Zimbabwean Shona Names for Baby Twins

Are you scratching your head in search of unique twin names? The Shona language has numerous types of names suitable for twins. Most of these names will have exotic appeal to non-Shona people who are looking for unique names.

For many parents, the gift of baby twins is a wonderful blessing. It is a special gift from God and Nature. Twins, triplets and quadruplets are like diamonds, a rare and miraculous occurrence, and as a parent you must have cause for celebration and thankfulness. A time comes when you need to give appropriate names for your twin baby boys and girls. The information in this article will help you do just that.

How to Create Names for Baby Twins

In my opinion, there are five options for generating baby names for twins. You can choose from:

1 - Rhyming Names

The most popular way is choosing rhyming names (i.e. names which sound the same when pronounced, either from the middle or towards the end).The Shona language of Zimbabwe has a lot of rhyming names to choose from. Just by browsing a list of names here (CLICK); you will get what you want. You can also check my list at the end of this page.

Example:

Panashe and Anashe are good rhyming Shona names for twin girls. The meanings are also near identical. Panashe means “God is here / Where there is God”. Anashe means “With God / He or She is with God”

2 - Names with Similar Meaning

If you cannot find good rhyming names, you can choose names with similar or near identical meaning. It does not need to be exact, related meanings or names which are derived from a common word are just fine. Fortunately, Shona names as well as most African names have meanings which can be translated into other languages. Some of these names may be spelt differently but they have more or less the same meaning.

Example:

Fungai and Fungisai are good names for female baby twins. They happen to rhyme well and at the same time the meanings are related. Fungai means “Think”. Fungisai means “Think well, deeply/ Make or cause one to think / One who makes you think”.

3 - Names with Opposite Meaning

In some cases, names with opposite meanings are used for twins but they should be appropriate ones. Opposite meanings are used to infer personality differences, no two human beings are the same. Twins may look alike but personalities may differ. What about twins who don’t look alike? This is another case for names with opposite meaning.

Example:

Netsai and Fadzai are good names for twin baby girls. They happen to rhyme well and they have opposite meanings. Netsai means “give trouble/ trouble somebody”.Fadzai means “make someone happy / make someone smile”.

Tapiwa and Tashaya are also good names for baby twins with opposite meanings. Tapiwa means “Given / We received / We got it”. Tashaya means “We can’t find / We never received / We didn’t get”

Tawana and Tashaya - Tawana means “We found/We got it/We found”, another good opposite for Tashaya.

4 - Names from Backward Reading

You can use backward reading (reverse reading) as a tool to create a twin baby name. This is a creative method that most people are not aware of. However, it’s not an easy task to find a reverse name that sounds good. You have to experiment with a lot of names to get the right one. I am going to give it a try:

Anashe >> You can invert this name to She + Ana = Sheana

So we get Anashe and Sheana, which are really good sounding names.Anashe is a Shona name and Sheana qualifies for an English name.

5 - Equivalent Names in Different Languages

Finding equivalent names or names with same meaning in different languages is another creative way of generating twin names if other methods are exhausted and limited. Find a name that you like, either in your language or in other languages. Find a name that means the same in a different language. This should not be hard, but you need to research Baby Name dictionaries across various languages to get started.

As an example, you can find out what a specific Shona name means in Swahili, Arabic, Hebrew, American Indian and other languages where names have translatable meanings.

Example: Rudo is a Shona name which means "Love". In other languages, the following female names also mean love:

Aisha - (Love) Indian
Lalasa - (Love) Indian
Loveleen - (Love to God) Indian

The following female names mean happiness:

Rufaro - (Happiness) Shona
Aylen - (Happiness) Native American Indian

The following names mean flower:

Ruwa (Flower) Shona
Rayen (Flower) Native American Indian

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List of Male & Female Shona Names for Baby Twins

Notes***The relationship between the names is denoted in brackets i.e. twin names based on rhyme, meaning or reverse reading. If you want to know the meaning of these names, please visit this list >> Click Here

Panashe and Anashe - (rhyme + meaning)

Anashe and Sheana - (reverse reading)

