na haha haitu gicagi he handu hetagwo karuiro na ndiciragia hihi ni haruagirwo.
king'eero ni haha urroreete wangige.

Eni btwn Kangemi na Uthiru hetagwo NITD (Native Industrial Trading District?)

Kangemi no anga kuagagwo ngemi nyingi ariririri

Kawangware = man of the quarry?

Naivasha - originated from naiposha which is a maasai name for the lake

Nakuru - originated from nakuro which is a maasai word for a deserted kinda
with lots of vumbi

Mai mahiu - also from a maasai word meimayu meaning unpassable coz it was too bushy

Dagoreti/Ndagureti ni kuri
Gacui?
Baraniki?

Kuria Luhyaland ni kuri - Ikolomani - which is a possible winner of them all - it was the luhya corruption of GOLDMINE!

Mwene nja
And someone told me that Ikolomani wa coalmine and I took as truth. I guess since Luhyaland was not known for coal, goldmine is more plausible.

Kangubiri, Nyeri - The name is a corruption of 'can go free.' During the Mau Mau period, there used to be a detention camp in the area. After people were interrogated, those to be released were taken where Kangubiri Girls now stands and told "you can go free!"

Afande! This term used very much by members of the disciplined forces. It is a corruption of "I've heard, Sir!"

Kinoo: A place near Nairobi. In the colonial days, a Mzungu administrator used to live in the area. He did not like black empowerment and therefore he used to reply in the negative to many things... "No! Noooo! The administrator was bulky in size. It therefore turned out that our grandfathers used to say when they were summoned to the place "twathii gwa Ki-Nooo!

Mubutiti: A common name for rural access roads in Murang'a. turns out that when the land surveys were being done, the Mzungu would instruct "move straight! The locals took that to mean the roads...

One hu! Twi hau!!

Muguongo,
Interesting about Kangubiri and Kinoo!
No nginya kiari githungu kinanda nene muno!

I have heard that Kinoo was actully a man who lived in that area, only that he was a Mugikuyu from Metumi


Itura ria Ithe Kahuno nario ni atia

Kuri andu maugaga ati Karatina kaumite hari Quarantine no muno muno ngwiciria ria umite hari muti wa Muratina.Itura riu haria riri no nginya hari Karatina-Kamuti ka muratina kanini;ota uria gwitu kuri ituura ritagwo Gatuya tondu hau hari Kamutuya kamuti ka mutuya kanini.

Uthaya, Mathira, Muranga, Nyeri - I believe these are not originally Gikuyu names.

The Muranga/Nyeri valley was originally settled in at least three waves. The first wave pushed out or assimilated the original inhabitants Athi/Ogiek/Ndorobo. The second wave pushed further north and came into fierce resistance from the Purko Maasai. Some of the original place names were from these tribes and they got Gikuyunised.

However the new settlements were named by the new arrivals and these are recognizably Gikuyu - Karatina, Mukurweini, Karura, Githunguri etc.

A similar process was to be repeated over 3 centuries later when the Agikuyu pushed out in to the 'White' highlands in the Rift valley. They named the specific places where they settled but generally tended to keep the regional names they found.

Many of these names are derived from people (Kawangware, Kutus, Wanjohi, Runyenje) animals (Ngurweini, Muunyu,Kianguku), plants (Mukurweini, Karatina,Kihuuti, Gatuyaini), land features (Gathukimundu, Githunguri, Kihuro, Karima), rivers (Rwaka, Mathioya, Chinga, Sagana)

A third source of place names was the corruption of English and other names as has been mentioned already. Thus names like: Kirigiti - Cricket, Gatina - Whitney. Kahu ka mburi - Kipkarbus, Tiboothi - Thomson Falls, Thogoto etc...

The arrival of technology and especially the modern road/rail system created an entirely new source of place names. Thus the many places called Makutano, Chaka, Ngorano, Mairo, Keno, Karandi etc...

It is even more fascinating when you begin to consider where the Gikuyu people names came from.

Segu,
Good write up.The kikuyu name for Nyeri I hear is Rware.Can Someone tell me what Nyeri means in purko maasai?

On my recent visit to Kenya I was lucky to meet a Kikuyu/Maasai by name Nyina Waceke,She gave me an insight of some names
Nyahururu is derived from a maasai name for waterfall.
Ndaragwa is from a maasai name for thompson gazelle kikuyunised to Ndaragwiti,used to be found in plenty in this area.
Ol Kalou is derived from a maasai name for a wild fruit found in plenty here(ngawa in kikuyu).

quote:

Originally posted by Muguongo:

Afande! This term used very much by members of the disciplined forces. It is a corruption of "I've heard, Sir!"

Hehehehehe!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Ngii Ndune!!:

quote:

Originally posted by Muguongo:

Afande! This term used very much by members of the disciplined forces. It is a corruption of "I've heard, Sir!"

Hehehehehe!!!

i like the way the Agikuyu corrupt names. Guitu ni kuri handu hetaguo Karandine which is corrupt version of quarrantine, Kia makerecha goes with Mc Rechard.

quote:

Originally posted by sajini:
Mwene nja
And someone told me that Ikolomani wa coalmine and I took as truth. I guess since Luhyaland was not known for coal, goldmine is more plausible.

And Chamahoho is the place of pied crows ie magogo aka makhokho!

quote:

Originally posted by njung'e wa wamaitha:
na haha haitu gicagi he handu hetagwo karuiro na ndiciragia hihi ni haruagirwo.
king'eero ni haha urroreete wangige.

Atirire, kuria mwena wa Kimende ni hari handu hetaguo Kanda worire.Hihi ni kanda yoreire hau??