List of River Name Etymologies - Africa

Africa

• Apies: from Afrikaans meaning "little apes".
• Berg: from Afrikaans meaning "mountain".
• Blood: from the Battle of Blood River, where 600 voortrekkers killed off 20,000 attacking Zulu troops who ambushed them. No voortrekkers were killed, but the dead Zulus (3,000 died) stained the nearby river with blood, and so the name stayed.
• Breede: from Afrikaans meaning "wide".
• Escravos: from Portuguese meaning "slaves".
• Forcados: from Portuguese meaning "forked".
• Gamtoos: probably derived from a Khoikhoi clan whose name was given by early Dutch settlers as "Gamtousch".
• Komati: from siSwati meaning "cow".
• Liesbeek: named after a small river in Holland.
• Modder: from Afrikaans meaning "mud".
• Mooi River (KwaZulu-Natal) and Mooi River (Vaal): from Afrikaans meaning "beautiful".
• Niger: from the Tuareg phrase gher n gheren meaning "river of rivers", shortened to ngher.
• Nile: from Greek Neilos (Νεῖλος), from Sanskrit 'Neel' meaning 'dark' or 'blue", sometimes derived from the Semitic Nahal "river."
• Nossob: from Khoikhoi meaning "black river".
• Ohlanga: from Zulu meaning "reed".
• Olifants: from Afrikaans meaning "elephants".
• Omi Osun: from Yoruba meaning "waters of the spirit-goddess Ọṣun".
• Orange: from Afrikaans "Oranje", meaning Orange, which was named after William of Orange.
• Palala: from Sotho meaning "one that inundates".
• Vaal: from Afrikaans meaning "dull".