Samoa Naming Customs

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Samoa

Naming Customs

Understanding customs used in surnames and given names can help you identify your ancestors in records. Learn to recognize name variations and see clues in names.

Online Resources

• The 100 Samoan Last Names With Meanings And History
• Samoan Baby Names
• Most Common Last Names In Samoa
• Samoan Last Names
• Best Samoan Last Names and Meanings
• FamilySearch's surname experience - enter your last name to find its meaning and origin

Given Names

The meaning of a given name is important when naming a child in the Samoan community:

personal traits: Malosi (strong), Umi (tall), Vave (fast), Faiaivale (foolish)

religious: Toefuata’igaoletalalelei (restoration of the Gospel)

events: Dodiana (this name was created to commemorate Dodi Fayed and Princess Diana's death)

objects: Tala (dollar)

animals: Maile (dog)

descriptive: Leilani (heavenly flower)

traditional: Pua’a’elo (this was the name of a Samoan high chief)

Naming Customs

Samoan names are often part of the Matai title system. Here are several resources:

• Nobility - This is a FamilySearch Wiki article on nobility and how that factors into people's Matai names
• Naming Conventions in Samoa -- Wikipedia section of Fa'amatai (the chiefly system of Samoa)
• Trying to Understand Matai Titles/Surnames -- a message board article at Ancestry.com
• Names of villages in American Samoa -- some of these village names may be used in the Matai titles
• An account of Samoan History up to 1918 -- contains a lot of matai title name history