow, or Principal Bird.” Other published accounts give different explanations for the name.
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Native American Names Starting With T
- Taimah: A name carried by a Meskwaki leader from the region that is now Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois. Tama is another recorded spelling. Sources confirm who carried the name, while the original translation about thunder is uncertain.
- Tamanend: A Lenape leader remembered as the Affable for his diplomacy. Tammany, the form in the original list, is an alternate spelling associated with him.
- Tašhúŋka Witkó: “Crazy Horse.” This Oglala Lakota name is also written Tashunka Witco in National Park Service materials.
- Tatáŋka Íyotake: Commonly known in English as Sitting Bull. The Aktá Lakota Museum explains that the name describes a bison bull sitting on its haunches.
- Tene-Angopte: “Striking Eagle,” according to the Handbook of Texas. The Kiowa chief who carried the name is also known in English as Kicking Bird.
- Tenskwatawa: “The Open Door,” one translation recorded by the National Park Service. This was the name the Shawnee leader born Lalawethika took later in life.
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Native American Names Starting With U
- Uemac: A historical spelling of Huemac, a name found in Nahua accounts of Tollan. The Gran Diccionario Náhuatl gives “the one with large hands” as a possible interpretation.
- Uncas: Also recorded as Wonkas, “the Fox.” Uncas was a seventeenth-century Mohegan sachem whose life is documented by the Mohegan Tribe.
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Native American Names Starting With V
- Vitzilihuitl: A historical written form of Huitzilihuitl, “hummingbird feather.” The Nahuatl Dictionary records this spelling in an account of the second ruler of Tenochtitlan.
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Native American Names Starting With W
- Waban: An early local history gives “the wind” or “the spirit.” The Natick Historical Society documents Waban as a seventeenth-century Massachusett leader.
- Wahunsenacawh: The given name of the leader widely known as Powhatan. He led Tsenacomoco, an alliance of Indigenous communities in what is now Virginia. The source confirms the given name but gives no translation.
- Woquni: “Hook Nose.” This name was carried by a Northern Cheyenne man known in English as Roman Nose. American National Biography records Sautie, or “the Bat,” as his boyhood name.
- Wovoka: “Woodcutter” in Northern Paiute, according to the Getty Research Institute. Wovoka was a Northern Paiute religious leader who received this name later in life.
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Native American Names Starting With X
- Xicotencatl: A Nahuatl name carried by two rulers, father and son, from Tizatlan in Tlaxcala. A pictorial record represents the name with a bumblebee glyph. That gives a clue to the name without settling a translation of the full form.
- Xolotl: The name of a Chichimec ruler in Nahua historical sources. The Nahuatl Dictionary also records it as the name of a deity. Its entry gives several associations and does not settle on one English meaning for the ruler’s name.
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Native American Names Starting With Y
- Yonaguska: “Drowning Bear.” He was a Cherokee chief whose life is documented by NCpedia. This is a documented personal name related to the Cherokee word yona, “bear,” from the original list.
- Yoyontzin: A Nahuatl personal name carried by a ruler of Tetzcoco in the colonial period. The Nahuatl Dictionary documents the name in historical texts without giving an English translation.
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Native American Names Starting With Z
- Zhauwuno-Geezhigo-Gaubow: “He who stands in the southern sky.” The Dictionary of Canadian Biography records this name for an Ojibwe leader also known as Jack Fiddler.
What a Name Can Tell Us
A name can hold part of a person’s story. Lalawethika and Tenskwatawa belonged to the same Shawnee leader at different points in his life. Eda’nsa was carried by a Haida chief, and the biography traces the name itself to Tlingit. Details like these are worth keeping alongside the English meaning.
If a name stands out to you, follow its source and look for a language programme, museum or cultural centre from the community it comes from. You may find a pronunciation, another spelling, or more about the person who carried it. That context can help you understand what the name means and how it has been used.
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