*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of Obama

Etymology tree Luo obam Luo Mobamder. English Obama A corruption of the Luo by-name Mobam (“born with a crooked back”), itself from Luo obam (“to lean or bend”).

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
name

An African surname from Luo. · Barack Obama, 44th president of the United States (2009–2017).

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Luo obam Luo Mobamder. English Obama A corruption of the Luo by-name Mobam (“born with a crooked back”), itself from Luo obam (“to lean or bend”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Derivation mentionobamluo · to lean or bend
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":der",
        "3": "luo:Mobam",
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        "tree": "1"
      },
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    },
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        "2": "luo",
        "3": "-"
      },
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    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "luo",
        "3": "obam",
        "t": "to lean or bend"
      },
      "expansion": "Luo obam (“to lean or bend”)"
    },
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      },
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    }
  ],
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      "obam#Luo"
    ],
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      "Mobam",
      "Mobam#Luo"
    ],
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      "Mobam#Luo"
    ],
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    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [
    {
      "lang_code": "mul",
      "lang": "Translingual"
    }
  ],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "An African surname from Luo.",
        "Barack Obama, 44th president of the United States (2009–2017)."
      ],
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}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
name

A city in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. See Wikipedia:Obama, Fukui. · A Japanese surname. · A samurai clan of feudal Japan.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Transliteration of Japanese 小浜.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "name": "translit",
      "args": {
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        "2": "ja",
        "3": "小浜"
      },
      "expansion": "Transliteration of Japanese 小浜"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "小浜",
      "小浜#Japanese"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "A city in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. See Wikipedia:Obama, Fukui.",
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        "A samurai clan of feudal Japan."
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}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for Obama →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-T2JhbWE