Tariro and Rorita - (reverse reading)

Fungai and Fungisai - (rhyme +meaning)

Tinashe and Munashe -  (rhyme + meaning)

Tawanda and Tawana (rhyme)

Netsai and Fadzai - (rhyme +meaning)

Tapiwa and Tashaya - (meaning)

Tawana and Tashaya - (meaning)

Tashinga and Shingai - (meaning)

Tongai and Shingai - (rhyme)

Tongai and Wonai - (rhyme)

Tamuka and Tanaka - (rhyme)

Tendai and Tinotenda - (meaning)

Takunda and Takura - (rhyme)

Kudzai and Kudzanai - (rhyme+meaning)

Tendai and Vimbai - (rhyme)

Tonderai and Yemurai - (rhyme)

Tonderai and Taurai - (rhyme)

Tauri and Yemurai - (rhyme)

Farai and Taurai - (rhyme)

Farai and Tofara - (meaning)

Farai and Fadzai - (meaning)

Farai and Mufaro - (meaning)

Garai and Garikai - (meaning)

Farai and Farisai - (meaning)

Farai and Rufaro - (meaning)

Rufaro and Mufaro - (meaning)

Tanaka and Makanata - (rhyme + meaning)

Tanaka and Akanaka - (rhyme + meaning)

Yeukai and Yemurai - (rhyme)

Vimbai and Rindai - (rhyme)

Shamiso and Chishamiso - (rhyme + meaning)

Simbarashe and Vimbainashe - (rhyme + meaning)

Shamiso and Somisha - (reverse reading)

Anesu and Aneni - (rhyme + meaning)

Anotida and Tinoda - (meaning + rhyme)

Anoona and Wonai - (meaning)

Anodiwa and Rudo - (meaning)

Revesai and Vimbisai - (rhyme)

Chenai and Chenesai - (rhyme + meaning)

Chido and Rudo - (meaning + rhyme)

Chipo and Chipiwo - (meaning)

Chiwoniso and Wonai - (meaning)

Chiwoniso and Shamiso - (rhyme)

Chiwoniso and Chishamiso - (rhyme)

Chiwoniso and Chiratidzo - (meaning)

Dadisai and Dadirai - (meaning)

Fadzai and Dzidzai - (rhyme)

Fadzai and Fadziso - (meaning)

Fadzai and Edzai - (rhyme)

Danai and Wanai - (rhyme + meaning)

Farirai and Farai - (rhyme + meaning)

Fudzayi and Kudzai - (rhyme)

Hazvinei and Maidei - (rhyme)

Itai and Idai - (rhyme)

Kunashe and Munashe -  (rhyme + meaning)

Kundai and Kudzai - (rhyme)

Kundai and Fungai - (rhyme)

Makanaka and Takanaka - (rhyme)

Tendai and Mazvita - (meaning)

Manyika and Nyika - (rhyme + meaning)

Matida and Tadiwa - (meaning)

Tadiwa and Tapiwa - (rhyme)

Matipa and Tapiwa - (meaning)

Matida and Matipa - (rhyme)

Mawanda and Tawanda - (rhyme + meaning)

Muchafara and Tofara - (meaning + rhyme)

Muchafara and Muchaneta - (rhyme)

Mudiwa and Tadiwa - (meaning + rhyme)

Mukai and Kundai - (rhyme)

Mukudzei and Rukudzo - (meaning)

Mutsa and Kuda - (rhyme)

Nakai and Tsvakai - (rhyme)

Nakai and Yeukai - (rhyme)

Netsai and Fadzai - (rhyme)

Ndafadzwa and Tafadzwa - (rhyme)

Ndadiwa and Tadiwa - (rhyme + meaning)

Nyengerarai and Nyengeterai - (rhyme + meaning)

Nyaradzai and Kudzai - (rhyme)

Nyarai and Nyararai - (meaning + rhyme)

Nyaradzo and Chiratidzo - (rhyme)

Nyemwererai and Nyengerarai - (rhyme)

Panashe and Anashe - (meaning + rhyme)