Samoa Naming Customs

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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