Amazigh (Berber) baby names: history, legal recognition in Morocco and verified meanings

Tiziri, Amayas, Itri: perhaps you are looking for one of the many Amazigh baby names because it speaks of your roots, of nature or of North African history. As recently as 2014, that choice could still run into a refusal at the civil registry office, and sometimes at a Moroccan consulate abroad.

The rules have changed since then, and this page explains how. It also offers a particular kind of name list: we only kept names whose meaning matches in at least two reliable sources. So the list is short. It will grow as we verify more names.

What is an Amazigh name?

It is a first name that comes from the Amazigh languages, also known as Berber languages, spoken in Morocco (Tachelhit, Tamazight, Tarifit), in Algeria (Kabyle in particular) and beyond. Many are everyday words that became names: moonlight, star, flower, freedom. Others come from history, like the Numidian kings of antiquity.

The same name can be written in several ways in Latin letters, depending on transcription habits: Tiziri or Thiziri, Tanina or Thanina. None of them is wrong. What matters is choosing one spelling and sticking to it.

Why were Amazigh names refused in Morocco?

Because of lists. In 1996, under Interior Minister Driss Basri, lists of approved first names were sent out to civil registrars. They contained very few Amazigh names, as the Moroccan magazine La Vie éco recalls. That is where the refusals began.

Law 37-99 on civil status later put an end to those lists. In practice, though, some registrars kept refusing Amazigh names for years. Three cases particularly caught public attention: Numidia in Al Hoceima, Anir in Casablanca and Massin in Tata. In spring 2014, the Moroccan consulate in Antwerp, Belgium, was still refusing to register a little girl named Yuna.

The old law also required a name of "Moroccan character", a phrase that Law 36-21 did not keep. The detail of the texts, past and present, is in our article on what Moroccan law says about first names.

Circulars, a statement, a new law: how things changed

Step by step, and slowly. The Ministry of the Interior first sent out reminder after reminder: a circular in April 2010, then another one, circular 32-20, on 25 April 2013, asking registrars to stop refusing Amazigh names.

On 17 March 2014, the High Commission for Civil Status issued a clear statement: every citizen is free to choose their child's name, with no distinction between Arabic, Amazigh, Hassani and Hebrew names, as long as it does not offend public morals or public order. It asked registrars to show the greatest flexibility. Yet a few weeks later, La Vie éco noted that refusals had not entirely stopped.

Two texts changed the game:

• Law 36-21 on civil status, published in July 2021. Its Article 34 sets the conditions for a first name without bringing back the "Moroccan character" requirement. Its Article 19 provides that names appear on records in Arabic, in Tifinagh and in Latin letters.
• Implementing decree no. 2-22-04, published in July 2023. According to the Moroccan news magazine TelQuel, a registrar who has doubts must accept the declaration provisionally and pass the question on to the High Commission, which decides. He can no longer refuse a name on his own initiative.

IRCAM's work on first names

The Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (IRCAM) played a double role. First, it stood up for families: according to researcher Ahmed Assid, a member of IRCAM, the institute took on the first case, that of the three refused names. An inter-ministerial commission then visited the three towns concerned. IRCAM's rector, Ahmed Boukous, was also a member of the High Commission at the time of the 2014 statement.

IRCAM then gave parents a practical tool. It published a small book of nearly 440 Amazigh first names, co-written by Brahim Lasri Amazigh and Karim Aguenaou. That is the book to look for if you want more ideas than our selection.

Amazigh girl names: our verified selection

For each name, the meaning given matches in at least two of our sources. We only show the Tifinagh spelling when a reliable source provides it.

Amazigh boy names: our verified selection

For Massinissa and Yugurten, the meaning comes from the etymology of very old names, established by specialists and repeated by both of our sources. They are first and foremost names from history.

Why is this list so short?

Because we chose caution. The meaning of the same Amazigh name sometimes varies from one list to another, and many lists online cite no source at all. So we cross-checked an etymology database (Behind the Name), a list compiled from reference works such as those by Dallet, Taïfi and IRCAM, a lexicon published by Algeria's High Commission for Amazighity and, for the Numidian kings, historical entries.

Other well-known names are not included yet, because we have not found a second matching source so far: Idir, Izem, Tifawt, Anir, Ziri, Ayur, Illi or Izlan, for example. Their absence does not mean the meaning usually given to them is wrong, only that we have not checked it twice yet. This selection will grow as we keep verifying. For more ideas, see our rare and unusual baby names.

Tifinagh and Latin letters: getting the spelling right

On the birth certificate, your child's name will appear three times: in Arabic, in Tifinagh and in Latin letters, as Article 19 of Law 36-21 provides. A few precautions will save you years of hassle:

• Settle on the Latin spelling before the birth and use it everywhere: birth certificate, passport, nursery enrolment.
• Check all three spellings on the certificate before leaving the civil registry office.
• Make sure the name is not a place or tribe name. Article 34 of Law 36-21 rules out the names of towns, villages or tribes, a rule worth keeping in mind for names taken from geography.
• If you live abroad, use the same spelling on the birth record of your country of residence and on the Moroccan record drawn up by the consulate.

The documents you need and the deadlines are set out in our guide to registering a birth in Morocco. And if you would like your child to hear the language of their name too, our ideas for Amazigh lullabies and Moroccan nursery rhymes are a good place to start.

From the shop

Keepsakes to go with their name

Once the name is chosen and registered, a hand or footprint keeps a trace of those first days: a metal keepsake box, a simple frame or a double frame with a photo.

• −9 %Tiny LoveTiny Creations Magic Box baby print kit, square metal box – Tiny Love146 DHinstead of 160 DHView product
• −9 %Tiny LoveTiny Creations Magic Box baby print kit, round metal box – Tiny Love146 DHinstead of 160 DHView product
• −9 %Tiny LoveTiny Creations Simple Frame baby print frame, wood – Tiny Love209 DHinstead of 230 DHView product
• −9 %Tiny LoveTiny Creations Double Frame baby print frame, white – Tiny Love291 DHinstead of 320 DHView product
• −9 %Tiny LoveTiny Creations wooden double photo and print frame – Tiny Love291 DHinstead of 320 DHView product
• The whole aisle · Baby keepsakes6 products online, delivered anywhere in Morocco.Open the aisle

Products sold by La Maison du Bébé, publisher of this magazine. Prices as of 12 October 2026; please check the product page.