Home › Baby Names Directory › Kalonji
Kalonji
How to Pronounce Kalonji
Pronounced kuh-LON-jee /kəˈlɒn.dʒi/Low
Meaning: Kalonji is the common name, used in Swahili and across South Asia, for nigella seeds, the small black 'black seed' spice also called black cumin. As a personal name it was taken up in the later twentieth century, notably in African American families drawing on African and Afrocentric naming, where its distinctive sound and spice association gave it appeal. Its meaning rests on that seed word.Low
Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data
U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.
SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.
History & Origin
Kalonji takes its sound and sense from the spice word kalonji, the nigella or black seed known across Swahili-speaking Africa and South Asia. Adopted as a given name in the later twentieth century, especially within African American families exploring African heritage, it carries that natural, rooted association. We note both the spice origin and the naming route honestly.
Kalonji appeared in small numbers from the early nineteen-seventies onward, cresting around the mid-nineteen-seventies during a wave of Afrocentric naming, and stayed rare thereafter. A boy named Kalonji then would be in his early fifties today, marking it a seventies-era heritage name.
Variations
Nicknames
Famous Bearers
- Famous bearers coming soon.
If you like Kalonji…
Explore names like Kalonji
Frequently Asked
What does the name Kalonji mean?
It comes from the Swahili and South Asian word 'kalonji,' the nigella or black-seed spice, later used as a given name.
How do you pronounce Kalonji?
It is said kuh-LON-jee /kəˈlɒn.dʒi/ - three syllables, stress on the middle.
Is Kalonji a boy or girl name?
Kalonji is used as a boys' name.
How popular is Kalonji?
It was always rare in the United States, given to only about fourteen boys a year even at its peak in the mid-nineteen-seventies, and never common.