Baby name pickerby KYO360

GirlZulu & Xhosa

Thandiwe

From Xhosa and Zulu -thanda, "to love", with a passive ending: "beloved, the one who is loved".

Meaning and origin

Thandiwe takes the Xhosa and Zulu verb -thanda, "to love", and adds the passive ending -iwe, so the name reads literally as "one who is loved".

How to pronounce Thandiwe

Xhosa (South Africa)than-DEE-weh /tʰanˈdiwe/

About this entry

Drafted with the help of an AI model, then checked by a person. Last checked on 16 September 2026.

The sources behind this entry are listed in the app.