Choctaw Names Tell Stories
Choctaw names and naming traditions share similarities with Cherokee names.
As a Choctaw child, you could have many names over the course of your life. The first name you were given was bestowed at birth by your parents and usually was related to an event that happened around the time of your birth or something that was seen during the event. The women birthed outdoors near streams and so the names tended to be related to nature and animals seen during the process.
During the rest of your life, many names could be added, based on anything from a small happening to a great victory in battle. Many names came from specific groups of names such as color and animal names, but there were exceptions to this, too.
One distinction was red, or humma names. Taking a red name called on the Choctaw to act with honor and courage, and was one of the largest name groups. Holahta was another name group, roughly meaning “leader,” and was reserved for special use.
Explore our collection of Choctaw names for girls and boys below. But first, a pronunciation key:
a = like the a in father
e = like the i in police
i = like the i in pit and sometimes like in police
o = like the o in note
u = like the u in put
v = like the u in cup
au = like the ow in cow
ai = like eye
lh — like the breathy ll in Llewellyn
Choctaw Girl Names
- Atepa
- Coahoma
- Fala
- Issi
- Kinta
- Naach
- Nita
- Opa
- Otima
- Panola
- Poloma
- Satima
- Shimmi
- Silli
- Sillin
- Sokkot
- Sooni
- Soot
- Sootima
- Talulah
- Tassa
- Tonna
- Tula
- Yimmi